The Fort Detrick Alliance

The Fort Detrick Alliance is a group formed by Marie Keegin, and others, in 2003 to facilitate communications between the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security (all tenants at Ft Detrick) and the local business community.

Quoting Marie and the story in the Gazette.net yesterday:

“Fort Detrick is the engine of Frederick County’s economy. … Our greatest strength in our economy is Fort Detrick and all the world-renowned science that goes on there,“ Keegin said. “It seems sometimes that most people don’t understand or appreciate that in our community, but it’s important for our community to understand.”

Keegin believes that Frederick County, with its burgeoning biotech base, is a major contributor to Maryland’s reputation as most technologically prepared state in the nation. When she began working with the county in 2001, it had 20 biotech companies; now, there are roughly 70.

Before joining the county agency, Keegin managed the suburban Maryland office of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development from 1996 to 2001 and was director of the Frederick County Job Training Agency from 1985 to 1996. The graduate of Frederick Community College, Hood College and Mount St. Mary’s College was Frederick County’s coordinator for the Pentagon’s base realignment program last year.

Keegin’s legacy in her county job includes shoring up support for the county’s business incubator — the Frederick Innovative Technology Center – which now has two locations. Incubator director Michael J. Dailey, who has worked with Keegin for four years, said she played a major role in launching the facility.

I have known Marie since about 1996, when she was still with DBED. we worked together, and pulled in a coupe of people from other DBED agencies including the World Class Manufacturing Consortium, to write some of the first PWQ (Partnership for Workforce Quality) Grants for training Life Technologies employees.

I hope I can entice Marie and a couple of the Alliance to come out to BioBeers and maybe tease a couple more people in attendance into going out on their own and starting their own business.