Business Preparation Guidelines for Hurricane Irene

The Greater Washington Board of Trade has issued suggested guidelines to assist businesses in light of Hurricane Irene and severe weather.

Hurricane Irene could cause significant disruption to business and property throughout Greater Washington. Severe flooding, strong winds and widespread outages may make for difficult days ahead. Transportation issues may affect commuter routes, bridges, tunnels, airports, METRO and AMTRAK. Access to workplaces, technology limitations and communication links may all be restricted. To assist area businesses in preparing for a wide spread disruption, the Greater Washington Board of Trade recommends the following considerations.

Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick shares, "I strongly encourage ALL Frederick businesses to develop their own Emergency Plan and "be prepared."

To learn more, visit the Board of Trade's Emergency Preparedness Website.

Don't Miss the 2011 Entrepreneur Expo - November 14th!

Entrepreneur Expo: Harnessing the Power of Innovation in Maryland

will take place on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the BWI Airport Marriott. Selected as 1 of 10 nationally featured events for

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW),

the Expo will kick-off exciting GEW programming in Maryland! The Entrepreneur Expo will be the first large-scale event dedicated to promoting and celebrating the key to Maryland’s innovation economy, its entrepreneurs. Led by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) and other key stakeholders, the Entrepreneur Expo Leadership Team (EELT) is the coordinating committee for the event. The full-day agenda includes a variety of unique educational  tracks, interactive programming, a dynamic exhibit floor, energized plenaries and other highlights for entrepreneurs! Registration is open. Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are available.

Learn more and register at

www.innovatemd.com

.

(Note: Special exhibitor rates are available for entrepreneurs, government and non-profits.)

MEDIMMUNE, LOCAL OFFICIALS CELEBRATE OPENING OF FREDERICK MANUFACTURING FACILITY

On Friday, City and County officials joined with MedImmune in celebrating the official opening of their 2nd manufacturing facility in the City of Frederick.

The new 331,000 square foot facility began construction in 2006. Construction was completed in 201, and the process of FDA licensure began. The approval came in early 2011, and MedImmune is now licensed to begin production.

"The multimillion dollar expansion of MedImmune's manufacturing capacity here in Frederick is a terrific example of a match between workforce, access, land availability and proximity to the MedImmune Headquarters in Gaithersburg," stated Mayor McClement. "Congratulations to MedImmune and its leadership team led by their president, Peter Greenleaf, on a job well done."

The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development has been involved with the company officials on this expansion since it was first a concept nearly 10 years ago. Our planning, engineering and permits departments have worked hard to ensure that MedImmune could deliver this facility on-time," said the City's economic development director, Richard Griffin. "We are immensely proud of MedImmune, this facility and its employees. We hope to have a long future together."

MedImmue first established a presence in Frederick in 1996, opening a manufacturing facility to produce Synagis®, which is FDA-approved to prevent RSV in high-risk children. The new plant, which will expand MedImmune's production capacity for Synagis®  as well as future marketed monoclonal antibodies, is on the same site as the first facility. Currently, MedImmune employs nearly 250 at the Frederick facility.

Making the Golden Mile Shine

The Golden Mile Retail Corridor has spiked new interest recently with the formation of the Golden Mile Alliance, which is a group of concerned property and business owners as well as residents in the area. The movement was spearheaded by City of Frederick staff and Director of Economic Development for the City, Richard Griffin was asked to submit a story for the on-line blog, Want2Dish. Check out the story here!

Do you love where you work and who you work for? Then let us know!

Nominations

for the 2011 BEST PLACES TO WORK - Frederick County are now open. 

The Best Places to Work campaign, in its 9th year, is part of a countywide partnership between business, government and the community dedicated to increase quality of life opportunities for Frederick County employees. A qualifying business is any employer in Frederick County, including corporations, privately owned businesses, non-profits and federal, state and local government agencies who offer benefits such as Health Benefits, 401K, Profit Sharing, On Site Child Care, Health Care Incentives and other such benefits.

Please complete the

survey

at your convience;

deadline for submission is Friday, September 16th

.

Winners will be announced at a reception on October 18th at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center, 5:00 - 6:30pm.

This campaign is sponsored by Frederick County &  City Economic Development, Frederick County Workforce Services and the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce.

For more information or to request the link to nominate your company, please call Frederick Economic Development at 301-600-1058 or 301-600-6360.

Frederick Biotech Company Participates in Governor’s Trip to Asia

Dr. J.J. Lin, founder of local Frederick biotech company Imagilin Technologies, joined a Maryland delegation lead by Governor Martin O’Malley in an economic development mission trip to Asia earlier this month. The mission trip took the 68-person delegation to China, Korea and Vietnam.

Imagilin Technologies, one of the first companies to graduate from the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc (FITCI), Frederick’s high-tech business incubator, specializes in innovative products and technology development for human and animal health and nutrition.

Dr. Lin traveled to Asia to develop relationships with existing partners and forge new business opportunities and he was successful in achieving both these goals. Since returning from the mission trip, Dr. Lin has received approval of his product registration from the Chinese government.

“To do business in China, it is very important to develop relationships and trust between business partners,” stated Dr. Lin. “It is also important for a U.S. business to show support from their local governments, and traveling with Governor O’Malley allowed me to demonstrate that support to my partners in China.”

Dr. Lin is no stranger to international business, having development distribution partnerships in both South America and Asia for the sale of MitoMax, a probiotic product line for animals intended to improve the health of pets.

“Imagilin Technologies is a terrific example of how entrepreneurship and innovation creates opportunity in our community.” said Richard Griffin, director of economic development for the City of Frederick. “Through the City’s support of entrepreneurs and small businesses, we are able to grow jobs and attract foreign-direct investment to Frederick and to the state. We’re proud that Imagilin Technologies calls Frederick, Maryland its home.”

For more information on Imagilin Technologies, visit http://www.imagilin.com/. To learn more about the City of Frederick’s Department of Economic Development visit www.businessinfrederick.com.

2011 Entrepreneur Council of Frederick County Awards

The Entrepreneur Council of Frederick County held its annual Entrepreneur Awards Dinner last night at Dutch's Dautgher. Congratulations to the award winners:

• Phil Catron, NaturaLawn America - winner of the Chris E. Olson Master Entrepreneur Award. This award is in honor and memory of Chris Olson, Frederick County Consultant for the Maryland Small Business Development Center and past president of the ECFC, who passed away this spring from an extended illness
• Minda Metz, The Buzz - Start-Up Small Business award
• CJ Dorman, Dorman Builders - Small Established Busines award
• Jim Racheff, DMS Inc. - Large Established Business award
• Hannah Light, Bow Down Cheer Bows - Youth Entrepreneur award

All of the nominees should be applauded. For Start-Up Small Business - Elin Ross, Cakes for Cause/Moxie Bakery & Cafe, Susan Centineo, Studio C Photography; nominated for the Small Established Business were Nick Damoulakis with Orases, Prett Hess & Phil Minni, Business Management Company and Bruce Zavos, Zavos Architecture & Design firm. Large Established Business nominees were Donald Combs, Colonial Equipment and Mark Wal, Lynne Severn & Thomas Wal with Medical Account Services, Inc.

The Entrepreneur Council of Frederick County fosters and promotes local entrepreneurship by hosting networking forums aimed at securing capital, coordinating executive roundtable series and other learning events for business owners.

Frederick County Public High School's in Nation's Top 7%

All Frederick County public high schools made The Washington Post 2011 Challenge Index, except Oakdale, which was not yet open to seniors.

 

The Washington Post ranked 27,000 high schools in the country based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced placement college-level courses and tests. Just under 1,900 schools—only seven percent of all the public schools in the U.S.—made the list for 2011.

 

The annual Challenge Index divides the number of challenging exams each high school’s seniors take by the number of graduating seniors. Among the nation’s top-ranked 1,890 schools, Frederick County high schools ranked as follows: Urbana High 397, Middletown 648, Catoctin 1,166, Frederick 1,182, Linganore 1,271, Walkersville 1,329, Gov. Thomas Johnson 1,491, Brunswick 1,591 and Tuscarora 1,598.

 

“This achievement continues to be one more measure providing solid evidence of first-class public education in Frederick County. I appreciate everyone’s hard work—employees, students and families,” said FCPS Superintendent Dr. Linda Burgee.

 

 

Project Spotlight - Downtown Hotel & Conference Center

Frederick needs a downtown hotel and conference center. So say the largest employers in the community along with the city, county, chamber, tourism council, and downtown partnership - forming a joint team to make it happen. Frederick has some terrific hotels, but is underserved in terms of a downtown up-scale flagship facility which can host business and family functions locally. Fredericktonians are often forced to look to other communities to host larger conferences and events.

The hotel team – a public-private partnership – has funded a feasibility study which strengthens the case for such a facility. It confirmed that Frederick has sufficient demand for a 200 room, full-service hotel with guest amenities including a large ball-room and break-out meeting space which can handle events of 600 or more people. The study also confirmed that Downtown Frederick was the right location, providing a combination of unique amenities not found together in one place elsewhere in the community.

Downtown Frederick, the largest contiguous historic district in Maryland, is centrally located in the county and is easily accessible from the highways. It is home to more than 600 businesses, 5,000 employees, and several thousand residents. For a number of years it has been recovering from devastating losses due to flood, business flight, and neglect. The result is an walkable, award-winning downtown which has over 200 restaurants and retail businesses, is served by public transportation, has stunning architecture, and is the hub of commerce, government, churches, tourism, arts, entertainment, and museums.

Despite its successes, the Downtown economy is fragile and adding a hotel conference center will help cement its recovery. Other communities like Lancaster, PA, Greenville, SC, Charlottesville, VA, and Asheville, NC have effectively used hotel conference facilities to anchor their downtowns. It is a time-proven strategy to use a demand generator like a hotel to provide a critical need for the community while strengthen revitalization efforts as well.

Building a downtown hotel and conference center is challenging business. Due to the high cost and inherent risk such facilities are rarely undertaken by hotel developers alone. Most such facilities are accomplished through a public-private partnership. Limited public sector participation can reduce the risk enough to encourage private sector investment. It is our hope that together with the business and developer communities, Frederick can assemble the resources needed to bring this project to fruition by our 2014 goal.

Frederick Mayor Randy McClement has made this a central project his administration to move forward and has appointed long-time Frederick businessman Earl Robbins, Jr. to spearhead the project. A former school board, chamber, and united way chairman, Mr. Robbins is no stranger to large complex projects and knows his way around the community and Annapolis. He has been quoted as saying that he has agreed to head this critical project because he believes it will improve quality of life and strengthen the business community. Frederick needs and deserves a place downtown to host our over-night visitors, induce new events and conferences, and support our local businesses.

Economic Development Busy with Three Upcoming Events

The City of Frederick's Department of Economic Development is hosting or co-sponsoring several upcoming FREE informative events.

May 18th - 2011 Frederick Procurement Fair
9:00am - 12:00noon
Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center
40 South Carroll Street, Frederick
Parking available at the All Saints Street Parking Deck

If you are a local small business and looking for procurement opportunities with some of Frederick's largest employers, this is the event for you. This is a FREE event, please check out the DED Calendar of Events for registration. For questions, call 301-600-6360.

May 24th - Energy Forum
7:00pm - 9:00pm
City Hall Board Room
101 N. Court Street, Frederick
Street parking available as well as the Church Street and Court Street Parking Decks

You have a choice on who provides your electricity. Come hear from several local providers who will explain their programs and how to sign up. This is a FREE event, but registration is required. For questions, call 301-600-6360.

June 14th - Kevin Mulvaney - "Business at a Crossroads: Grow or Go?"
8:00am - 10:00am (BREAKFAST INCLUDED)
Dutch's Daughter
581 Himes Avenue, Frederick

Bsed on recent findings of Professor Mulvaney's surveys, businesses are indeed at a crossroads: What will it take to grow to the next level? What are the various exit options available? THis is a FREE event, but registration is required. For questions, call 301-600-1058.

Spotlight on Industry: Advanced Technology

The technology industry is broad-based and includes sectors such as aerospace, energy, information security, nanotechnology, robotics, software, telecommunications and electrical engineering. Advanced technology - or high tech businesses - hold tremendous growth potential as they take discoveries and commercialize them - turning R&D into marketable products and services.

We've already looked at biotechnology in Frederick, so here we will focus on the non-bio components of the advanced technology industry. Six percent of private sector occupations in the Frederick area include direct employment in computer and mathematical science, engineering and related technicians. Factor in the jobs in computer science, engineering and robotics at Fort Detrick and NCI-Frederick's nanotechnology labs and one can begin to see the significant employment impact of the advanced technology sector in our community.

This 6% does not take into account the manufacturing jobs associated with much of the advanced technology research and development that is a major component of this industry sector. Fairchild Controls is one example of an aerospace technology company that employs not only the technical research and development positions, but also the support positions in production, sales and management that comprises their workforce of 166 people.

Bechtel is one of the largest employers within this industry sector, with expertise in a wide array of sectors within the technology industry. With 2,200 Frederick-based employees, Bechtel is also one of the largest private-sector employers in Frederick County. Bechtel employees are engaged in civil and nuclear engineering, communications, energy and more.

Frederick Innovative Technology Center (FITCI) - a technology incubator in Frederick - fosters innovation not only in bioscience, but in advanced technologies as well. Two recent FITCI graduates are great examples of the innovative advanced technologies under development in Frederick. Widearea Systems is a convergence technology company that develops and markets secure unified communications software and hardware solutions for corporate enterprise and government agencies. WGS Systems provides products and services to the US intelligence, military and homeland security organizations, specializing in engineering and scientific support, systems engineering and development. They are a premier developer of integrated surveillance and reconnaissance systems. And another FITCI client - Kinetic Revolutions - is applying a range of technologies to the development of orthotic and prosthetic devices.

In this 21st century knowledge-based economy, the advanced technology industry sector plays an increasingly important role in our economy and Frederick is well positioned for continued growth in this sector through innovation and entrepreneurship.

City of Frederick Department of Economic Development Holds Energy Forum

You have a choice, an Electric Choice! Are you aware that as a resident or business owner in the state of Maryland that you have the power to choose the company that supplies your electricity? The City of Frederick invites you to join us on May 24, 2011 at 7 pm at City Hall to learn all about electric choice from Paula Carmody, Maryland People’s Counsel, and a panel composed of electric suppliers, moderated by Jim Pierobon of the Maryland Clean Energy Center.

Once you’ve locked in your rates, reduce your utility bill for the long-term by joining the Frederick County Green Homes Challenge. Hilari Varnadore of the County’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources will invite City households to take Challenge 1: Be a Power Saver! Power Saver households save energy and reduce utility bills; the program encourages households to take easy steps such as having a home energy audit, making an energy saving action plan, and implementing home energy projects. Free Power Saver Handbooks will be available for all residents that register in the program.  
You’re energy bill is one expense you CAN control. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from suppliers about the programs and rates they can offer as well as take advantage of free programs and resources available for Frederick City households.

This is a FREE event however seating is limited. Please register or call 301-600-6360.

For additional information or if you have questions about the Electric Choice Energy Forum, please contact Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development, at 301-600-6361 or by email at rgriffin@cityoffrederick.com

Farmers Insurance Says Frederick is A Secure Place to Live

Frederick is among the top 10 most secure places in the US, according to a recent ranking by Farmers Insurance. This study ranks the "Most Secure Places to Live in the US," and the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick metropolitan area ranked 9th among large metropolitan areas (populations of 500,000+). The rankings took into account crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, terrorist threats, environmental hazards, life expectancy and job loss numbers.

"The City of Frederick has a number of advantages in rankings such as this. Whether it's economic security - in our diverse industry base and strong job opportunities; security for our families - through low crime rates or safety in our environment - with a high-quality water supply and abundant open space and public parks, the City of Frederick is undeniably a great place to live and do business", said City of Frederick Mayor Randy McClement.

Frederick Police Chief Kim Dine shares, "Protection of the public is perhaps the core responsibility of government as safety is a basic human need. The Frederick Police Department is exceptionally proud that our strategic, cohesive and effective policing efforts played a key role resulting in Frederick being included in this national ranking. Reduced crime and a robust and diverse business community help illustrate the strong correlation between safe neighborhoods and economic stability. These symbiotic factors in fact lead to lower crime rates and a higher quality of life. The Frederick Police Department takes great pride in this national listing - a high quality of life is a success for all who live, work and play in Frederick."

To view the full rankings, click here.

For current data on crime in the City of Frederick, visit the SpiresGIS Crime Map.

Beautiful Frederick - A Strong Town and a Great Neighborhood

The City of Frederick was given kudos and praise in a recent blog from "Strong Towns", an advocate for models of smart growth. From our streetscape and architecture to Carroll Creek Park and Public Art, the blogger now claims Frederick as one of his favorite US cities!

Frederick also gained recognition when it was named one of 10 Great Neighborhoods for 2010 by the American Planning Association. APA Great Places are enjoyable, safe and desirable - places that attract users every day. America's truly great neighborhoods are defined by many characteristics including architectural features, accessibility, functionality and community development.

A Strong Town growth model emphasizes obtaining a higher return on existing infrastructure investments. The belief is that you can no longer disregard old investments in favor of new, but instead need to focus on making better use of that which we already committed to publicly maintain.

Spotlight on Industry - Biotechnology

In our last blog, we covered the Frederick economy in a very general sense - including job growth and important industry sectors. Beginning this week, we will take a closer look at each of those important industry sectors.

We begin with bioscience. Over the last 10 years, bioscience and life science have become economic development buzz words. And why not - everyone wants their community or region to be innovative and high-tech, moving toward that knowledge-based economy (another buzz word) of the future.

In Frederick, bio is not simply a buzz word - it's a growing cornerstone of our economy. Maryland is home to the 2nd largest biosciences cluster in the country and within the state, Frederick ranks #2 in total biotech companies.

Since 2002, Frederick's bioscience industry has more than doubled -from 30 companies to more than 70 companies. As we saw in last week's look at job growth, the Professional, Scientific and Technical industry sector has led the way for job creation in the Frederick region - growing 60% from 2003-2007, and in 2010 this industry sector grew 4% or 278 net new jobs. Impressive when many other industries were flat or declined.

Frederick's bioscience industry has its first roots from Fort Detrick. Companies moved to Frederick as a result of contracts with the federal government - Dynport Vaccine Company, Charles River Labs, SAIC-Frederick, Southern Research Institute, Midwest Research Institute, Battelle and others.

Frederick also has a strong private-sector bioscience base. MedImmune, Life Technologies, Qiagen and Lonza are all global life science companies with a strong and growing presence in the City of Frederick and surrounding area.

Entrepreneurship is also an important component of Frederick's bioscience industry. Small, innovative start-up companies with their own technologies, or technologies that have been developed in federal labs and are being commercialized through technology transfer agreements, have proven incredibly effective at advancing research, developing products and creating new jobs here in Frederick.

Frederick Innovative Technology Center (FITCI) - a technology incubator in Frederick - is an important element of entrepreneurship and job creation. FITCI, through partnerships with the City of Frederick, Frederick County and the State of Maryland and many corporate sponsors, offers affordable office and lab space, business mentoring and other programs to bioscience and advanced technology companies, to help budding entrepreneurs build successful businesses.

We continue to see great opportunity in the life sciences industry for Frederick. NCI/SAIC-Frederick is building a 330,000 SF advanced technologies research facility at Riverside Research Park. Planned for completion in late 2012, this initiative will facilitate public-private research partnerships with the intent of expediting the drug development process for cancer and HIV research and accelerating the timeline from discovery to patient bedside. Coupled with the entrepreneurship at FITCI and technology transfer opportunities at Fort Detrick, the life sciences industry is certainly a growth sector for the City of Frederick.