County, state, college and business officials today celebrated the grand opening and dedication of the Germantown Innovation Center located on the Germantown campus of Montgomery College. The 32,000 square-foot center is the fifth incubator facility that is part of the County’s Business Innovation Network.

Joining Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett were Congressman Chris Van Hollen, State elected officials Charles Barkley, Brian Feldman, Robert Garagiola and Nancy King and Montgomery County Council President Mike Knapp. Also participating were Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) Secretary David W. Edgerley, Montgomery College President Dr. Brian Johnson and Montgomery County Department of Economic Development Director Dr. Pradeep Ganguly.

The facility features 45 offices and 11 wet labs, along with two clean rooms, two conference rooms, two huddle areas, a large multi-purpose room, full kitchen, a tenant services coordinator and several green-design elements. Nine companies, including four international companies from China, New Zealand, India and Ireland, have already leased a total of 14 offices and employ about 25 employees combined.

“The opening of our fifth and newest incubator facility will, no doubt, help further the County’s economic development vision to be a globally-competitive, highly-diversified and knowledge-based economy that provides for the retention and growth of existing companies, stimulates new job creation and enhances entrepreneurial opportunities for all businesses,” said Leggett.

“I commend the Department of Economic Development’s strategic partnership with Montgomery College, and the larger public-private partnership, that helped ensure the completion of this facility for both the College and County and the ongoing success of this joint endeavor,” the Executive said.

With the opening of the Germantown Innovation Center, the county now has more than 150,000 square feet of incubator office and lab space, housing more than 125 companies and over 350 County employees. Since 2000, the County’s Business Innovation Network has graduated more than 85 companies that have created more than 1,800 jobs and occupy well-over 500,000 square feet of commercial space in the county.

“Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Network has had great success in nurturing and growing the county’s existing business base, as evidenced by the numerous companies that have graduated from the program and remain a part of the county’s thriving business community,” said Ganguly. “We welcome the first nine companies to our newest incubator and look forward to welcoming many more growing companies in the very near future.”

The opening of the Germantown Innovation Center follows other recent initiatives by the Leggett administration to bolster and globally expand the County’s diverse, knowledge-based industries. Among the initiatives are: the Smart Growth Initiative, which relocates the County’s public safety and related agency facilities to free-up their existing sites to advance smart growth; transit-oriented, mixed-use and biotech development projects; creation of a Biosciences Task Force to help guide the County in becoming a global leader in the industry; the recent Bioscience 101 seminar to educate County public officials on the science, technology, terminology and importance of the biotech industry; and the County Executive’s just concluded business development mission to Korea and China to build upon existing partnerships and forge new foreign direct investment opportunities for the County.

This newest incubator facility joins four others located in Shady Grove, Downtown Silver Spring, Wheaton and Rockville. It was built via a burgeoning partnership between the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and Montgomery College. It is co-located with the College’s new Goldenrod Academic Center within the Goldenrod Building on the Germantown campus of the Montgomery College, whose 30 year anniversary coincides with today’s event. The new Goldenrod Building is the first step in the College’s larger vision to create an integrated academic, business, and research environment on the Germantown Campus. The project also calls for the development of a Science and Technology Park and Bioscience Education Center.

Significant funding for the $5 million project came from the federal, state and county governments, plus the college and private-sector.

For more information about the County’s Business Innovation Network program, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ded