The newly-published 2001 Guide to Maryland's InfoTech Community is more than a directory - it's an information beltway linking all of the state's political jurisdictions, industry organizations and businesses comprising Maryland's fastest-growing industry. A searchable version is now available on its own web site (http://www.mdinfotech.com.) where it also may be ordered in its entirety in downloadable, CD-ROM or printed versions.

With founding sponsorship by the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), and participation by regional economic development organizations, the Guide offers the most complete view of Maryland information technology companies with 1,500 entries, according to publisher Joan Fernandez of Delta Graphics and Communication in Bel Air.

"This is an important project that has gone a long way toward unifying one of the state's great economic engines," said David S. Iannucci, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. "Not only will it be vitally useful by state companies and organizations, but it will also reflect the depth and variety of Maryland information technology when we are marketing in other states and countries."

The Guide will be officially introduced by DBED at the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference in Baltimore, July 8-12. It will be featured at a reception hosted by DBED and in their booth. Other sponsoring organizations include Allfirst, Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation, Arthur Andersen, Columbia Union College, Greater Rockville Partnership, The Community College of Baltimore County, Tech Council of Maryland and The Tyler Companies.

"This is without doubt the most complete view of the information technology industry in Maryland history," said Dyan Brasington, president of the Tech Council of Maryland, an organization of technology firms, federal labs, higher education institutions and business support firms based in Rockville.

"This is a great new resource for businesses like ours," said Ronald Monford, CEO of Mind Over Machines, a 12-year-old Baltimore-based company that specializes in web development, custom software applications and network support. "You have no idea how difficult it has been to link up with our colleague companies in other areas of the state. It's almost been as though the Baltimore and DC Beltway regions were separate states. We couldn't consult or cooperate with companies in the opposite areas if we couldn't identify them."

Free listings in the Guide by companies that have not yet provided their information remain available at the web site (http://www.mdinfotech.com).

The Guide will remain a free resource as well as a product for purchase, according to Fernandez.

"People are welcome to search the listings and view the resource links at no charge without buying an account to download, but they can purchase the complete database in various forms," Fernandez said. The Guide is modeled after Delta's successful earlier project, the Maryland Directory of Bioscience Companies (http://www.mdbiotech.com).

In addition to company listings, the Guide profiles Maryland's technology economy with information on the state's national rankings, workforce and education. It includes facts from a recent report by the American Electronics Association and the Nasdaq stock market indicating that 114,900 are employed in Maryland's high-tech sector comprised of 5,613 companies with total payroll of $6.7 billion. According to the report, Maryland ranks 10th among states in money spent on research and development ($8 billion), 10th in venture capital investments ($2.4 billion) and 29th in high-tech exports ($1.3 billion)

Maryland's technology industries rank third in defense electronics, eighth in software services employment, and 10th in communications equipment manufacturing.

A summary of employment on the web site is organized by high-tech manufacturing and services, broken down into a total of 53 sub-groupings. Compensation managers will find comparisons of various technology industry job grouping salaries with those in Boston, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia area, Pittsburgh and Washington DC.