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Maryland

Maryland offers a wealth of assets for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including world acclaimed biotech companies, research institutes such as the National Institutes of Health, and a highly skilled workforce.

Qiagen N.V., a multinational biotechnology firm, announced in March 2000 that its manufacturing and research subsidiary, Qiagen Sciences, is locating its North American manufacturing and R&D headquarters on an 18-acre (7 hectare) site in Germantown, in Montgomery County. The county is in the heart of the state's rapidly growing biotechnology corridor.

The planned, 190,000-sq.-ft. (17,600-sq.-m.) facility will be arranged in a campus-like style and will accommodate over 200 employees in manufacturing as well as 100 in R&D by the beginning of 2002. Manufacturing is scheduled to begin in mid 2001.

"As in our other manufacturing operations, we also intend to combine our expertise in manufacturing with state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and quality standards to serve the needs of our customers in research and genomics and also diagnostics and gene therapy," says Michael W. Burgett, Qiagen vice president of operations.

Enterprise zones are playing an important role in enhancing economic development and job creation in Maryland's targeted revitalization areas. In January 2000, state officials decided to expand the already existing North Point Enterprise Zone in Baltimore County.

Maryland currently has 34 Enterprise Zones throughout the state. Businesses that move to Enterprise Zone areas are eligible for credits on their real estate taxes and employment taxes. Businesses already located in the Zones can receive tax breaks in exchange for creating new jobs and making capital investments.