John Kennedy, a Westminster motivational speaker and trainer, has empowered thousands of people nationwide to “shake it up” and succeed.
Carroll County government wants in.
The county is paying Kennedy $12,000 for eight training sessions aimed at building teamwork between merging state and county agencies that help find work for unemployed residents.
“We?ve definitely got the motivation here,” said Denise Rickell, head of the county?s Business and Employment Resource Center. “It?s just now making it mesh. I take it as making a marriage come together ? you know, your kids, my kids and making it work.”
Throughout the country, state and county job services departments have merged to provide better customer service and save money, and Kennedy will help show Carroll the best techniques to do that, Rickell said.
The $12,000 will come out of state and federal grant money left over from last year, said Larry Twele, Carroll?s economic development director.
Carroll has not sought a motivational speaker in recent memory, said Richard Shelton, the county?s purchasing bureau head.
And though Kennedy has been hired as a motivational speaker by tourism departments in several states, including Maryland, some have questioned whether it?s money well-spent.
“I?ve never heard of anyone hiring a motivational speaker,” said Ryan O?Donnell, executive director of the political watchdog group CommonCause Maryland. “The question is if you want to pay $12,000 for something you can see on YouTube.”
But Kennedy, whose firm, Kennedy Consulting, is based in Westminster, is well-known for tailoring his speeches and programs to the groups that hire him.
Kennedy, who declined comment, has given motivational speeches for large private companies and governments, including Taco Bell, General Electric, the U.S. Department of Justice and Baltimore County Public Schools, often explaining how to invest money early in life and establish an attitude that “puts the human back into being.”
