It’s official! Southern Maryland’s Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s counties have been selected for the first phase of Maryland’s eWIC pilot. Following the initial pilot in Southern Maryland, Garrett, Allegany, and Washington counties in Western Maryland will launch the second phase of the pilot.

The eWIC pilot is scheduled to occur in Southern Maryland in January 2017 and Western Maryland in February 2017. This time frame was selected to allow for comprehensive planning and for retailers to conclude their holiday season rush. Each pilot is expected to last for 3 months, with statewide implementation scheduled to begin May 2017. Based on this timeline, we are expecting eWIC implementation to be completed throughout Maryland by July 2017. See a map of Maryland’s tentative statewide implementation schedule below.

The initial pilot location was selected because it meets the four criteria suggested by our eWIC Processor, Solutran:

Location is geographically isolated  

All store types (including commissaries) are located in pilot location

Majority of Maryland corporate stores (Walmart, Giant, etc.) are also located in pilot location

Is traveling distance from State Agency