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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