1/05/2024 – Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI) is a business incubator and accelerator designed to cultivate entrepreneurship in Frederick, Maryland. It offers coaching, connections, access to capital, and customers for its members, including various programs, classes, and facilities. FITCI, along with the Harford County Office of Economic Development (HCOED), have joined the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC) to undertake a new project.
MAGIC has received Venture Challenge Ignite funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to research and develop the case for a tri-county partnership to unite Frederick, Carroll, and Harford counties, all of which share similarities in business, government and population attributes, for the purpose of building a stronger, more efficient, and inclusive economic future for the counties themselves and the state of Maryland.
The goal of the Grow Rural Opportunity in Maryland (GRO MD) project is to illustrate the need for a tri-county regionally driven partnership by identifying critical impact intersections in each county’s Strategic Economic Development Plans and proposing effective ways to leverage resources and activities for greater, more efficient, and effective outcomes. These outcomes will better enable each county and the state to meet goals pertaining to environment, health, food security, business, and job development/retention.
While the three counties in this project share a focus on agriculture, high technology, tech transfer, health, and education, each have special population, governmental, and business differences. Sharing and leveraging resources through a partnership will accelerate and strengthen positive outcomes for a broader population across the region.
FITCI seeks a consultant to conduct a market assessment and map for the entrepreneurship infrastructure in Frederick County as part of the research and development process to form the tri-county partnership proposed in the Venture Challenge Ignite grant.
Please contact info@fitci.org with any questions and proposal submissions.
