County Executive Jan Gardner today announced that Frederick County is expected to have the fastest percentage of change in employment growth in the state of Maryland through 2024. Projections by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation show Frederick County jobs growing by 9.2 percent, or 9,375 jobs.
“It’s clear that we mean business in Frederick County and that Frederick County is a great place to do business,” commented Executive Gardner. “Having a job is fundamental to having a high quality of life. These projections are testament to Frederick County’s diverse and vibrant economy.”
According to DLLR, the Information Industry overall is projected to see significant growth in Frederick County according to this latest data. Internet service providers, web management and data processing services are projected to create a high number of new jobs through 2024, with a 3.8 percent increase expected.
Executive Gardner said Frederick County is poised to take advantage of the opportunity to grow IT and technology jobs. The county started working to meet the needs of a workforce focused on information technology and innovation. Root, a county-owned building at 118 North Market Street, is currently under renovation in downtown Frederick to house a new business incubator focused on IT start-ups and tech businesses. Root also houses economic development offices for the county and its partners. The business incubator will be the second one operated by the Frederick Innovative Technology Center.
In the past two years, Frederick County has added more than 4,000 jobs across nine different industry sectors. For the first time, the number of jobs in the county topped 100,000 last year. Year after year, the county sees improvement in the unemployment rate annually below four percent, lower than in the state and nation.
The county’s commercial vacancy rate hit a five-year low at 9 percent in 2016 as compared to 14.4 percent in 2012. Investment in commercial and industrial projects this year has more than doubled what the county saw during the same period in 2014. Building permits for all types of construction are also up substantially – 3,800 permits so far this year as compared to 2,800 during the same period three years ago.
For more information, contact Deputy Director Heather Gramm, Office of Economic Development, at 301-600-1058 or via e-mail at hgramm@FrederickCountyMD.gov.