A vibrant optics industry and an available high-tech work force were the differentiators in high-tech startup Trellis Photonics' decision to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Maryland.

The company is building an $18 million, 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility near its headquarters in Columbia, Md., as part of a $25 million, five-year plan to deploy an advanced all-optical switching technology for use in high-speed, fiber-optic communications networks.

The facility will be built in Columbia's Gateway Business Park and will include office space, research and development labs and manufacturing equipment to support volume production of the company's products.

The company manufactures products based on Electroholography(tm), which enables wavelengths, or colors of light, carrying communications signals to be switched within and between optical fibers. Electroholography(tm) routes light signals 10,000 times faster than any other switching technology, according to the company.

"Setting up a major U.S. manufacturing facility is critical to our goal of delivering an extremely high-speed technology that will dramatically change the way we build networks," said Timothy Cahall, CEO of Trellis Products.

Trellis, a four-year-old company, currently employs 150 people in the United States and Israel, and the expansion will require an additional 350 employees to work at the new plant.

The company expects to be manufacturing Electroholography(tm)-based products in the new facility during the first quarter this year.

State Invests in Private Sector

Privacy and security are two of the biggest issues facing the mobile and wireless industry during the next several years. An emerging company in trying to grapple with these issues is Bluefire Security Technologies.

Bluefire, which is less than two years old, is expanding its business operations in Baltimore and commercializing the world's first mobile firewall for handheld devices.

The company recently received $6 million in private investment and an additional $200,000 from Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), a state program used to encourage private sector financing of economic development projects.

"These additional funds will help us complete trials of our technologies and bring a commercial product to the market [this year]," said Mark Komisky, president of Bluefire.

That type of public-private partnership is also helping a manufacturer of fiber-based optical data communication equipment expand. Optelecom Inc. received $250,000 of insurance from DBED on a $2 million line of credit.

The insurance coverage will allow Optelecom to build state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities while preserving as much of its resources as possible for product development, said Jim Armstrong, chief financial officer for the company.

Operations will move from a 20,000 square foot facility in Gaithersburg, Md., to a 30,000 square foot facility in Germantown, Md. The company currently employs 55 people and expects to greatly increase that number within the next three years, Armstrong said.

Building the Internet of the Future

Fujitsu Laboratories America, a Sunnyvale, Calif.,-based subsidiary of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., has established a new research institute for advanced computer technology in College Park, Md. The new facility is located near the campus of the University of Maryland.

The institute will engage in cooperative activities with university researchers to focus on pervasive computing, wireless computing, network security, bio-informatics, quantum computing and other innovative technologies. The aim is to advance the evolution of the Internet, as well as develop computers that are more closely linked with the everyday lives of people.

PHH Arval, a fleet management company, is relocating to a new custom office building in Sparks, Md., to house its 1,000 employees. The new building will be more than 220,000 square feet on 55 acres. The company hopes to move into the new building early next year.

The company considered several sites but decided to remain near its current location in Hunt Valley. This will allow PHH to attract a work force from Maryland and Pennsylvania, said George Kilroy, president and CEO of the company.

"The new site will provide enhanced amenities for our people, the flexibility and space for more effective ways to serve our clients and the opportunity to expand with future growth," he said.

FACTS & CONTACTS

State: Maryland

DEMOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY

Population: 5.4 million

Capital: Annapolis

Three Largest Cities: Baltimore, 651,154; Frederick, 52,767; Gaithersburg, 52,613

GSP: $186.1 billion

Per Capita Income: $35,188

Percentage of Private Manufacturing Labor Force Organized: 18.8%

Right to Work State: No

Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (October '02)

Average Hourly Manufacturing Wage: $14.80

Population Age 25 and Over With a Bachelor's Degree or More: Baltimore, 19.1%; Frederick, 29.9%; Gaithersburg, 46.5%

Corporate Income Tax Rate: 7.0%

Primary Industries: Manufacturing, agriculture, services, tourism

Targeted Industries: Aerospace, automotive, biosciences/biotechnology, defense electronics, financial services, information technologies, international business and trade, manufacturing, minority business, space

BUSINESS ASSISTANCE

Worker Training Programs: Maryland Industrial Training Program; Partnership for Workforce Quality

Enterprise Zones: 30

Foreign Trade Zones: 3

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, 217 East Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, (800) 541-8549, fax: (410) 333-6911, Web: www.choosemaryland.org