Business in Maryland - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Maryland as Leader of the “New Economy"

Maryland is a leader in the fields of both technology and science, which require research to thrive. The state is home to more than 50 federal agencies and research facilities, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in addition to many renowned universities, including Johns Hopkins, which receives more research dollars than any university in the country. Maryland is also home to such recognizable business names as Black & Decker, Legg Mason, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, McCormick, and Perdue. Other well-known names with a significant presence in Maryland include General Motors, IBM, Northrop Grumman, and Verizon.

The Milken Institute’s State Technology and Science Index ranked Maryland second for 2010. The Index provides measurements of the technology and science assets for states, ranking them on their ability to foster and sustain a technology sector, which research has shown is a crucial factor in determining a region's future economic success. According to study results, Maryland received high rankings in human capital investment, research and development inputs, technology and science workforce, and technology concentration and dynamism.

Maryland also ranks third in the 2010 State New Economy Index, which noted Maryland has a high concentration of managers, professionals and college-educated residents working in knowledge jobs, and an infrastructure to support technological innovation. According to Ernst & Young, Maryland has the fourth largest cluster of biotechnology companies among states in the U.S.

Organizations in Maryland received $525 million in research and development awards from the National Institutes of Health, which ranks second in the nation. Maryland ranks second nationally in total federal obligations for research and development ($11.6 billion). On a per capita basis, Maryland ranks first among the states in federal R&D obligations. Maryland ranks fourth in the nation in R&D expenditures at universities and colleges, totaling $3.02 billion in FY 2009. Further, the state ranks third in federal government R&D spending at universities and colleges with $2.24 billion.

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) ranks first among U.S. colleges and universities in total National Institutes of Health awards, including grants and contracts for research, development, training and fellowships ($610 million). The University also ranks first among academic institutions in the nation in research and development expenditures, totaling $1.86 billion in FY 2009, and first in federally funded research ($1.59 billion).

Workforce

Home to some of the most highly skilled and educated workers in the U.S., Maryland has the highest concentration of employed doctoral scientists and engineers among the states. The state ranks second in employed PhD scientists and engineers per 100,000 employed workers, with a first place ranking for PhD scientists and sixth place ranking for PhD engineers. Maryland is also ranked first in mathematical and biological sciences, and health; and third in physical sciences for employed doctoral scientists per 100,000 employed workers.

Maryland ranks second among the states in the percentage of professional and technical workers (25.4%) in the workforce. With 270,000 IT workers, the Baltimore-Washington region is number one in concentration of IT employment, a larger base and higher concentration of workers in IT occupations than Silicon Valley or Boston. Maryland also ranks second among U.S. states in educational attainment—more than 35% of all Marylanders age 25 and above have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher and 15.4 percent have a graduate or professional degree.

Education

Maryland's world-class education system helps to fuel its highly professional and technical workforce.

Public school system

According to Quality Counts, Education Week’s annual assessment of key indicators of student success, Maryland’s K-12 public school system ranked first nationally for the third year in a row. Maryland scored particularly well in “Transitions and Alignment,” which assesses how well states smooth the transition through the educational pipeline, including early-childhood education, college readiness, and the economy and workforce.

Maryland also ranks first nationally for the third year in a row in the percentage of 2010 public high school graduates who scored at the mastery level on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, and second in the percentage of graduating seniors who took an AP exam. Further, the state ranks first in the percentage who took an AP exam in the mathematics and science disciplines. Newsweek rates Maryland first in the nation in its 2009 Challenge Index, which identifies the most challenging public high schools in the U.S. based on enrollment in college-level courses. Maryland ranks first in both the percentage of schools that made the Newsweek list of top high schools (29.5%), and the percentage of high school students attending these schools (31.6%).

Each year, Expansion Management magazine publishes its “Education Quotient” ranking 2,800 secondary school districts nationwide. Based on this data, the magazine ranks the Washington, DC region and Baltimore metro area first and fifth, respectively, as best public education systems for metropolitan areas with populations over one million.

Renowned universities

Businesses in Maryland have access to some of the nation's most highly regarded universities. According to the 2010 Editions of U.S. News and World Report, America’s Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools. Johns Hopkins University ranks third among top research medical schools, with top five rankings in the following specialties: AIDS, drug/alcohol abuse, geriatrics, internal medicine, pediatrics and women’s health. Hopkins also scores first in both undergraduate and graduate biomedical engineering and first in graduate public health.

The University of Maryland, College Park places in the top 10 in undergraduate management information systems and supply chain management/logistics; sixth in graduate business information systems; in the top ten in atomic/molecular/optical/physics, condensed matter and quantum physics; and the top 10 in graduate and undergraduate aerospace engineering. The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business ranks 10th among top regional business schools in the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Business School Survey. The business schools are ranked based on the experience of corporate recruiters.

Business Resources in Maryland

A large number of business resources and monetary incentives are available through Maryland’s vast network of private investors, federal agencies, universities, and other state resources.

Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED)

In FY 2010, DBED provided financial assistance to 134 Maryland projects across the state, which has leveraged $780 million in capital investment and helped create 4,976 new jobs while retaining 3,161 jobs for Maryland residents. Maryland’s Small Business Development Centers helped connect small businesses with 274 loans with a value of $37 million, and connected 350 small businesses with $72 million worth of procurement training from the Procurement Training Assistance Program (PTAP).

Venture capital

The Maryland State Legislature on April 11, 2011 passed InvestMaryland (HB 173), Governor O'Malley's economic development initiative to fuel venture capital investment. Coordinated in part by DBED, the fund will raise approximately $75 million in venture capital for Maryland start-up companies through a tax credit auction for qualifying insurance companies.

For the fifth year in a row, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as the top early-stage venture capital investor in the nation. MAVA's Investment Report 2007-2008 revealed that: In the Mid-Atlantic Region—Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Delaware—there are 224 investment firms; over those two years, 235 companies in the Mid-Atlantic region received $1.768 billion in venture capital; and software led the way among those companies, with 102 investments at $433 million (or 25 percent) of the $1.768 billion. This translates to an average over $4 million per company.

Maryland ranks ninth in the U.S. in the number of venture capital deals (67) for 2009. New Enterprise Associates, a Baltimore-based venture firm, was the most active venture investor in the nation in 2009.

Small business support

Maryland ranks second per capita and fourth overall in Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) awards. Small businesses in Maryland received $102 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration in FY 2009 through the highly competitive SBIR Program.

Support from Government

Maryland government policies and flow of money from the federal and state government facilities translate into consistent business opportunities.

Business tax structure

State	Milken Institute Cost of Doing Business Index
New York	130.9
Massachusetts	130.6
California	122.9
New Jersey	120.9
Maryland	106.4
Washington	102.7
Illinois	99.9
Pennsylvania	97.2

The state's tax policies relative to competitor states make Maryland a tremendous value for business. Given Maryland’s world-class workforce, ideal location, and nation-leading science, technology and federal assets, these lower costs translate into value for businesses.

Maryland businesses also benefit from a host of credits, exemptions and business loss deductions. As a result, when taking into account both the tax rate and base, Maryland is ranked as 14th best state for corporate taxes.

Among U.S. cities with populations exceeding two million, Baltimore ranks fourth for its favorable business tax structure according to a study by KPMG International. Among 41 large international cities studied, Baltimore ranks 14th overall.

Life Sciences and Biotechnology

In June 2008, under the leadership of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and joined by H. Thomas Watkins, the Chair of the Life Sciences Advisory Board, the state of Maryland released the BioMaryland 2020 plan, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategic initiative. The plan features the creation of the Maryland Biotechnology Center, $59 million over three years for Maryland’s Stem Cell Research Fund, $18 million over three years for the Biotechnology Tax Credit and $9 million for nanobiotechnology research grants.

Minority business support

Maryland state government has the most aggressive Minority Business Enterprise goal in the country at 25 percent, presenting enormous opportunities to Maryland’s women, African American, and other ethnic owned businesses.

Federal expenditures

Companies in Maryland benefit tremendously and are able to grow their businesses as a result of federal government expenditures. Maryland holds the following rankings in federal government expenditures when compared with other states: Second in per capita procurement of goods and services ($4,544 per Maryland resident) and fourth in total procurement of goods and services ($25.6 billion); second in per capita total expenditures, which includes procurement, salaries, wages and grants ($13,829 per Maryland resident), and 10th in total expenditures ($77.9 billion); and fifth in per capita Defense Department expenditures ($3,070 per Maryland resident), and fifth in total Defense Department expenditures ($17.3 billion).

Location

With its proximity and access to the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Washington, D.C. and all of the East Coast’s major distribution routes, Maryland plays a vital role in transportation throughout the Eastern United States - and the nation.

Maryland's location highlights for businesses include overnight trucking access to one-third of the U.S. population - 100 million people; a deep-water, inland port that handles more than 40 million tons of cargo annually; two Class I railroads - CSX and Norfolk Southern - and five short lines; six interstate highways that link the state to every major U.S. market; and three international airports within an hour’s drive - with BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport alone handling over 220 million pounds of air cargo every year.

Median Income and Poverty Rate

Maryland has the highest median household income in the nation for 2008 at $70,545, which is 36 percent above the national median and is home to two of the top 10 counties in the nation for median household income. Among counties with a population of 20,000 or more, Howard County ranks third ($101,710) and Montgomery County 10th ($93,999).

The Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Combined Statistical Area (CSA) ranks third in total Effective Buying Income, with $237 billion among combined metro areas in the U.S. The CSA ranks fourth in total retail sales ($153 billion), and is home to 8.3 million residents.

Maryland has the second lowest poverty rate in the nation for 2008, with 8.1 percent of the population living in poverty, compared with 13.2 percent for the U.S. as a whole. The state ranks fourth among the states in per capita personal income ($48,285).

"Most Livable" towns and cities

Bethesda, Maryland ranks second and Baltimore eighth in Forbes’ ranking of “America’s Most Livable Cities.” The analysis is based on quality of life measures such as income, employment, cost of living and crime, for metropolitan areas with a population of 500,000 or greater. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Maryland, also places fourth among large metropolitan areas in a ranking of the safest places to live in the U.S. The ranking is based on crime, natural disaster risks, environmental hazards, life expectancy, job security and other factors that affect the security of an area.

Columbia/Ellicott City, Maryland has been ranked second by Money magazine among America’s “Best Places to Live” for 2010. For 2009, smaller towns were ranked, and two Maryland communities, Eldersburg and Mt. Airy, placed in the top 100. Cities and towns were ranked on such quality-of-life factors as good jobs, low crime, quality schools, open space, reasonable home prices, and recreational and cultural activities.

The Arts

Maryland has made unprecedented investment in the enhancement of the arts, ranking second in per capita arts spending in the nation. According to a study by the nonprofit organization, Americans for the Arts, Washington D.C. ranks fourth among large cities in the number of arts-related employees per capita, and ninth in the number of arts businesses per capita.

Health and Wellness

For the 20th consecutive year, Johns Hopkins Hospital ranks first in the U.S. News and World Report honor roll of best hospitals in the nation, demonstrating outstanding competence in 15 specialties. Maryland ranks second among the states in active physicians per 100,000 population, with over 23,300 doctors statewide.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Maryland ranks sixth nationally, and is the highest ranked state in the eastern United States. The Well-Being Index is based on over 40 questions providing an overall composite based on six individual and interrelated indicators of well being, including life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access.

External links

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