Shop Local Delmarva encourages Dorchester to "keep it local"

Almost four years ago, I attended a Dorchester County Economic Development Plan meeting.  The meeting almost exclusively focused on a new technology park to be opened adjacent to the Bucktown Airport.  The park would hold technology focused businesses.   Much ado was made over a call center (telemarketers) opening up shop.  The park would bring in hundreds of new jobs and much needed revenue to the county.

Red flags began popping up in my head.  The park meant the loss of farmland and an influx of national companies.  National companies usually bring in their own management teams, who, in turn, usually hire people they know to fill key positions.  The end result is that few, if any, of the better paying positions would go to local residents.  The influx of "hundreds of jobs" easily translates to "hundreds of at or near minimum wage jobs".  The influx of new people from outside of Dorchester County also meant that new houses would need to be built, which means more woods and farmlands would be lost.

On a more personal, albeit less significant, note, construction of the park meant the destruction of the colorful wild hibiscus that lined both sides of Bucktown Road every summer.  Every summer I looked forward to the line of whites to red and every shade in between.  Every fall I looked forward to collecting some seeds to get the wild hibiscus to grow down here where I live.  Progress meant the annual natural beauty would be lost forever.

Construction began on the park.  The old farmhouse in the field was demolished, a paved entrance way built, and a stop sign at the end of the entrance erected, but then construction stopped about three years ago.  The colorful hibiscus are gone except for one small stretch on the opposite side of the road from the unfinished technology park.  Last week, I collected my seeds from the survivors.  With a planned ribbon cutting ceremony for the park next spring, these last few hibiscus probably grew for their last year. 

Progress can be a good thing and colorful flowers can always be replanted once a project is done.  The Dorchester County Regional Technology Park is off to a good start and appears to be headed in the right direction.  Construction of the park is being done by a locally owned and operated construction company, Willow Construction, headquartered in Easton.  Willow Construction plans on hiring local contractors to build the park. 

Hiring a local construction firm is an important step and a good sign the Dorchester County Economic Development Department's director, Keasha Haythe and her team, are "thinking local".  The task of selling the fifteen available lots, however, was given to a national firm, Cassidy Turley, headquartered in DC.  Their job is to lease the fifteen available spaces to technological start up companies.  Only time will tell how concerned Cassidy Turley is with the "think local first" philosophy when leasing the available fifteen lots.

Dorchester County has the second highest unemployment rate in the state at 10% as of July of this year.  In fact, only Dorchester and Somerset counties have double-digit unemployment rates in the entire state.  (Baltimore city, separated from Baltimore County, has the actual highest unemployment rate.)  Any development project that brings jobs should be welcomed, but the quality of those jobs should be questioned by every resident.  The price of bringing those jobs is lost farmland and woods, natural resources we won't get back, and a loss that could potentially change the very identity of Dorchester County over time.  Every member of the Dorchester County Economic Development Department, every political leader, every business leader, and every citizen of Dorchester County has a vested interest in bringing quality economic development and jobs to Dorchester, development and jobs that will enhance residents' standard of living while preserving the county's unique, rural identity.

The Dorchester County Regional Technology Park is being constructed under the One Maryland Tax Credit statute.  The idea of the statute is to encourage economic development in designated stressed areas through tax incentives.  As written, One Maryland strives to improve the living standards of residents living in depressed areas by increasing the tax base of the county and providing jobs for the residents.  The language of the statute, though, allows companies to skirt the intent of the program.

While any start up technology business looking to open its doors in Dorchester County is required to offer a minimum of twenty-five "qualified positions" (jobs), the only stipulation is that each qualified position opened nets one new job in Maryland.  What that means is a company in Delaware could relocate to Dorchester County, bring all twenty-five of its employees with them, and qualify for the tax credits.  What this means: for the state of Maryland, a gain of twenty-five new jobs; for Dorchester County, an increased tax base; for residents of Dorchester County, nothing - they are still unemployed.

It also means that a start up company in Anne Arundel County can open a branch in Dorchester County, bring as many employees as they want with them, hire replacements for the vacated positions in Anne Arundel County, and fill the remaining open positions in Dorchester County with local residents, or with anyone willing to commute to Dorchester County, and the company still meets the definition of creating one net new job for Maryland for each position filled.  What that means is the company receives its tax credit, Maryland receives a net increase in jobs, Dorchester County increases its tax base, and residents are left either unemployed or with a job opportunity starting at $10.87 per hour, the poverty level defined by the government for a family of four.

Shop Local Delmarva encourages the Dorchester County Economic Development Department and local politicians to insist the realty company seeks tenants for the fifteen available lots with Dorchester County start up companies.  The search can then expand to regional start up companies, starting with the mid-shore counties and then expanding to all of Delmarva.  If there are still lots available, the search for tenants can expand to the Western Shore of Maryland, and, if need be, to other states.

Once the search for tenants expands beyond Dorchester County, preference should be given to those companies that vow to hire more local residents than employees the company bring with them.  The One Maryland program is intended to help the residents of depressed areas so it logically follows that companies most willing to hire local residents should be given preference to open its doors in the new technology park.

When I first discussed this concept with Ms. Haythe, Director of Dorchester County Economic Development Department, about four years ago, she expressed concern that such tenancy selection procedures could be construed as discriminatory.  Shop Local Delmarva, as well as every resident of Dorchester County, needs to ask, "If the intent of a statute is to improve the economic conditions of a depressed area, how can setting guidelines (not rules or laws) to fulfill the intent of the statute be viewed as discriminatory?"  The answer, of course, is the statute, itself, is discriminatory if the depressed area has no leeway to set guidelines in an attempt to fulfill the intent of the statute.

With such an important project slated to open within the next year, possibly as early as this spring, Shop Local Delmarva encourages every resident of Dorchester County and friends of Dorchester County to contact the Dorchester County Commissioners, the Dorchester County Economic Development Department, the county manager, and the realty company, Cassidy-Turley, with their concerns to fill the technology park with local start up companies, first, and then regional companies, second,  and then outside companies willing to hire local residents, for all, or most, positions, third.

Please call and/or email the following contacts with your concerns that the technology park opens with the best interests of Dorchester County-owned businesses and Dorchester County residents' interests as the cornerstone to a successful development.

Dorchester County Economic Department:
Keasha Haythe, Director
410-228-0155
email (online): http://choosedorchester.org/contact/


County Commisioners:
Jay L. Newcomb (D)
410-397-2134
email: jaynewcomb@docogonet.com

Tom Bradshaw (R)
410-943-1212
email: tbradshaw@docogonet.com

William V. Nichols (D)
410-221-1371
email: wnichols@docogonet.com
Rick Price (R)
443-521-5518
email: rprice@docogonet.com 

Ricky Travers (D)
410-228-1532
email: travers@fastol.com

County Manager:

Jane Baynard410-228-1700
email: jbaynard@docogonet.com


Cassidy Turley (realtor for the 15 available lots):
Joseph Stettinius
202-463-1367
email: Joe.Stettinius@cassidyturley.com

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