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How does Charles County fit into the information technology boom that has propelled
the metropolitan Washington economy? Business Development Advisors (BDA) and the
Charles County EDC (CCEDC) took a close look at the local economy and regional
industry trends to find out.
We learned that Charles County currently occupies a specific niche in the information
technology (IT) industry, specializing in supporting privately-held computer and
engineering services firms serving a regional customer base. As a result of this
analysis, the CCEDC is beginning implementation of a long-term, focused marketing
strategy to build on and expand its IT business base.
Charles County and Information Technology
BDA and CCEDC began our effort by assessing the local business base to determine the
current presence and types of information technology companies in the County. Then we
conducted a survey of those firms to learn more about the characteristics of the County's
information technology companies.
These analyses revealed the following profile of companies that find Charles County
an attractive business location.
- Engineering services, custom computer programming, and computer solutions (systems design) consistently emerge as the County's leading concentrations of technology businesses.
- Most IT businesses in the County are small, private operations. For example, while the largest business responding to our survey has 265 employees, median employment is seven.
- 60% of businesses responding to our survey started in Charles County, while the remainder primarily moved from within the DC area. The leading reason cited for locating in Charles County is proximity to executives' homes.
- 60% of survey respondents do business with the federal government, and 60% describe their customer base as regional (includes southern Maryland, Maryland, and the DC area).
Location Attributes
BDA then examined several key location attributes to determine how well the County is
positioned to support IT business growth. Our findings indicate that Charles County has
a number of location strengths that are important to IT businesses, including quality
of life, customer access and business climate. Cost of doing business also appears to
be a strength. In addition, CCEDC provides a focused and professional economic development
effort with solid political backing that will be important in implementing a successful
business expansion and attraction program.
There are also some shortcomings that need to be improved. For example, the County lacks
an image in the image-conscious information technology community, which will hinder
attraction efforts in the near-term. Other reported weaknesses are fewer service options
in telecommunications compared to other communities in the region and a lack of available
and appropriate office and flex space.
CCEDC is already taking steps to improve all three of these areas. An aggressive marketing
plan is being developed that includes an emphasis on image development for the County. An
effort is also underway to identify specific shortcomings in telecommunications options
and means for improving service and access. Finally, the County is supporting a number of
development options to increase office and flex space in the County to serve new and
expanding information technology businesses.
Implications
Given the competition in this region for IT businesses, it is important for Charles County
to implement a focused and sustained marketing effort to appeal to targeted businesses. It
is also important to base the marketing effort on the location attributes that are most
important to IT businesses in selecting their operating locations. BDA has recommended a
two-pronged approach:
- Charles County must continue to address the lack of appropriate office or flex space and concerns about telecommunications services. A plan for enhancing these factors must be part of any marketing strategy for information technology business development and attraction.
- Charles County should pursue two avenues for disseminating its marketing message: a general image campaign (already underway) and a more targeted campaign to provide relevant business information to identified information technology companies.
With this assessment and the follow-on marketing strategy, Charles County is poised to expand its niche in the regional IT market.
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