Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development Releases 2005 State of the Economy

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md., -- April 4, 2006 - The Calvert County, Maryland Department of Economic Development (DED) announces the availability of the 2005 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 2005, the labor force had grown to 45,503 and the unemployment rate had remained steady at 3.5 percent. Private sector job growth in Calvert County grew by 4.4 percent between 2003 and 2004. In June 2005, Calvert County’s labor force comprised eight percent of the Maryland portion of the DC-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia Metropolitan Division. Private employment now accounts for 82.2 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 increase of 4.2 percent between 2003 and 2004. Jobs in the service-providing category saw an overall increase of 4.4 percent. Calvert’s top five employers remain Calvert County Board of Education, Calvert County Government, Calvert Memorial Hospital, Constellation Energy (Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant) and the ARC of Southern Maryland.

The Median Household Income in Calvert County increased by 5.7 percent between 2003 and 2004. Calvert’s Median Household Income continues to be the highest in Southern Maryland. In 2004, Calvert ranked third in the State with a Median Household Income of $79,600.

The number of commercial building permits increased by 36.1 percent in 2005, to 162 from 119 in 2004. Permit values likewise increased 12.7 percent to nearly $186 million in 2005.

The commercial portion of the tax base has risen tremendously in Calvert County, from $210.7 in 1991 to an estimated $536.8 million in FY 2005. Residential growth has kept pace; therefore, the recent tax base relationship has remained constant with commercial real property accounting for 7.1 percent of the total base. In 2005, residential real property contributed 79.3 percent to the tax base and public utilities contributed 12.4 percent.

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 2005, the average home sold for $397,174 in Calvert County – up almost 75 percent since December 2002.

Tourism continues to be a vital part of Calvert County’s economy. The number of visitors at the County’s visitor centers decreased 5.1 percent from FY 2004, while key visitor sites were down almost 18 percent; however, it should be noted that there is absolutely no accurate method for counting visitors to the County since many people visit more than one site and some locations do not count their visitors. Between 2004 and 2005, State sales taxes collected in Calvert County from hotels increased 18.8 percent, restaurants increased almost 4.8 percent, transportation decreased 3.6 percent, and shopping and amusements increased 36.1 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. 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. Additionally, the County’s business retention program was enhanced in 2005 with the addition of a dedicated staff person to counsel and serve as an intermediary to local business owners in helping them to grow and succeed.

To obtain a complete copy of the 2005 State of the Economy in .pdf format, click here.

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