Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development Releases 2004 State of the Economy

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md., -- April 14, 2005 -- The Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development (DED) announces the availability of the 2004 State of the Economy. The annual report is prepared by DED to outline the state of Calvert County’s economy and highlight factors affecting the economy and business community. The report also acts as a guide on general statistics and trends in the local and regional economy.

Statistics included in the report show that the Calvert County labor force continues to expand along with the Washington, DC region as a whole. As of June 2004, the labor force had grown to 42,374 and the unemployment rate had decreased to 2.8 percent from 3.2 percent in 2003. Private sector job growth in Calvert County grew by 4.5 percent between 2002 and 2003. Private employment now accounts for 81.9 percent of all jobs in Calvert County. The three main categories of private sector jobs are goods-producing, service-providing and unclassified. Goods-producing jobs saw an overall decrease of 0.4 percent between 2002 and 2003. Jobs in the service- providing category saw an overall increase of nearly 6 percent. Calvert’s top five employers remain Calvert County Public Schools, Constellation Energy, Calvert Memorial Hospital, Calvert County Government and the ARC of Southern Maryland.

The Median Household Income in Calvert County increased by over 3 percent between 2001 and 2003. Calvert’s Median Household Income continues to be the highest in Southern Maryland. In 2003, Calvert ranked third in the State with a Median Household Income of $75,250.

While the number of commercial building permits has remained relatively steady, commercial permit values have risen dramatically since 2001, increasing from $23.9 million to over $65.7 million in 2004. This is an increase of over 174 percent and is most likely the result of a number of large projects beginning construction.

The commercial portion of the tax base has risen tremendously in Calvert County, from $210.7 million in FY 1991 to $491.1 million in FY 2004 and an estimated $525.3 million in FY 2005. Residential growth has kept pace; therefore, the recent tax base relationship has remained constant with commercial real property accounting for 7 percent of the total base.

Like all of the Washington Metropolitan area, Calvert County has recently experienced unprecedented increases in home prices and currently leads Southern Maryland in average home-selling price. In 2004, the average home sold for $349,375 in Calvert County – up almost 79 percent since December 2001.

Tourism continues to be a vital part of Calvert County’s economy. The number of visitors at the county’s visitor centers decreased 0.1 percent from FY 2003, while key visitor sites were down almost 12 percent due in large part to the temporary but year-long closing of Breezy Point Beach & Campground in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel. Between 2003 and 2004, state sales taxes collected in Calvert County from hotels increased almost 2 percent, restaurants increased almost 13 percent, transportation increased over 7 percent, and shopping and amusements increased almost 43 percent.

The DED continues to provide a number of services and resources to support the growth and development of County businesses. Free business services include online commercial real estate listings, confidential in-house counseling, online employment classifieds, marketing assistance, an ombudsman program and training and educational seminars. In addition, the County offers an

Incentive Loan Fund and Economic Development Loan Fund for well-qualified businesses and produces a number of publications including quarterly business newsletters, annual Calendar of Events and Visitors Guide and the annual State of the Economy.

For more information on the Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development, our visitor sites and attractions and the services available to assist County businesses, call 410.535.4583, 800.331.9771 or 301.855.1880; or send an e-mail to info@ecalvert.com