Governor Martin O’Malley released this week’s online economic update, where he focused on the expansion of Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company, which will open a 60,000 square foot bioprocessing center in Baltimore to expand and increase production capacity on the groundbreaking vaccines that they produce.  The expansion is expected to result in up to 125 jobs over the next five years.

“This expansion will not only ensure more high-paying, highly skilled jobs for the area, but it further illustrates Maryland’s place as a global hub for the life sciences industry,” said Governor O’Malley in the online economic update.  “Our unique assets, including countless federal facilities in and around our State, the nation’s number one public school system, and our world class workforce will help bring Maryland through this national recession more quickly than other states.” The Governor also noted positive news in Maryland’s real estate market. 

Baltimore area home sales reportedly jumped a record 36 percent last month, an increase many economists attribute to the federal first time homebuyer tax credit, representing the largest annual increase since the tracking of these figures began in the late 1990s. 

In addition, the Governor noted the more than 21,000 loan modifications that have been processed for Maryland homeowners, more than in Virginia and the District of Columbia combined.