Frederick County Minority Business Vision Quarterly Forum Highly Attended

Over 60 people came together yesterday for a quarterly forum to help bring Frederick County's minority business community together. Potential and aspiring minority business owners, minority entrepreneurs and economic development and chamber partners packed the New Dimensions Worship Center in Frederick to hear speakers from the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs, Frederick County Bank and the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce present on topics geared towards increasing business growth opportunities for minority businesses. 

The Frederick County Minority Business Vision is an initiative of the Frederick County Office of Economic Development and programs include quarterly forums and monthly networking events dedicated to sharing information for potential and aspiring minority business owners and minority entrepreneurs.

From Left to Right: OED's Helen Propheter, Elizabeth Chung - Asian American Center of Frederick, OED's Sherman Coleman, Elizabeth Cromwell - Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and Jorge Ribas - Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Presenters for the event from the State of Maryland included: April Williams, Outreach Manager, Governor's Office of Minority Affairs; Cristen Ervin, Training & Outreach Coordinator, Maryland Dept of General Services; and LaCheryl E. Jones, Public Relations & Outreach Manager, Small and Minority Business Programs, Minority Dept of Transportation. Topics covered the Minority Business Enterprise Program, eMaryland Marketplace, Small Business Reserve Program, Procurement Forecasting within the State of Maryland and more.  The second part of the forum included a presentation by Clark Briggs,Vice President/Business Development Officer for Frederick County Bank who spoke on topics such as Business Banking and How Credit Matters. Elizabeth Cromwell from the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce wrapped up the event with the benefits of attending business card exchanges.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, 92% of people who filled out an exit survey rated the event an 8 or higher. Attendance at this event surpassed the first event which was held in May. To view more photos from this event, please view the Facebook page. Plans are underway for the next monthly networking event to be held in celebration of Economic Development Week in Maryland for October 1st from 5-7pm at Cafe 611. For more information, please contact Sherman Coleman at scoleman@frederickcountymd.gov or call 301-600-2137.

GROW: Volume 5

This series is part of a blog series about Frederick County businesses that grow and expand. It is a snapshot of Frederick County business success stories. Check back each month for more businesses that grow in Frederick County or read Volumes 1, 2 ,3 and 4.

Talon Construction
Talon Construction specializes in residential construction services (new homes, additions and major renovations) and has been in Frederick since 2002 when they began with just 7 employees. The three owners all had construction and contracting businesses prior to that in Frederick for well over 2 decades. In 2 years, they doubled their revenue and in 2007, Inc Magazine ranked Talon Construction #1004 on the 5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S.

When the construction market slowed down in subsequent years, Talon Construction continued to focus on quality and ethics winning Frederick County Builder Association Awards of Excellence,  Chamber of Commerce Awards and Mid-Maryland Chapter, National Association of the Remodeling Industry awards. In 2008, Talon Construction employed 10 people and had gross revenues of $2.5 million. Today they employ 17 people and are featured as an Angie’s List A rated company.

Talon Construction has won Frederick Magazine’s Best of Frederick for Home Improvement and Remodeling for 8 years in a row.

Welocalize 

Welocalize is a multinational company headquartered in provides language localization services that began in 1995 with 12 employees in Frederick. Welocalize now has over 600 employees worldwide and 13 global offices in the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and China.

The firm has been awarded Inc. Magazine's Inc. 500/5000 Award 10 years in a row (2005–2014), Deloitte and Touche's Technology Maryland Fast 50 award eight years in a row (2001–2008),  Deloitte and Touche's Technology National Fast 500 Award four years in a row (2006–2009).

In 2014, they reported 3 year growth at 96% and revenue of $118.3 million. In 2010, their revenue was $60.3 million. From 2010-2013, Welocalize added 190 jobs all over the world.

In 2015, Welocalize was presented with the World Trade Center Institute’s 2015 Maryland International Business Leadership Award by Governor Hogan.

Woodsboro Bank
In 1899, the Woodsboro Savings Bank was chartered and a three-story commercial building was erected on North Main Street. It was fitted with the latest technology at the time, including innovative fire and burglar-proof vaults.

In 1984, the bank constructed a two-story annex at the rear of the building, and, in 1989, a one-story addition was added with a drive-up window. In 1999, a W. Patrick St location opened and in 2001, another location opened on Guilford Dr. In 2006, the bank bought a 2,800-square-foot location on Carroll Creek Way which houses the bank’s commercial and credit departments. The bank also expanded to branches in Thurmont in 2008 and Frederick.

Now with seven locations and 65 employees, Woodsboro Bank has assets in excess of $240 million and total capital of $19 million. As of March 31, 2015, Bankrate.com states Woodsboro Bank exhibits a sound condition, characterized by lower than normal overall, sustainable profitability, a very high measure of asset quality, below standard capitalization and seemingly ample liquidity.

Engage, Inc
Originally launched as Cashbox, a lockbox company in 2000 with just a few employees and a single client, the company was renamed Engage in 2009 to reflect the company’s growing database marketing, production, and consulting practice.

For much of the past decade, Engage has been listed by Inc. Magazine as one of Washington, D.C.’s “top 100 companies” the nation’s “top 5000 companies,” and formerly as one of the “fastest growing companies” in its early years. With a staff of over 85 employees, Engage specializes in fundraising for nonprofit organizations through direct mail and is headquartered on Highland St, Frederick. In 2012, the company reported sales of $8.4 million and a three-year growth of 292%.

Money Magazine Names Urbana Among Best Places to Live in the U.S.

Villages of Urbana - Named the 2009 Best Selling Community in Maryland 

Money magazine ranked the 50 Best Places to Live in the the U.S.—places with great jobs, strong economies, affordable homes, excellent schools, and that special something that makes it a great place to live. Urbana, MD came in at #35.

With a population of 11,154 residents in the Urbana area, a median household income of $120,909 and job growth at 6.2% according to Money's calculations, the Urbana area economy is touted as "booming" where "work opportunities abound".

This year, The Washington Post named Urbana High School as one of the D.C. Area's Most Challenging High Schools. Students at Urbana High earned the highest combined mean score on the SAT (1605) and the highest percentage of seniors taking the SAT (88.8%). 

To read the full list, please click here.

OED Showcasing Frederick County at MACo

The Frederick County Office of Economic Development is partnering today with our Frederick County Government Executive team to showcase Frederick County at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Summer Conference. Over 220 exhibitors and an estimated 2,000 local government officials, county staff decision-makers, legislators, business representatives, and exhibitors will convene through August 15 in Ocean City, MD.  Participants at the conference will learn about the current economy from the local government perspective, how economic growth can be fostered and improve the business climate, and the strategic partners available to us at all levels of government so that we can work together and make significant strides towards a healthier economic outlook for Maryland.

Recruiting Businesses for Business Appreciation Week

It's the most wonderful time of the year in Frederick County! Business Appreciation Week is almost here and we want to help you get the word out about your company's products and services.

The Frederick County Office of Economic Development is hosting the 15th Annual Business Appreciation Week (BAW) from October 19-23, 2015. A small group of local ambassadors will make short visits lasting 20-30 minutes to companies like yours all week long. We want to hear about your business, thank you for being here, identify any concerns or potential issues you might have and help spread the word about how fantastic your company is.

Other benefits to participating in BAW 2015 are:

• Free press release service (a $250 value)
• Invitation to the County's Annual Business Reception in December, the biggest Frederick County business networking event of the year
• Potential to win company awards at the Annual Business Reception
• Inclusion in a free BAW advertisement in the Frederick News Post
• Promotion on social media during and after BAW
• Potential to win a Fitbit at the end of the week

This popular event fills fast so sign-up by September 4th and we'll contact you in September with the exact date and time of your visit. We are looking for companies we have not visited within the past three years.

Register here

See you in October!