Maryland’s top two leaders on Tuesday visited Rockville-based biotechnology firm Human Genome Sciences, in the process touting a bill they will sign into law to create a statewide life sciences advisory board.
With the advisory board, Maryland can make even greater strides to become the next Silicon Valley, business leaders said during a discussion before Gov. Martin O’Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown toured the state-of-the-art facility.
But becoming the Silicon Valley of the East brings with it a new host of problems, most notably attracting entry-level employees who can afford the extremely high cost of living in areas like Montgomery County.
Joe Hernandez, president and CEO of Innovative Biosensors Inc., relayed this precise concern when he told the governor he has had less trouble finding prepared graduates from the University of Maryland and beyond, and more trouble convincing them they can make end’s meet.
To this, O’Malley responded that high living expenses are, unfortunately, the price Marylanders have to pay to enjoy such a tremendous quality of life.
“This is going on not only in Maryland,” he said. “Everywhere the gap between the very wealthy and the very poor is widening … it’s our responsibility to do our part to cope with that.”
He also stressed hopes to work on improving all areas of life in the state — including education, the environment and transportation — so as to “create a place of choice for these highly skilled people that have lots of choices.”
In terms of the biosciences industry, Maryland has made major strides in the past few years, with more than 380 companies calling the state home and employing a total of 30,000 workers.
Of these jobs, 60 percent are located in Montgomery County. County Executive Ike Leggett at least partially credits this to a burgeoning network of county incubators designed to help start-up companies.
The companythat played host to the business and government leaders, HGS, has been open since 1992 and employs about 800 people.
According to CEO and President Tom Watkins, the company recently added on new facilities to manufacture drugs that treat Hepatitis C and lupus as well as a wing devoted to a contract it has with the Department of Defense to come up with 20,000 doses of therapeutic treatment for anthrax exposure.
