Business Visit to the Plamondon Companies

Director of Economic Development Richard Griffin participated in a business retention visit at the Plamondon Companies with representatives of Frederick County including Commission President Blaine Young.  The Plamondon Companies employ several hundred in the Frederick area at Roy Rogers restaurants and Marriott hotels.  

Chamber of Commerce Holds CIty Business Update

The Chamber of Commerce held its annual City Business Update at City Hall with the Mayor Randy McClement and the Board of Aldermen.   The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development was highlighted along with other city departments.   Attending the event were Heather Gramm and Richard Griffin.   Frederick is home to 3,500 businesses and 49,000 employees.

2012 Frederick County Entrepreneur Council Annual Awards

The Entrepreneur Council of Frederick hosted its annual awards dinner with 185 in attendance at Linganore Wine Cellars.   Winning awards were Carl Zukus (CV Wallets), Julia Schillaci (Soapprizes),  Phil Bowers (Fountain Rock Management), Dr. Maria Higgins (Unique Optique), Rob and Debbie Truelove (Signs by Tomorrow), Jean-Lois LePlage (Custom Imprints), and Jim Caruso (Flying Dog Brewery).  Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development for the City  was on hand for the awards.

Five Questions with Richard Griffin, City Economic Development

1. What does your office do?

We are advocates for the 3,500 businesses and 49,000 employees who call Frederick home. We focus on retaining them and helping them expand. This means working on permitting, workforce, development policies and regulations, infrastructure and business incentives. Recruiting new businesses is also an important part of our strategy and requires that we engage with companies regionally and internationally. 

2. What is your department's biggest challenge?

National economics aside, the biggest challenge is infrastructure capacity and cost. Utilities are difficult for some businesses, and transportation is equally challenging. That said, we know that most communities in our region face these issues. Frederick is well positioned to deliver talented employees and top-notch buildings as the economy continues to improve. 

3. How do you promote Frederick to businesses?

Frederick is a unique community with an enviable quality of life. Once a business executive visits Frederick, we know that our chances of landing that company and keeping it here is high. We use our website at www.businessinfrederick.com, along with social media, advertising and trade shows to market Frederick. 

4. What is the biggest company you've landed?

More than 97 percent of Frederick's businesses are small, entrepreneurial shops. We are fortunate to have larger companies like MedImmune, US Silica, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wegmans, Charles River Labs and others. Frederick's hi-tech business incubator has churned out over 200 jobs and dozens of businesses including Akonni Biosystems, WGS, Widearea Systems and Imagillin Technologies. All companies play a part in the Frederick economic ecosystem. 

5. How did you get involved in economic development?

I spent many years in city and regional planning in Greenville, S.C., Seattle, Frederick, and Leesburg. That evolved into becoming involved in urban revitalization as director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership and finally into my role at the City of Frederick as director of economic development for the past 10 years.

Networking for Small Business

Small businesses often depend on each other (b2b) networking and referrals for growth.   Frederick has a gem in RelyLocal, a locally owned Community Business Campaign which has the purpose to help strengthen small business owners and the local economy. Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development recently attended a Frederick RelyLocal networking event at the Cellar Door to connect with small Frederick based businesses.  Griffin offered that “Frederick has great resources for the small business owner – the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center as well as RelyLocal.”  Learn more about Frederick RelyLocal by checking out its website.

FORT DETRICK ALLIANCE TECH SHOWCASE EVENT AT FITCI A SUCCESS !

Technology was hot at last night’s Fort Detrick Alliance Annual Tech Showcase Event at the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. (FITCI).  Nearly 100 attendees representing business, Fort Detrick, and community leadership were in attendance at the premier technology event of the year.  Attendees were treated to tours of FITCI and opportunities to hear from current FITCI clients companies and successful graduate businesses like WGS Systems, Akonni Biosystems, Biaera Technologies, Imagillin Technologies and the National Cancer Institute’s Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratories.

The Fort Detrick Alliance President Dr. Jim Romano officiated the event and provided insight into the importance of Fort Detrick in the nation, region, and community as well as the impact of technology transfer into and out of the federal laboratories at Detrick and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.  Also recognized were the event sponsors – FITCI (Mike Dailey), TEDCO (Ron Kaese), and FDBDO (Steve Lamberson).  These sponsors provided critical in-kind and/or financial support for the event and each spoke for a few minutes about services provided by their organizations.  Special thanks to them since this event would not have been possible without their support.

Additionally special thanks goes to Kelly Miletich of the Fort Detrick Alliance who handled event logistics, Sherry Murray and Renee Wilson of FITCI who handled tours, client presentations, and registration, and Donna Goff of the City of Frederick Department of Economic Development who handled podium and PA system logistics.

Community leaders in attendance included Mayor Randy McClement, Alderwomen Kelly Russell and Karen Young, Fort Detrick Deputy Garrison Commander Eileen Mitchell and Helen Riddle, Acting Director of the Frederick County Business Development and Retention Division (BDRD). and Richard Griffin, Director Economic Development for the City of Frederick.

City of Frederick Awarded Community Legacy FY12 Funding

The City of Frederick was recently awarded $150,000 in grants through the State of Maryland’s Community Legacy program. The grant, spearheaded by the Department of Economic Development, will fund two major projects in the City of Frederick. DED is a full-service economic development department of the City of Frederick with the mission to create economic opportunity in the City through job creation, revitalization and reinvestment. To learn more visit www.businessinfrederick.com or call at 301-600-6360.
The Carroll Creek Park project received $100,000 in Community Legacy funds, to be used towards the section of the Park between Carroll and East Patrick Streets. The City will issue a Request for Proposals for construction of this remaining section of the Park this summer. Construction is slated to begin in early 2013.
The Downtown Frederick Façade Improvement Program, administered by the Downtown Frederick Partnership, received $50,000 in Community Legacy funds. The Façade Improvement Program helps businesses and property owners make improvements to their store fronts and building facades. To date, the program has provided $129,000 in matching funds to support façade improvements downtown Frederick. Painting, awnings, lighting and signage are some of the improvements that are reimbursable.
The Community Legacy program is administered through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The purpose of the program is to preserve existing communities as desirable places to live and conduct business and provide financial assistance to sponsors or designees for the development of Community Legacy projects.