15K ‘high-technology establishments’ in MD: state Department of Planning

Darlene Brannigan Smith, dean of the Merrick School of Business at the University of Baltimore, makes an argument in the Baltimore Sun for building on the state’s “innovation economy,” something Fast Company magazine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have recognized.
Her op-ed touches on the contributions local universities, people “in their 50s and 60s” (not just those AGEIST, ENTITLED YOUTHS — and “young person” reporters) and the public sector can make.
One interesting statistic she cites: in 2010, according to the Maryland Department of Planning, more than 14,800 “high-tech establishments” were in the state.
An excerpt:

We must become more self-reliant, more entrepreneurial, more focused on what each of us brings to the economy and the culture of innovation.
This new thinking shows in the unparalleled growth in our state’s capacity for creative ventures. Companies like Under Armour, Millennial Media, Ciena, Advertising.com, 180’s, Bill Me Later, and a host of firms focused on digital simulation, software development, biotechnology and other scalable industries have started here. According to the Maryland Department of Planning, in 2010 there were 14,853 high-technology establishments in the state, representing 11 percent of all Maryland businesses. From 2006-2010, this sector grew by 2.7 percent — not bad, considering the recession during much of that period.

Read her full op-ed at the Baltimore Sun.