Known for its historical architecture, Maryland’s Frederick County is transforming itself into an attractive location for investments in traditional sectors and advanced industries.
“It is the easiest county to sell in the state of Maryland because of its location between Baltimore and Washington D.C.,” said Frederick County Office of Economic Development Director Helen Propheter.
Despite this development, Propheter, who has worked for the county for 26 years, stressed that agriculture will remain a major contributor to the local economy.
“Frederick County has great respect for our legacy industries, which are agriculture and manufacturing. While areas in Maryland and in neighboring states — Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia — have had much residential growth on its agricultural land, we have stayed true to the industry that brought us here, which is agriculture,” Propheter said.
“We are still the leading dairy producer in the state. Interestingly enough, agriculture and manufacturing have given us leading wineries, breweries and distilleries. Those are emerging markets for both Maryland and Virginia, and most certainly for Frederick County,” she added.
Amid this loyalty to traditional industries, a new, younger generation of entrepreneurs have begun to emerge.
“We have a group of young people in downtown areas, in our more populated areas, who are opening distilleries. In fact, we have a gentleman who opened the first soju (Korean rice
liquor) distillery in the United States right here in Frederick County,” Propheter said.
