TODAY'S COLUMNS Maryland Weekly Outlook – Tourism and travel, already on the increase, sets stage for more

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The following information is provided to The Daily Record by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development for publication in our Monday edition.

Business climateThe State of Maryland’s general obligation bonds received a Triple-A bond rating from all three bond rating agencies — Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch — on July 26. In awarding the rating, the agencies noted the State’s healthy and diverse economy as reasons for its superior financial rating. On July 31, the State sold $531,635,000 million in State of Maryland General Obligation Bonds at a historically low interest rate of 3.54 percent.TransportationSouthwest Airlines, already the largest carrier to fly out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport, announced plans to possibly triple the number of flights through BWI within the next three years. BWI currently handles 11 percent of Southwest’s total flying hours, 12 percent of its customer base and 12.5 percent of the company’s annual revenues. As part of their expansion in Maryland, the no-frills airline could open as many as 26 new gates by early 2005 and another five gates by the end of the year. Within the last year Southwest has increased staffing at BWI by about 20 percent. The airline’s expansion could bring about an additional 250 daily departures when it’s completed in 2005.TourismMarylanders spent $174.4 million dollars on taxable entertainment during the final quarter of FY 2002 — an increase of 11 percent since the 4th quarter of FY 2001 — according to the Maryland State Comptroller’s office. The most significant increase was seen in sports entertainment, which registered an increase of $61.6 million dollars, or 13 percent, from the 3rd quarter. Film entertainment also showed notable improvement, with a $30 million dollar or 14 percent increase during the 3rd quarter.FY 2002 had a difficult start with entertainment spending down 2.5 percent for the 1st quarter. An already slow economy compounded by decreased consumer confidence following September 11th contributed to the earlier declines.ArtsPyramid Atlantic, an organization that creates, presents and promotes hand papermaking, printmaking, and book arts, has been awarded a $200,000 matching grant from the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund. The organization has also received a $100,000 interest subsidy from the Maryland Competitive Advantage Financing Fund. Pyramid Atlantic will use DBED’s financing to support the creation of a new facility to house Pyramid’s permanent home and its site for electronic media, a gallery and lecture hall. The total cost of the project is $4.3 million.Biotech20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. received awards totaling $300,000 this month from three agencies that promote the biotechnology industry in Maryland: The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, MdBio, Inc., and The Maryland Technology Development Corporation.DBED issued a $100,000 Challenge Investment to 20/20 GeneSystems after the company successfully tested its image analysis software. 20/20 also received a $150,000 Project Accelerator Award from MdBio, Inc. that will be used to help the company expand its manufacturing capacity over the next 18 months. And the Maryland Technology Development Corporation has agreed to invest up to $50,000 to support a collaboration between 20/20 and the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute.Launched in late 2001, the company has sold its proprietary product to nearly 500 drug companies and biomedical research institutes in over 10 countries.

The Maryland Weekly Outlook is provided by the State Department of Business and Economic Development. Please submit inquiries to: Mary Knotts, communications manager, [email protected]. The Weekly Outlook is posted on DBED’s Web site, www.choosemaryland.org.