The economic development folks in Baltimore must be in heaven. An article on MSNBC this week, "Medicare Magnet," describes how healthcare services companies are looking to move to Baltimore to cash in on the Medicare management spending. What with the aging population, new emphasis on controlling costs and improving quality, these companies are buying a ringside (read: Beltway) seat at the healthcare services spending extravaganza. Think of the growth in Northern Virginia because of the arrival of the Defense contractors.
And they’re probably making a good bet. CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid), the Social Security Administration and the FBI are all outside Baltimore. According to David S. Iannucci, executive director of Baltimore County's economic development department, officials are selling the area as a "major federal enclave."
And where the government goes, so do the contractors. The Washington Post this week ran a story to the same effect. “Defense Firms Consider Moving� cites this example:
"If our customer goes, we will, without question, go there," said Renato A. DiPentima, chief executive of Fairfax-based SRA International Inc.
Today, SRA has three floors of leased office space near the Skyline complex close to Baileys Crossroads in Fairfax County. Employees support the Defense Information Systems Agency, which is slated to move from Arlington to Fort Meade in Maryland. SRA managers already are looking at facilities in the Fort Meade area and likely would abandon the Skyline space if the change occurs.
And don’t forget that the DOD base closure/realignment plan has several Defense science/R&D offices moving to the NIH campus in Bethesda (ok, not Baltimore):
* Office of Naval Research facility from Arlington, VA
* Air Force Office of Scientific Research facility from Arlington, VA
* Army Research Office facilities from Durham, NC, and Arlington, VA
* Defense Advanced Research Project Agency facility from Arlington, VA
* Army Research Office from Fort Belvoir, VA
* The Extramural Research Program Management function of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency from Alexandria, VA.
So if you're ready to move to Baltimore, here’s some good news. Expansion Magazine just released its Super Cities of the Future survey. There’s a section called the Knowledge Worker Quotient that “identifies metro areas that are exceptionally well placed to attract and nurture high-tech companies and entrepreneurs because of their concentration of extremely well educated workers.� And Baltimore is on the list. In fact, it’s ranked fourth in top metro areas for university R&D spending.
Would it just be trading one traffic headache for another? Probably. But Baltimore has a lot to recommend it. And while the Washington Nationals may end up with great stadium, it will have to go a long way to top Camden Yards.
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