Harford County's Office of Economic Development is celebrating local businesses during the office's ninth annual Business Appreciation Week which began Monday and runs through Friday.The annual event comes up at a time, however, when some business leaders in the county are starting question the efforts being put forth by the local government in trying to bring new businesses to the county, questioning if County Executive Barry Glassman's slogan "Harford is Open for Business" has any bite."Events will reinforce the value of a strong business community and spotlight Harford County's resources to help businesses thrive," an announcement from the Glassman's administration states. "Throughout the week, county leaders will visit more than 60 companies to recognize their successes and commemorate business anniversaries ranging from one year to nearly 140 years.""Harford County businesses are essential to our quality of life," the county executive is quoted in the announcement. "In addition to providing goods and services we need and want, businesses create jobs and give back to the community. To help them succeed, my administration is streamlining processes and reaching out with resources year round. We are also proud to support Business Appreciation Week. We want businesses to know they are welcome in Harford County.""Doing business in Harford County is a good business decision," said Karen Holt, Harford's economic development director, who called Business Appreciation week a "high octane" version of her office's year-round efforts to support local businesses and publicize their successes."Our goal is to support local companies as they grow here in Harford, acclaim their successes and help mitigate issues that would impact their ability to flourish," she said.Among the services offered by Holt's office are finance programs, workforce technical training grants, site selection, small business start-up support and other services through company visits, seminars, workshops, and a free monthly e-newsletter, Biz Bytes, according to a county news release.Upon taking office in late 2014, Glassman pledged to make economic development a top priority. Harford, whose economy has long depended on new housing construction, was hard-hit by the industry's collapse in the 2008-09 recession. In addition, the economic gains projected from the last national base realignment, or BRAC, favoring Aberdeen Proving Ground were not as great as projected.Top leadership in the Office of Economic Development was replaced by the new Glassman administration, with Holt, who had been in charge of a sub agency working with BRAC, moving into the top job.The agency's headquarters was moved from Bel Air to a location between Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, the intent being to have new business recruitment activities close to the main distribution/manufacturing corridor along Route 40 and to the Aberdeen Proving Ground defense contractor nexus.Glassman, with county council backing, imposed the first lodging tax in the county's history, 6 percent, with the revenue going to support a variety of local nonprofits that promote tourism activities in the county. He also privatized the county's tourism promotion operations into a non-profit called Visit Harford, whose operations are largely funded through the lodging tax.Glassman also pledged to make it easier for developers, builders and home owners to negotiate the county permits and approval process, and there have been a number of changes in that regard, including the opening of Permits Center on the first floor of the main county office building in Bel Air and an online e-permit service.The county executive was aggressive in lobbying the County Council last fall to change uses permitted on a 111-acre tract at the I-95/Route 543 interchange in the Riverside/Belcamp area in an effort to get a stalled mixed office and residential project moving. More than 10 months later, however, the project, formerly known as James Run Corporate Center, has yet to break ground.Some of the grumbling about the county administration's business recruitment efforts has surfaced since last month's announcement by the European grocer Lidl that it will build a regional headquarters and distribution center near Perryville in neighboring Cecil County, a $100 million project which Harford officials say they had no chance at because Lidl wanted to be more equidistant between the Philadelphia and Baltimore seaports and airports and was not interested in looking south of the Susquehanna River. The company is planning to open its first U.S. stores in the Middle Atlantic region between 2017 and 2018.Conversely, Frito-Lay is moving forward with a major expansion of its snack food plant in Aberdeen, a $60 million project that, like Lidl's in Cecil, is getting state incentives."We feel we have been doing a lot of good through our various efforts," Cindy Mumby, Glassman's chief spokesperson, said Monday. "We opened a stand alone permits center and started e-permits, and we have received positive feedback on those processes."Mumby said the administration also feels it has been "more responsive" to the needs of the business community, which had long complained it was too time consuming and expensive to get approvals for construction projects through the county.The 2016 Harford County Business Appreciation Week schedule includes:Monday - A hospitality luncheon for hoteliers, hosted in partnership with Visit Harford to recognize the hotels' support for tourism as an economic engine.Tuesday - Visits to Churchville businesses and joint visits with city officials to companies in Aberdeen and Havre de Grace.Wednesday - A breakfast for business leaders in Bynum Run Business Park, Forest Hill Business Park, and Forest Hill Airpark, followed by visits to area companies.Thursday - Visits to Abingdon businesses and joint visits with town officials to companies in Bel Air. Economist Anirban Basu, chairman & CEO of Sage Policy Group, will facilitate a focus group roundtable with Susquehanna Workforce Network at a luncheon hosted by OED. The focus group will identify workforce issues among the region's employers of 75 or more individuals.Thursday evening – The Harford Awards, an event from the Harford County Chamber of Commerce to recognize outstanding local businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofits, will be held at Water's Edge Events Center in Belcamp.Friday - Company visits in the Route 40 corridor in Edgewood and Joppatowne. A meet-and-greet Friday evening at Independent Brewing Company in Bel Air, with support from York Insurance Services, Inc., will celebrate Harford County's burgeoning farm brewery industry, made possible through legislation initiated Glassman's administration.