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Robert L. Walker
Managing Director of International Trade and Investment
With International Trade and Investment set to play a big part in DBED's refocused agency, I feel fortunate to have Bob Walker leading international operations as Maryland navigates a new and rapidly changing global economy. Bob's impressive list of credentials includes 20 years of senior level experience in both the public and private sectors. He acted as Anne Arundel County's Chief Administrative Officer from 2001-2006, worked in diplomatic service for the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service from 1994-2001, and served as both Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture from 1986-1994. He has also regularly consulted with national and international organizations primarily focused on policy, market and rural development, or food assistance in the former Soviet Union, Central Asia and Africa.
While Secretary of Agriculture, Bob chaired the World Trade Committee of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and was Vice President of the Southern U.S. Trade Association. In the 1990s, Walker served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Congressional Research Service, USDA's Office of International Cooperation and Development, the Stanley Foundation, and other organizations focusing on agriculture and food reform in the former Soviet Union. In 1997, Walker was selected to open the first US Agricultural Trade Office in Moscow where he served as Director from 1997 to 2001. U.S. agricultural trade to Russia reached its highest level during his tenure as Agricultural Trade Officer.
A graduate of Towson University where he earned his BA in Political Science, Bob resides in Pasadena. Feel free to contact Bob at rwalker@choosemaryland.org to learn more about the international assistance and opportunities DBED offers.
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MD adds 1,800 jobs in August
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that payrolls declined nationally by 84,000 jobs in August marking the eighth straight month of job losses. The economic picture is decidedly less gloomy in Maryland as employers added 1,800 seasonally adjusted jobs in August. The net change is from an additional 2,900 private sector jobs and a loss of 1,100 government jobs. Most of the jobs lost were from local government and may reflect school employment. In the private sector, gains in professional and business services, health care and leisure services were offset by losses in manufacturing, retail trade and finance.
Click chart to view the monthly tables.
Nonetheless, since last August Maryland private sector employers have added 25,700 jobs. Of these, 21,200 were private sector and 4,500 were government sector. Maryland private sector employment has increased by 1.0 percent over the year, while U.S. private sector employment decreased by 0.6 percent.
Maryland's unemployment rate of 4.5 percent remains well below the national average and was the 11th lowest rate among states in August. The U.S. unemployment rate jumped from 5.7 to 6.1 percent - the highest rate in 4 years. The rise in unemployment follows a sharp rise in new claims for unemployment insurance since the start of the year. Initial claims for unemployment insurance hit a recent high of 455,000 for the week ending September 13.
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Governor announces increased support for MD's small businesses
Last week, Governor O'Malley announced an additional $450,000 in grants was awarded to three Revolving Loan Funds in Maryland's rural counties. The grants, made through DBED, will go to the Tri-County Council for Western Maryland, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Rural Development Center and Maryland Capital Enterprises Inc. in Salisbury. The additional funding will be used to provide loans to micro, small and minority-owned businesses in Maryland's economically distressed communities.
The Tri-County Council for Western Maryland will receive an additional $250,000 to assist businesses in Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties; the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Rural Development Center will receive $100,000 to support business development and expansion projects in Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties; and Maryland Capital Enterprises Inc. will receive an additional $50,000 to assist several Eastern Shore counties.
Governor O'Malley and I firmly believe in supporting Maryland's small and minority businesses and we expect these funds to lay a strong foundation for small businesses to grow and thrive.
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State, County and City team up to welcome home Olympic heroes
We all watched as Michael Phelps dominated the Olympics en route to a breath-taking record eight gold medals. DBED is proud to honor Michael and our hometown heroes by helping to sponsor this Saturday's Maryland Olympic Heroes Homecoming. This event will feature a "Parade of Gold" at 3 p.m. in Towson where Michael grew up and where his mother, Debbie, still resides. Later in the day,  fireworks and live entertainment will be featured during a "Star-Spangled Salute to Michael Phelps" at Fort McHenry.
A truly joint effort between the State, Baltimore County and Baltimore City, I'd like to give a big thanks to Assistant Secretary Hannah Byron's Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts for their help in organizing the event. I'd also like to thank the event's generous gold sponsors: Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, Bank of America, Legg Mason, and M & T Bank. For complete details, click here. |
Climate Action Plan could create more than 300,000 jobs
I am pleased to report some good findings on Maryland's "green" front. About a month ago, the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, established by Governor Martin O'Malley and administered by the Maryland Department of the Environment, released its Climate Action Plan. The report outlines 42 actions to help the state greatly reduce its global warming  pollution and concludes that Maryland would see significant economic benefits from taking early actions to reduce global warming pollution.
Early analysis indicates that by 2020 this plan could result in a net economic benefit to the state of approximately $2 billion dollars. A study by the Baltimore-based International Center for Sustainable Development shows that Maryland could create between 144,000 and 326,000 "green collar" and research and development jobs by developing clean energy industries, contributing $5.7 billion in wages and salaries, boosting local tax revenues by $973 million and increasing gross state production by $16 billion.
Maryland is already starting to attract a wide variety of alternative energy companies. Wavebob Ltd., an innovative wave power company, just recently opened their North American headquarters in Annapolis in May. |
DBED helps small businesses find recipe for success
 Two weeks ago, DBED partnered with the Restaurant Association of Maryland to help promote Maryland small businesses at the Mid-Atlantic Food and Beverage Lodging Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. DBED reserved a section of booths which were exclusively available on a first-come, first-serve basis for Maryland food and beverage industry small businesses. Although these booths would typically run $1,500 - a cost many small and growing vendors said they would not be able to afford - DBED was able to offer these businesses booths for a discounted rate of $250.
We received a lot of positive feedback from the 16 Maryland vendors and two state agencies who participated in the program. More than half of the businesses surveyed said they found at least two or three leads that would increase their sales over the next fiscal year. Kudos go out to our Division of Small Business which organized DBED's participation and all of the DBED staffers who attended the event.
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Maryland excels at attracting R&D funding
The foundation of a solid technology-based economy requires three essential components: a strong capacity for research, development and innovation. Maryland has long enjoyed high marks for all three and continues to rank first in the nation in National Institutes of Health research and development contract awards and second nationally in federal obligations for research and development with $12.2 billion.
So I was very proud, when the 2008 Milken Institute State Technology and Science Index came out in June, to see that Maryland took over the No. 2 spot, outpacing California and closing in on top finisher Massachusetts, in the study's Research and Development Inputs Composite Index. The Index is a key indicator of a state's ability to attract federal, industry and academic funding. According to Milken, Maryland has made some major strides in research and development since the study was last conducted in 2004. Calling it a "remarkable climb up the rankings," Milken lauded Maryland for its gains in industry R&D expenditures, as well as its significant increase in the average annual number of Small Business Technology Transfer awards.
In the next issue of The Edge, I look forward to sharing with you details on Maryland's jump into 2nd place in Milken's Index, up from 6th place four years ago, for Technology Concentration and Dynamism, which measures the strength of a state's technology clusters.
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BIOMERE coming to Baltimore
I'm happy to report a company we met at last year's annual BIO Conference in Boston, BIOMERE LLC, will locate its corporate headquarters at the UMB BioPark in early 2009. The company, a subsidiary of Worcester, Mass.-based Biomedical Research Models (BRM), will be expanding the vaccine platform developed at BRM and initially hire up to 25 employees. The company signed a lease last week for 14,000 square feet in Building Two, which was developed by Wexford Science + Technology.
BIOMERE joins Opgen as the second bio company to recently announce a move to Maryland. OpGen, formerly based in Wisconsin, noted that Governor O'Malley's bio initiatives played a key role in their decision to move to Maryland. The Governor unveiled in June his Bio 2020 plan, which is a 10-year, $1.3 billion dollar investment in Maryland's tremendous bioscience infrastructure that will result in an estimated $6.3 billion in private and federal investments by 2020. |
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Attention all economic developers! On Friday, October 17, take advantage of the beautiful fall foliage of Western Maryland at the 2008 MEDA Fall Conference at Rocky Gap Lodge in Allegany County and learn how to keep those existing businesses that are so important to your county's stability and growth. This year's conference, themed "Business Retention: Tools & Technologies in Today's Economy" includes continental breakfast at 9 a.m. For an agenda and to register, click here.
Secondly, the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development is putting the finishing touches on the Germantown Innovation Center (GIC) on the campus of Montgomery College in preparation for an October 20 opening. The new facility, which received $3 million in MEDAF funding from DBED, will house the county's fifth incubator, as well as a new academic center for Montgomery College. The incubator will feature 11 wet labs, two modular clean rooms and 45 offices. For more information about the opening, please email Jackie Arnold, or if your company is interested in applying for space, contact John Korpela. I will have more to report on this exciting project in an upcoming issue.
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County Corner
Washington County
Located at the strategic intersection of I-81 (a major north-south transportation corridor) and I-70 (connecting to the Baltimore/Washington metro area and points west) Washington County is the hub of the regional economy. Ample job opportunities, a world-class educational system, and a revitalized downtown, help make Washington County the Crossroads of Commerce.
The county's productive, dedicated, and well-rounded regional workforce of 400,000 has made the county a choice location for manufacturers, financial services, and logistics companies. With approximately 3,500 businesses in the county, major industries include trade, transportation and utilities; education and health services; manufacturing; and financial activities.
Recent company expansions and relocations provide further examples of the strong economic growth in Washington County. Volvo Powertrain North America is installing a cylinder block machining line at the company's Hagerstown Powertrain facility. DBED has provided a $900,000 conditional loan in conjunction with a $100,000 county loan to assist the company. Cinetic Landis Corp. (CLG), a global manufacturer of precision grinding systems, has recently relocated their operations from Pennsylvania into a new 110,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing center in Hagerstown. DBED provided CLG a $500,000 conditional loan from the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Fund and also funds to assist with workforce training through the Maryland Industrial Training Program.
"Our mission is to be the most effective provider of information and strategic solutions to existing and prospective businesses, as well as leading the marketing of the greater Hagerstown area as a desirable business destination," said Timothy R. Troxell, CEcD, executive director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. "We work closely with state and local government partners to help accomplish economic development initiatives."
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The Edge is published by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. For a complete archive, visit our