Economic Development Week Runs Through Oct. 23 In Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Economic Development Week runs Oct. 19-23 in Howard County, designed to highlight businesses, resources and the economic climate. This year marks the 10th annual recognition. The Howard County Economic Development Authority highlights five businesses this week that relocated or expanded in Howard County in the past few months during the coronavirus pandemic.

Larry Twele, chief executive officer of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, said the coronavirus pandemic has created an "unprecedented need for business support."

“While we have devoted much of our resources to providing this critically needed assistance, we have also continued to work to bring new businesses and jobs into the county,” he said. “We celebrate our recent attraction and expansion success and will continue to work to bring new opportunity to the county while maintaining the highest level of support to our existing businesses.”

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball noted that the business community is "facing one of the most challenging economic times ... and it’s critical that we provide support to our businesses and keep our economy trending towards recovery.”

“With the launch of our HoCo RISE Business grants, we have focused considerably on ensuring our businesses have the resources to keep employees and customers safe moving forward, and they have the financial support to weather this storm. We must continue these efforts to foster a strong and prosperous business community for Howard County for many years to come," Ball said.

Cavalier Logistics – Cavalier is a global logistics company specializing in cold room storage and transport of sensitive drugs, clinical trial supplies and vaccines for the bio and pharma industries. They have been located on Dorsey Run Road in Jessup since 2017 in a 42,000-square-foot facility with 25 employees. In late spring, with the assistance of HCEDA, they expanded to a second location with 87,000 square feet and 12 employees for additional cold room storage capacity. Once complete, they expect to expand to a third location in Howard County.

Cleary Packaging – In 2018, Vince Cleary left his Howard County business to begin Cleary Packaging. Setting up shop in Linthicum, the business quickly grew, expanding beyond his facility’s current capacity. When given the choice of where to grow and expand, Cleary decided to return to Howard County and bring his new business. With the assistance of the HCEDA, Cleary Packaging and their 25 employees relocated into 33,000 square feet of space in Savage where they plan to continue to grow the business.

Freshly – Freshly first connected with HCEDA to explore Howard County as a potential location in the middle of the 2016 Ellicott City flood response. In quick order, they agreed on the former site of Costal Sunbelt at 8704 Bollman Place in Savage. After an extended upgrade of the facility estimated at $32 million, they were scheduled to hire 500 employees. Freshly has quickly grown, despite the pandemic, to a staff of 821 employees since opening in the fall of 2019.

Hatch Exhibits – Hatch Exhibits designs and builds custom trade show booths and exhibits and serves clients internationally. They opened five years ago in Elkridge, Howard County. With contracts signed, Hatch Exhibits was gearing for their most successful year yet, when they were forced to close their 35,000-square-foot facility on March 19 and furlough their 25 employees. That following weekend, upon learning of the extreme lack of PPE supplies across the country, they brought a few designers in to prototype gowns and shields. By Monday, they were sending out samples, and within a week, their team of 25 people was back to work. With funding from the Maryland’s Innovation Grant, they repurposed their equipment and efficiently scaled up production. Hatch reinvested itself and now produces hundreds of thousands of pieces of PPE for large institutions and the public in general. They have also expanded their business to include digital media and streaming, utilizing in house professional expertise. So far, they have secured orders to 2022, have leased an additional 35,000 square feet to house a media production studio, and expect to hire 100 new employees within a year. Of more than 400 companies in their line of business, only 14 or so are surviving - Hatch is one of them.

JJ McDonnell – JJ McDonnell is a fresh seafood distributor that had been located in Howard County at the Maryland Food Center Authority for 32 years. In 2016, based on increasing demand, they moved their operations to a new 60,000-square-foot facility at 7010 Brookdale Road in Elkridge with support from HCEDA. Originally impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, they saw a reduction in staff and a need to pivot base on the limited market with their restaurant base. They entered into the prepackaged seafood market for retail and have rebounded from a reduced staff of 122 employees to a staff of 160 staff.