Business Appreciation Week: Last Day- Frederick Area

It's the last day of Business Appreciation Week and we are sad to say that our week is almost over. This week has been insightful, enlightening and most of all, positive! Don't forget we have a Scavenger Hunt going on with chances to win a gift bag just by guessing the correct business! To play along and view photographs of where we have been so far, follow us on Facebook.

Today, our teams are visiting the Frederick areas including the unincorporated areas of Ijamsville, Libertytown, Point of Rocks as well as the Census-designated area of Urbana. Our travels today also take us to one of Frederick's major employers, our business incubator - Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc (FITCI), and to the thriving area of Riverside Research Park.

Here are some 'Did You Knows' about Business Incubators from the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA):

• Every 50 jobs created by an incubator client generate approximately 25 more jobs in the same community.
• 87 percent of all firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business.
• Incubators create jobs at a cost of about $1,100 each, whereas other publicly supported job creation mechanisms cost more than $10,000 per job created.

Urbana Facts:

• Population - 10,625 people
• Population growth rate 2010-2014 - 5.3%
• Home to major headquarters such as Fannie Mae, Banner Life Insurance and the Social Security Administration's Data Center

We have heard so many great things about doing business in Frederick County and we are looking forward to compiling our findings into a report to be available soon. To receive a copy of the report when it becomes available, please click here.

Business Appreciation Week: Day 4 - Areas of Brunswick, Middletown and Walkersville

Today's teams will be joining elected officials and main street managers from the City of Brunswick and the Town of Middletown as well as team of ambassadors who will be covering the Walkersville area.

Did you know?

• In 2014, Sperling's Best Places to Live named Brunswick as a Best Place to Live.
• The City of Brunswick markets its historic downtown, the railroad museum, and its access to the C&O Canal and Potomac River. There is also commuter rail access directly to Washington, D.C.
• A young Lieutenant George Washington surveyed the South Mountain area and commented that the Middletown Valley was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.
• Middletown is the birthplace of Charlie "King Kong" Keller, former major league baseball player for the NY Yankees and Detriot Tigers and 4x World Series champion.
• The Walkersville Southern Railroad offers regularly scheduled scenic train rides from the month of May through October. The train was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad that was built in 1872.

To view a map and listing of downtown Middletown businesses, please click here.
To view a listing of businesses in Walkersville, please click here.
To view a listing of downtown Brunswick businesses, please click here.

Business Appreciation Week: Day 3 - Downtown Frederick

Downtown Frederick contains a thriving commercial mix—from eclectic stores and restaurants to professional firms and organizations. Over 3,000 employees work in the Main Street area at nearly 700 businesses or organizations. In 2014, Livability.com ranked Downtown Frederick as the 6th best downtown in America and last year, CNN named Frederick as one of America's Best Small Town Comebacks.

Today, along with City of Frederick and Downtown Frederick Partnership ambassadors, we are appreciating our businesses that make up our unique and thriving Downtown Frederick!

To view a listing and a map of all Downtown Frederick businesses, please click here.

Business Appreciation Week: Day 2 - Areas of Thurmont and New Market/Linganore

Today's Business Appreciation Week teams will be visiting the areas of Thurmont and New Market/Linganore. The Town of Thurmont and Thurmont's Main Street Manager is joining us on today's visits to celebrate business in our towns!

Did You Know?

• Thurmont is home to the largest cascading waterfall in the state of Maryland (78 feet) Cunningham Falls and an old homestead can still be seen at the top of the Falls.
• Each year, over 125,000 people visit Thurmont for Catoctin Colorfest, which began in 1963, making it one of the largest festivals of its kind on the east coast. 
• New Market is considered the Antiques Capital of Maryland.
• John Vincent Atanasoff, Bulgarian-American inventor who lived and passed away in New Market, created the first binary computer, Atanasoff–Berry Computer while writing the concept in 1937 on a cocktail napkin after having a few glasses of scotch whiskey

Thurmont (21788 zip code) Facts:

• Population is 11,328
• Population growth rate from 2010-2014 is -0.32%
• 278 businesses

New Market (21774) Facts:

• Population is 12,8727
• Population growth rate from 2010-2014 is 1.9%
• 210 businesses

Business Appreciation Week: Day 1 - Frederick and Home Based Businesses

Today kicks off the first day of the 14th Annual Business Appreciation Week in Frederick County where we will be visiting over 100 businesses all week long with teams of economic development ambassadors!

It also happens to be Economic Development Week in the state of Maryland so this week, we are extending our gratitude for the businesses that make Frederick County a unique and prosperous place to live, work and play. Business Appreciation Week gives our office a chance to hear first hand from our businesses what it is like to do business in our County and gives us a new perspective on the many talents our companies possess.

Today we are visiting home-based businesses and companies in Frederick with the 21702 and 21703 zipcodes.

Home Based Businesses: Did you know?

• A New Home Based Business is started every 12 seconds
• There are 38 million Home Based Businesses in the USA
• 70% of the Home Based Business succeed within 3 years versus 30% of regular business
• 44% of Home Based Business are started for under $5,000
• 70% of Americans would prefer to be self-employed
• $427 billion per year is made by Home Based Business

About Frederick (zip code 21702)

• Population is 40,428 
• 1,058 business
• Population growth rate 2010-2014 is 0.8%

About Frederick (zip code 21703)

 

• Population is 34,017
• 725 businesses
• Population growth rate 2010-2014 is 0.47%

September's Monthly Business Economic Indicators Reflect Positive Trends

The Frederick County Business Development and Retention Department has just published the September edition of the Frederick County Monthly Business Economic Indicators. 

Highlights:

• Frederick County's Unemployment rate continues to stay below the State and National averages. 
• For August 2014, the unemployment rate was 5.6% in Frederick County compared to 6.6% in Maryland and 6.1% nationwide.
• The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation recently published 1st quarter 2014 employment and wage information and employment has grown 5% over the past five years.
• Industries that saw the most employment growth over the past 5 years were: Leisure and Hospitality (25%); Construction (23.4%) and Natural Resources and Mining (9.3%).
• Industries that added the highest number of new establishments were: Natural Resources and Mining (14.8%); Financial Activities (13.2%) and Leisure and Hospitality (11.3%).
• The average weekly wage per worker has grown 13% over the last 5 years to $964 per week.
• The residential housing market has seen a 23% increase in the number of housing units sold in September 2014 compared to this time last year. 
• There are also 29% more homes on the market.
• Commercial and Industrial permits remain steady compared to this time last year (718 year to date compared to 719 year to date in 2013). 
• September saw a large capital investment in commercial and industrial costs with almost $13 million, higher than the 5 year average of $11 million.

To download a PDF of this publication, please click here.

Thurmont's Festival of Trees and New Main Street Building Launch

The Thurmont Main Street Building has been renovated for use and ready to be launched to the public and the businesses in the main street district. What better time to do it than the lighting of the town for the holidays. The Thurmont Main Street organization would like to invite businesses, organizations and citizens to participate in the launching of the Main Street building with the Festival of Trees.

Each tree is available to be sponsored as follows:

Inside 6’ tree - $75
Inside Table top Tree - $50
Window 6’ Tree (only 4 available)- $100
Window Table Top Tree - $75

How to sponsor a tree?
Contact Vickie Grinder, Thurmont Main Street Manager, at VGrinder@thurmontstaff.com or
240-626-9980.
Come in and decorate your tree with a theme, to advertise your business/organization. The main street building will be open Monday and Thursday evenings at 5:30 pm in November to allow the sponsors in to decorate the trees. The trees will remain lighted through the month of December. The trees are not pre-lit so keep this in mind when planning your decorating scheme.

What's next? Join us on Saturday, November 29 at 6:00pm for the Festival of Trees lighting ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided by Thurmont Main Street. The building will be open on Saturday, December 6th during Christmas in Thurmont for the public to view all of the beautiful trees! 

Note: inappropriate or offensive themes will be removed at the discretion of Thurmont Main Street organization.