Ten years ago, the Maryland economy ranked 44th in the U.S.;
today it ranks 12th and is still climbing. State officials think
they have found the recipe for steady, sustainable growth.

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n Gaithersburg, Md., a company that did not exist 15 years ago is charting a course of economic growth that closely resembles that of its home state. Like Maryland, corporate citizen MedImmune Inc. is making a name for itself in the suddenly hot industry of biotechnology.
      On May 7, MedImmune announced plans to begin construction on a new corporate headquarters for the company in Gaithersburg in Montgomery County. The company said it will spend US$70 million to build a 210,000-sq.-ft. (19,530-sq.-m.) facility that will house research, development, marketing and administration. The biotechnology firm, which started in Gaithersburg in 1988, conducts groundbreaking research and develops new products in areas such as infectious disease, immune regulation and cancer.
      "We looked at about 20 different sites from the Frederick area of Maryland all the way to Virginia. From a location standpoint, we wanted a property that would meet our planning horizon of 20 to 30 years," says Melvin D. Booth, president and CEO of MedImmune. "Since its inception, MedImmune has enjoyed a great relationship with the state of Maryland, Montgomery County and the city of Gaithersburg."
      Ten years ago, few if any corporate executives were optimistic. In 1991, Maryland's economy ranked a dismal 44th in the nation. Lacking a strong base of industrial manufacturing jobs, the state's economy was dependent largely on the white-collar employment opportunities offered at colleges and universities and several federal agencies. When the nationwide economic recession hit in the early 1990s, the future didn't look bright.
      And then came the decade that no one could have predicted. Riding the wave of the largest peacetime economic expansion in the nation's history, Maryland discovered that it had the seeds of financial prosperity growing right in its midst all along. They were called the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and Johns Hopkins University.
      These three institutions would form a triumvirate that would launch "DNA Alley" -- a biotechnology boom along a stretch of Interstate 270 through Montgomery County. By the end of the 1990s, the Maryland economy would climb from 44th to 12th in America. The state would become the third largest in biotechnology jobs. It would produce the fifth highest per capita income of all 50 states. It would have the fourth highest share of people over age 25 holding bachelor's degrees.
      Other signs of the state's fiscal progress abound. The state government recorded a $1 billion surplus in 2000 and is on track to realize a $385 million surplus this year. Maryland has the fifth highest software services employment in the nation. The state ranks first in Ph.D.'s in biological sciences and second in computer sciences. Johns Hopkins ranks first nationwide in graduate biomedical engineering and public health degrees.
      The decade of unparalleled growth also brought a bounty to its 5.2 million residents. Maryland residents enjoy the highest median household income in the nation. Their poverty rate is the lowest in America.