Business View Civil and Municipal | May 2021

89 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MAY 2021 TOWN OF EASTON, MARYLAND Business Park, located in the northwest town limits near the municipal airport. The 85-acre piece of former farmland is being developed into building sites ranging in size from two acres to more than ten. An Economic Development Administration Grant for funding for the Mistletoe Park project was issued through the Department of Commerce. “We are receiving information requests,” Willey says, “and we have sent out contracts on several of the properties already. We expect within the next year or so that we’ll have to start looking for another place (to develop) as the business park will be sold out.” This is all due to Mistletoe’s prime location, which will bring industrial, technology, and aviation businesses to the area. Plans are also in the works for the University of Maryland to build a new regional medical center in the town, which could employ around 2,500 people. Healthcare is currently the most significant economic driver in town, with the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health Center employing over 2,000 people. To appeal to even more businesses, Easton has relied on the assistance of its two post- secondary institutions, Chesapeake College and Salisbury University. “We work very closely with Chesapeake College and other partners to connect their workforce programs,” says Tracy Ward, Executive Director of Easton Economic Development Corp. “They also work with Easton’s high school students and have a program where students can be dual enrolled, providing high school students college credits. This is important because businesses like Aphena Pharma Mayor Bob Willey