Dennis Donovan
The BWI Business District is one of Maryland’s key economic corridors. Its borders are within the following parameters.
Interstate 97: East
Interstate 95: West
Route 32/Fort Meade: South
Route 695 (TheBeltway)/UMBC: North
The Corridor’s two major economic pillars, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and Fort Meade, have spawned an impressive private sector industry base. Prominent sectors include defense, aerospace and logistics. Additionally, many businesses (e.g., retail, accommodations and food services) support the Corridor’s economic engines.
An equally impressive array of the location’s attributes exists in this area. They include the following.
• Proximity to Washington and Baltimore
• Superior transportation infrastructure including highways, mass transit (e.g., the Mass Transit Administration’s Light Rail) and inter-modal services afforded by BWI Marshall
• Technology commercialization and the labor pool augmentation due to Fort Meade
• Close proximity to the airport to provide ready access for business visitors
• Several high-end business parks to accommodate a wide array of industries
These powerful assets have led to creation of emerging industry sectors beyond those noted above, including bioscience, software and electronics.
Fort Meade, also the home of the National Security Agency (NSA), represents the largest employer at 25,000 civilian workers, many in high tech fields. The post includes 10,000 military personnel and 6,000 family members. Its primary mission is Department of Defense intelligence training. NSA is among 78 tenant organizations based on post.
Importantly, Fort Meade emerged as a winner in the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative. Due to activities to be sited on post, an estimated 22,000 new jobs (on- and off-post, combined) will be created.
At the Corridor’s northern end, many companies operate out of BWI Marshall. These include major passenger airlines, air cargo carriers, freight forwarders, cold storage operations, customs brokers, warehouse/break-bulk facilities and several government agencies. The airport accounts for a workforce of about 10,000.
Given the brainpower associated with Fort Meade and BWI, it’s not surprising that the Corridor has become a hotbed for entrepreneurial activity. It emanates from spinoffs (entrepreneurs working for government or corporations that leave to start their own enterprises) or companies that are formed to service economic activities already present in the Corridor. A stellar example is Oceanic Biosciences, which was founded by a former Merrill Lynch employee.
To accommodate physical requirements of new and expanding businesses, a number of first class office/industrial parks have been established throughout the Corridor. These parks are situated close to talent pools, transportation resources, amenities and attractive communities with superb quality of life attributes.
A sample of these business parks includes the following.
• BWI Technology Park
• Anne Arundel Business Park
• Baltimore Commons Business Park
• Cromwell Business Park
• Anne Arundel Mills Corporate Park
• Annapolis Junction Business Park
• Meade Center
• Odenton Town Square
Another draw for the Corridor is proximity to well regarded colleges/universities in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metro areas. These include UMBC, the University of Maryland and The Johns Hopkins University. The ability to recruit talent from prestigious university campuses is another asset for the Corridor, which will continue to be a linchpin in Anne Arundel County’s economy, and it will remain attractive for new companies, especially those in high-technology fields. It will also witness more innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Corridor’s appeal would be further strengthened if Maryland’s business climate improves, mainly in the areas of taxation, legal liability and regulation.
Dennis Donovan is a principal of Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting (WDGC), a corporate site selection firm based in Bridgewater, N.J. WDGC specializes in global site selection, primarily for Fortune 1000 companies. He can be reached at DDonovan@wdgconsulting.com.
