Last year was a humdinger for economic growth in Anne Arundel County.
Job creation more than doubled: 3,225 positions were added to Anne Arundel's employment base, compared to 1,450 in 1993. All told, 101 companies expanded or moved to the county. The new year, too, has begun on a promising note. Five companies announced plans last month to locate in Anne Arundel or expand their existing facilities. These moves are expected to create 80 additional employment slots.
This good news for Anne Arundel helps compensate for jobs lost in the downsizing of such major, defense-related employers as Westinghouse's big plant in Linthicum. The new growth also has done wonders to the office real estate market, particularly around Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Vacancies are down markedly. In Annapolis, office demand now exceeds supply, pushing up rents.
A look at the five companies making moves last month reveals a healthy variety of niches: Inlingua Schools of Language, which opened an office in Odenton, is a branch of a Swiss company that teaches languages and offers translation service throughout the world. PPG Industrial Auto Coating Division opened a national training center in the Cromwell Business Park near the airport. A staff of 15 will conduct 30 to 40 classes a year for an estimated 700 technicians.
American Communications Services Inc., a growing long-distance telephone company, is moving its corporate headquarters from Chicago to the National Business Park at Annapolis Junction. The other two companies are expanding existing operations in Anne Arundel County. One is Madison Warehouse Corp. The second firm is Particle Technology, which develops and manufactures powders used in advanced ceramics for semiconductor components.
Add to this eclectic mix that 300 jobs that are expected to be created this spring when Wal-Mart opens in the mammoth warehouse store vacated by Leedmark in Glen Burnie.
Anne Arundel County's main draw continues to be its location. It is convenient to Baltimore and to Washington, as well as to one of the nation's fastest-growing airports. The more varied Anne Arundel's job base, the less vulnerable it will be to economic downturns in a given sector. The county, and state, learned that lesson the hard way these past five years.