Study: Incubators bring $104M to Md.

An economic impact analysis commissioned by the Maryland Technology Development Corp. (Tedco) found that the state can hold more technology incubators and the current 18 generate $104 million in state and local taxes.

Columbia-based Tedco was seeking to find the benefit of the incubators because four more have been proposed.

So it hired North Carolina-based research group RTI International to analyze the state capacity to handle them. In interviews with the emerging companies and graduates of the incubators, the study found the state has the "potential to support more high-tech incubators," however "the capacity for niche incubators in regenerative medicine and alternative energy is not as clear," the report said.

The group found that the incubators employed 5,374 people directly and 8,670 indirectly through economic interactions in 2006. The annual salary combined was $845 million. That translates to $1.2 billion in gross state product, according to a statement. The average annual pay for technology jobs is $75,000, or more than 60 percent higher than the statewide average annual wage of $46,000.

"The technology industry is a significant contributor to Maryland's expanding economy," said David Edgerley, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, in a statement. "As the results of this recent analysis illustrate, Maryland's technology incubators not only foster the development of new technologies, but stimulate the state's economy in a number of ways."

The analysis found that helping the companies find space once they graduate, especially those in the life sciences, is the most pressing concern amongst the entrepreneurs.

RTI used a research model called Implan to gather the data between April and September 2007 from 359 clients and graduates.