TEAM MEMBERS:
Member: Danny DeMarinis
Mike Lara
Ken Lewis
Linda Tipton
Admin: Melissa Sadowski
Chair: Norman Gaither
*This report is respectfully submitted by Norman Gaither.
SWOT Analysis
The Technology Subcommittee
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SWOT Analysis of Cecil County's Technology Capacity, Exercises of Material Science and Technology
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Member: Danny DeMarinis Mike Lara Ken Lewis Linda Tipton Admin: Melissa Sadowski Chair: Norman Gaither
*This report is respectfully submitted by Norman Gaither.
SWOT Analysis
The Technology Subcommittee
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At the behest of the EDC and Lisa Webb‟s economic development team, the Technology Subcommittee
was formed with the goals of:
Providing support to the advancement of technology in the county
Working with partners and organizations to identify barriers to technology growth in the county
Making recommendations for improvements
Creating a Tech-Led Economic Development environment
Supporting a Tech Plan and Incubator Feasibility Study
Identifying methods to strengthen the county‟s Technology sector
Reviewing available technology resources (TEDCO, NMTC, etc..)
Working with the Finance Committee on Business Incentive Fund (such as Tech Training Grants)
As a first step in this process, the subcommittee met on October 8, 2012 at the Northeast Campus of Cecil
College to discuss a strategy for accomplishing the goals and objectives of this charge. At the request of Lisa
Webb we began our work with a SWOT analysis of the county as it relates to Technology. The team
assigned ownership for addressing each task. We agreed upon various methods of communicating our
progress and we established benchmarks and goals for our first draft of the SWOT.
This document represents the initial analysis of Cecil County‟s technology capacity as it pertains to the
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats we currently face in the county, and may face in the
foreseeable future.
The reports were summated by:
Norman Gaither – Strengths
Dr. Ken Lewis -Weaknesses
Danny DeMarinis – Opportunities
Mike Lara - Threats
OVERVIEW
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Available Locations for Technology Growth with Infrastructure in place
The county has a substantial amount square footage (over 500,000 sq ft.) available that currently has access
to all necessary infrastructures to support technology centers as well as technology support centers. The
following represents a listing of these buildings:
Location Common Name
Square
Footage
currently
Available
Classification
912 Appleton Rd. Former: Basell Polyolefins 158,790 Class C /Flex, R&D
189 Belle Hill Rd Cecil County Ind. Cluster 50,226 Class A /Service
101 Chesapeake Blvd Upper Chesapeake Corp. Center 6,000 Class B /Office
107 Chesapeake Blvd Upper Chesapeake Corp. Center 7,
Class B Flex/Light
Manufacturing
200 Elk Park Way-
Building 200
Cecil County Cluster (AKA 505
Blue Ball Rd)
12,000 Class B Office
205 Elk Park Way Triumph Industrial Park (Bldg 205) 20,000 Class C/Manufacturing
801 Elkton Blvd Cecil County Ind. Cluster 127,000 Class C/ Warehouse
40 Industrial Dr Peninsula Industrial Park 50,000 Class B/Manufacturing
10 Principio Pky Principio Business Park 36,000 Class B/ Flex
950 Principio Furnace
Rd.
Cecil County Ind. Cluster 28,000 Class B/Warehouse
80 Technology Dr./
Bldg 80
Cecil County Ind. Cluster 9,400 Class C/Warehouse
*Additional land is available for new construction as well.
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STRENGTHS - EDUCATION
Educated Work Force
The initial engagement by Cecil County School Systems to embracing the advancement of technology was in
January of 2003 under a study that evaluated the current status of Cecil County School System’s Career Technology
Education Programs. After the findings of that study Cecil County took up the charge of moving our programs and
student technology competencies forward. Quoting the 2005 initiative; “In April, 2005, Dr. Carl Roberts,
Superintendent of Cecil County Public Schools, authorized a Joint Commission consisting of Cecil County
Public Schools‟ teachers and administrators, Cecil Community College teachers and administrators, and business
leaders from the region to review the Cecil County Public Schools‟ Career Technology Education (CTE)
program from the perspective of workforce development needs and student interest.” The full report can be
viewed at www.ccps.org/Final%20Document.pdf.
Supporting organizations like BEPAC which provides business input to education, which in kind, assures
workforce readiness of students and demonstrates the strength of collaborative efforts between business and
education in the development and advancement of a strong technology based workforce.
Cecil County‟s Public School system is currently engaged in the „Common Core‟ curriculum. Their focus is
on three areas: Mathematics (Mathematical Practices), Reading (RELA – Reading, English, Language Arts),
and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). These initiatives provide the keys
elements that technology based companies consider when relocating or locating their firms -a well trained
skilled workforce.
Cecil County‟s School of Technology, located adjacent to Cecil College‟s Northeast campus, is successfully
engaged in a myriad of technology related programs that provide industry recognized certifications through
many of their programs. 1 They rank above the State averages in certifications (State= 65.3% -Cecil
=80.42%), percentages of on-time graduates (4 years)(State =95.72% -Cecil =99.1%) , EnglishII
(State=82.43 – Cecil =86.62%), and Algebra (State=86.6% -Cecil =95.07%). According to Mr. Lewis
Erbe, principle of Cecil County School of Technology, the awards students have accumulated include:
Middle States Accreditation, many State winners in SkillsUSA competition and FFA competitions
Clearly Cecil is gaining strength through its student body, instructors, and administrators of our technology
based efforts. And, clearly technology prowess leads to job creation opportunities and remains a huge
attracting force for tech companies looking to Cecil for solutions. According to 2 Bloomberg Business Week,
“Employers in all industries will favor workers with skill and education ranging from certificates earned at
community colleges to higher degrees.”
The School of Technology currently provides education in: Allied Health, Automotive Technology,
Exploratory Skills, Construction Trades, Computer Electronics Tech, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts,
Electrical Trades, Fire Science/EMS, Heavy Industrial Maintenance, HVAC/Plumbing, Individual Trade
(^1) Source: TimCorder Assistant Principle Cecil School of Technology
(^2) Business Week article: “Recoverny: Where will the jobs come from?” Chris Farrell July 15, 2009
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Discussions with Andrew Lubin of the STAR campus site development, supports the strength that Cecil County has for the development of an incubator program that could potential draw on the resource of the STAR programs in a regional approach to economic growth. Initial inventories of properties that are suitable for such a program (business incubators) are apparent (as noted within this report). The synergies of a regional approach given Cecil proximity to these emerging resources, is truly a strength of the County.
As a final note: Cecil College will be breaking ground on its planned Math and Engineering Building in March of
WEAKNESSES
- Lack of an established technology base to serve as a foundation and magnet for future technology growth.
Existing technology businesses are typically drivers for new technology ventures. An established technology base creates and maintains a pool of technology workers. The established assets of a technology base provide opportunities and economies of scale attractive to new businesses. Examples include the Aberdeen Test Center‟s Roadway Simulator and Army Research Rodman Laboratory. Without a critical mass of existing technology resources, new technology ventures must rely on costly internal assets.
- Competition from the Delaware Technology Park in Newark, Delaware
The Technology Park currently houses 54 tenants in 5 buildings, and has substantial room for further growth. Its IT infrastructure and proximity of the University of Delaware are highly attractive to technology firms. The Delaware Technology Park will be an appealing option for firms that might otherwise consider a location in northeast Cecil County.
- Lack of a sound infrastructure system to support technology business development.
Fully accessible broadband telecommunications infrastructure and reliable public water and sewer are needed to attract technology businesses. Competing counties offer greater proximity to Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia. Direct passenger rail and air transportation is absent. Economic Development resources are limited.
- Lack of a reputation for a technology orientation.
Cecil County is perceived as rural. The current availability of a technical workforce in Cecil County is perceived as low and the absence of a four year college or research university within the county may be a deterrent. Cecil does not have a track record for support of the start up of technology companies.
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- The return on investment/cost benefit analysis of investments to strengthen technology over other economic sectors is unclear.
Cecil County has an established record of success in agriculture, tourism and distribution. Are more cost effective economic development alternatives available?
OPPORTUNITIES
The objective of this section is to address technology opportunities in Cecil County in the 2012 – 2017 time frames. It will constitute the “O “section of a SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats] analysis. Opportunities come in two dimensions i.e. those based on positive demographics and those that leverage the region‟s strengths / align such strengths with associated opportunities and ensure coordinated execution. This section therefore is closely aligned with the Strengths[S] section in this plan.
APG / Regional High Technology Opportunities
[Opportunity to support]
Aberdeen Proving Ground [ APG ] has been projected as having brought close to 30, 000 new jobs to Northeastern MD , including 8500 government positions with an average salary in excess of $87,000 from 2006 – 2011 [ Ref. 1 ]. The majority of these new positions are in such high technology areas as:
. Information Technology . Software Engineering . System Engineering . Electrical Engineering . Chemical Engineering . Computer / Cyber Security
.Telecommunications
. Nanotechnology . Biomedical / Bio Technology . Test & Evaluation . Etc.
APG employees over 23,000 employees [government, industry] in the above high technology domains and is expected to grow over the next 5 years [subject to sequestration challenges]. In fact 20% of the current APG
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High Technology Business Associations Partnerships
[Opportunity to Partner ]
Several high technology business associations serve our area that Cecil County has relationships with / memberships in. Such associations include NMTC [ Northern Maryland Technology Council ] with over 175 member companies , NBC [ Nuclear , Biological , Chemical Association [ with 137 Companies ] , The Economic alliance of Greater Baltimore , the Chesapeake Science & Security Corridor [CSSC , 50 member organizations from Baltimore to New Castle County ] etc. Such associations allow Cecil County the opportunity, to broadly partner in an efficient manner to bring new job opportunities, and attract high technology companies to meet the region‟s skill / knowledge worker needs.
Academic Partnerships- Research & Development / Science & Technology
Entities
[Opportunity to Develop / Transition Technology]
The University of Delaware is developing a University Research Park [STAR] in our region [Newark], and the Northeastern Maryland University Research Park [NEMD – URP] is developing a University Research Park to support Cecil / Harford Counties. Cecil County‟s OED is a board member of NEMD – URP. These Research / Technology Parks offer Cecil County the opportunity for high technology job creation and attraction of high technology firms / academic Institutions. Research / technology Parks are major incubators of jobs, and attractors of high technology firms. Specifically these evolving regional Research Parks serve as technology clusters central to high technology creation .The existing 175 National Research Parks [Ref. AURP- ]have well served our nation and the existence of two such evolving regional Research Parks is both an opportunity and sign of the attractiveness of our region WRT high technology. Lastly Cecil College‟s many new Academic partnerships with 4 year institutions [UD, Salisbury University , WU etc. ] and their new Engineering , Logistics , Contracts programs offer the opportunity to better educate / meet the knowledge worker‟s HE [ Higher Education ] needs.
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Higher Education Legislation
[Opportunity to Bring HE Institutions to Cecil County]
Recently MD has created a Higher Education Task Force [HB 256], as well as established a Regional Higher Education Advisory Board [HB 362]. Cecil County has served on these important higher education activities. The increased focus of Higher Education in our region provides the opportunity to attract major technical universities to better serve our region and to educate our work force to meet the high technology skill requirements of our region. Cecil County is now an official member of the region‟s new HE Advisory Board at the HEAT Center and has the opportunity to positively affect / leverage all higher education activities in our region.
Infrastructure
[Opportunity to Install IT Infrastructure Efficiently]
The new contracts / efforts by Artesian Water are creating the ability to serve high technology companies and to ensure they have the water to meet such firm‟s requirements. Also there is the opportunity for IT infrastructure [i.e. cable / fiber systems] to be installed along- side such water installations and save on installation costs.
THREATS
The objective of this section is to address the threats to developing and maintaining technology opportunities in Cecil
County in the 2012 – 2017 time frames. It will constitute the “T” section of a SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats] analysis. The discussion is intended to capture the elements that that need to be considered when planning future actions or delays to taking action as part of the Economic Development Commission‟s strategic framework.
As highlighted in the Opportunities section, external events (BRAC, UD Research Park) have brought a large influx of talent and resources to the area that Cecil County can leverage to increase the County‟s level of participation in technology development initiatives. So where should we be focused with regard to threats and developing threat mitigation strategies?
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Geographic Location
We are surrounded by larger cities/communities that can offer compelling alternatives that exploit our weaknesses.
Transportation
Though being close to the I-95 corridor is a definite strength, limited interchanges and high tolls on both sides of the county make for a poor comparison to neighboring counties. Cecil connector is still in discussions.
Neighboring competition
Both Harford and New Castle County represent significant competitive threats.
The University of Delaware‟s Research Park will draw attention but the State of Delaware may be able to erect barriers that fence us out.