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Politics & Government

'City' of Ft. Meade Grows with BRAC

The move north to Maryland's largest military base continues.

From the offices of the Howard County Economic Development Authority in Columbia, Raj Kudchadkar issued an update this past Wednesday about Ft. Meade.

"You need to picture Ft. Meade as a city, as opposed to a military installation," said Kudchadkar, deputy director of the Howard County Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) office.

Like any city, Ft. Meade offers a variety of services and amenities: movie theater, golf courses, child care services, swimming pools, bowling alley, library, sports fields, pet care center, RV park and auto repair services.

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But though the fort is a military base—with 15,000 members of all branches of the military and their families living on post—less than 15 percent of the 41,000 working on post are active military personnel. The rest are white-collar civilian workers. There are also 85 tenant agencies and some resident government entities people may not expect to find on base.

"The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] has a lab there, one of the largest labs around. The Library of Congress has a large book depository there. So you may go to check out a book from the Library of Congress and it might be actually coming from Ft. Meade. Veterans Affairs is also there," said Kudchadkar.

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While it's not difficult to picture Ft. Meade as a city, it is difficult to picture the amount of money the fort brings to Maryland each year, because the number is so large: $18 billion. And with BRAC, that number will increase. In fact, Kudchadkar pointed out that no state is gaining more per capita, through this , than Maryland.

Forces moving up

Along with the increase in dollars pumped into the economy by the added tenants and buildings, there's of course the workforce moving up from Virginia. , which is in the process of moving 4,272 employees into their new building on post.

There are plenty of computer and electrical engineers employed at DISA. Members of its workforce have an average salary of $108,000 a year and an average of 18 years experience in their respective disciplines. Spring will see the peak of those workers coming to Ft. Meade at 2,000 per month, and all workers should have arrived by early this summer.

"DISA is moving because they are in a building in Virginia that's exposed. At Ft. Meade, they'll be on a 5,000-acre installation that's fenced with security," Kudchadkar informed. Among DISA's responsibilities is protecting the information grid for government communications.

The other Maryland military installations that gained from BRAC are Ft. Detrick, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Bethesda Naval Base and Andrews Air Force Base.

Small businesses get a boost

One of the issues the BRAC office is now focusing on is small businesses and connecting them to opportunities provided by BRAC. The (BBI) was begun in 2009 to assist small and minority owned businesses by Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, Howard Community College President Kate Hetherington and Congressman Elijah Cummings. BBI lays out the process for business owners and it's become a popular resource.

"There are 1,200 companies who are members of BBI and 5,000 on our email distribution list," said Kudchadkar.

There's no charge to join, and general membership meetings held every five or six weeks serve as primers for businesses on how to begin navigating their way through the process that could make them part of the ongoing growth of the "city" of Ft. Meade and beyond.

"Some people may question why Howard County has a BRAC office when Ft. Meade is in Anne Arundel County."

But Kudchadkar went on to point out that the fort is only two miles from the Howard County line. He added: "And, Ft. Meade is the largest employer of Howard County citizens."

The Howard County BRAC office can be reached at (410) 313-6376. For business information, visit the BBI site at www.bbimatch-up.com.

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