Maryland Tech Council launched a new Chesapeake Bay chapter

The Maryland Tech Council (MTC) is solidifying its reach in areas surrounding the state’s most crucial waterways with a new chapter in the Chesapeake Bay region.

This new section, officially known as the Chesapeake Regional Chapter, will cover and serve tech and life science companies in Anne Arundel County, southern Maryland and Queen Anne’s County. Collectively, the chapter’s domain encompasses areas on both sides of the Bay Bridge, reaching into the Eastern Shore and the DC metro area’s southernmost Maryland exurbs.

Kelly Schulz, the incoming CEO of the statewide organization, said the MTC “has been in a period of growth” that included the launch of chapters in the Baltimore area and Prince George’s County this past spring. She added that the Chesapeake chapter was “a natural next step” given the constituent areas’ presence of tech and life sciences activity. She specifically cited the ecosystems for cybersecurity, aerospace and defense surrounding military installations like Fort Meade and the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Anne Arundel and St. Mary’s Counties, respectively.

“Each of these regions boasts its own dynamic tech and life science communities but had no unifying voice for industry on the local level,” Schulz told Technical.ly via email. “The Maryland Tech Council chapters aim to be that voice.”

The newest chapter will be co-chaired by Jim Gibbons, founder and wealth manager of Alpha Pointe Capital, and Trish Farrell, senior vice president and principal of brokerage at MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services. It will celebrate its launch with a party on Nov. 9 at the Annapolis Maritime Museum.

Going forward, the chapter plans to host educational programming and networking opportunities as well as focus on policy advocacy for its Chesapeake Bay area members. Schulz said these programs will likely focus on such major industry issues as talent recruitment, raising capital, government procurement and remote work.

“The Chesapeake Regional Chapter will be an invaluable resource for networking, professional education and policy advocacy while strengthening ties in the region’s business community,” Schulz said in a statement. “Our goal is to make our members more knowledgeable, more connected and more prepared to be successful.”

Companies that join this chapter will automatically become members of the Maryland Tech Council at no additional cost to them.

“The Maryland Tech Council aims to be a unifying voice,” Schulz added via email. “Our goal is for members of the Chesapeake [Regional] Chapter to be more knowledgeable, more connected and more prepared to be successful as a result of their membership.”

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.