The “family histories” of Maryland technology companies are intertwined stories of entrepreneurs, technologies, and corporate structure. This project has focused on the pathways taken by the people who founded the technology companies operating in Maryland today. But it has also been necessary to study corpora- tions that have grown and shrunk, restructured or moved away, and merged or spun off; as well as successive generations of technology development in core fields like vaccines, genomics, and optics. The results will help the state refine its marketing to both companies and potential entrepreneurs and better under- stand and capitalize on its research institutions and other tech- nology generators. The Milken Institute’s 2001 survey ranked Maryland fifth overall in its ratings of states best positioned to take advantage of opportunities for growth in the New Economy, based on high scores in educational attainment, R&D, and capital availability. It is clear from this study that these same strong fundamentals have been providing fertile soil for technology entrepreneurship for 25, 50, and sometimes 100 years.
Six sectors were examined: bioscience and medical instruments, information technology equipment and services, private research and development, energy/chemicals/materials, defense and aerospace, and high technology machinery and instruments. Each sector was characterized by different patterns of entrepreneurship.