Quality of life first; development next for Prince George's County

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Oct 17, 2003 by Daily Record Staff Business Writer

Ten months after Jack Johnson took the reins as Prince George's County's top executive, his economic development plans are forming - if not on paper, in practice.

Johnson, who was state's attorney for the county for eight years before being elected to county executive, is focused on improving the quality of life in the county as a foundation for supporting economic growth.

That includes revitalizing Suitland and other areas inside the Washington beltway and generally improving facilities near the county's dozen Metro rail stations. But any specific plans he has for adding new companies to the 14,000 already in the country aren't being revealed.

A group is working to develop a written economic development plan, but there's no date for when that will be completed, said Nancy Lineman, spokeswoman for Johnson.

The murkiness of Johnson's economic development strategy efforts are accentuated by the fact that the county's Economic Development Corp. - the nonprofit group charged with attracting and retaining businesses - has no permanent leader.

Joseph James announced he would leave the post this past summer to take a job with the state of South Carolina. Project manager Wanda Plumer became acting director of the corporation in September.

Economic development successes don't happen overnight, Lineman said.

For instance, the 317,000-square-foot Ikea retail store that opened in Beltsville in June took four to five years of negotiations and development. And that time frame is average for most large projects.

In fact, one of Johnson's economic development goals is to shorten at least part of the development process. A committee is looking at the permitting process to see whether any duplication exists that can be eliminated, Lineman said.

The process takes entirely too long, she said.

Ups and downs

One project Johnson's administration helped solidify is a $146 million new headquarters for the Bureau of the Census. The project broke ground in Suitland on Sept. 16 and it will be completed in 2006.

The county in June lost a tenant as La-Z-Boy Inc. announced it plans to move out of 100,000 square feet of space in Prince George's County and into 168,000 square feet in Anne Arundel County.

Real estate surveys of available office space show Prince George's County has a higher office vacancy rate than most in the region, with a 13.5 percent rate, compared to 12 percent in neighboring Montgomery County, according to a Grubb & Ellis Co. quarterly office report.

Prince George's County has 2.1 million square feet of empty office space and there wasn't much activity in the county, said Kathryn Schmutt, research manager for Grubb & Ellis in Washington.

The Prince George's County office market is smaller and tenants are flocking to more established, traditional office markets in Montgomery County or Northern Virginia, she said.

Prince George's County also has one of the highest crime rates in the state and the recent high-profile shooting of a Suitland florist and her employee - two grandmothers - won't help potential employers forget that.

The county, which was named in 1696 for Prince George of Denmark, has about 14,000 businesses, though only about 450 have more than 100 employees.

Holding on

The county seems eager to keep its largest businesses in place.

Dimensions Healthcare Systems, a Cheverly-based hospital owner, is one of the largest private employers in the county, with about 3,000 doctors, nurses and administrators on its rolls.

In May, Johnson gave the company $3 million, promising an annual award to help the company gain financial stability. Johnson called it the first deposit on a long-term commitment.

Other large employers include grocery chains Giant Food Inc., Safeway, and Shoppers Food Warehouse. They each employ thousands in the county, as does the United Parcel Service and Verizon.

There are about 900 technology companies, employing about 33,600, in the county, often there to take advantage of being located near the biggest information technology customer in the world - Uncle Sam.

Several technology companies have significant operations in the county. Companies with more than 1,000 employees include Raytheon Systems Co. and Computer Sciences Corp. Honeywell Technology Solutions has about 900 workers, according to Prince George's Economic Development Corp. data.

The numbers of employees at these companies fall well short of those at several government institutions in the county, which hugs the eastern, northeastern and southeastern boundaries of Washington.

The county's largest federal employer is Andrews Air Force Base, where 12,600 work. The U.S. Postal Service, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt and the Census Bureau each employs several thousand people.

A cluster of aerospace companies have grown up in Prince George's County to be close to NASA Goddard Space Center and other federal agencies, including Swales Aerospace, a 25-year-old company. NASA accounts for 75 percent of Swales' work, a company spokesman said.

Aerospace executives in the county say economic development efforts have gone up and down over the past decade. SGT Inc. President Harold Stinger gives current officials a pretty good.