CEOs work on vision for progress in Prince George's
By Linda Strowbridge Published
June 17, 2004 Laurel Leader
About two dozen people gathered at the Laurel Municipal Building last Thursday night to help in creating a sweeping plan to turn Prince George 's County into a place that individuals and companies would long to move to.
The forum was organized by the Prince George 's County Business Roundtable, an alliance of 21 CEOs anxious to support public policy that would foster economic growth and improvements in the county's living standards.
Former County Council member Jim Estepp , president and CEO of the roundtable, acknowledged that the mission of his 1-year-old organization stretches well beyond the scope of most chambers of commerce, boards of trade or professional networking groups.
Roundtable members, he said, hope to build a healthier business climate in Prince George 's by uniting government, business and residents to fix some of the county's biggest problems.
"Who better than business to do that?" Estepp said. "People are suspicious of government."
To create a strategic vision, the roundtable is gathering public opinion about needed changes in a series of public forums.
During the 90-minute Laurel forum, business people, elected officials and civic association leaders listed several problems facing the county.
Education topped their list.
Last year, the average SAT score for Hispanic students in Prince George 's County dropped by 10 percent, said Wilson Aldunate, president of the Prince George 's County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Waste in the education system, Aldunate argued, is lowering the quality of education in county schools.
For example, the position of chief information officer for the school system has remained vacant for roughly two years, Aldunate said. Two acting directors have been unable to implement plans to improve the quality and cut the costs of the system's information technology systems, he said.
County schools also suffer from lack of assistance from parents and other adults, said the Rev. Kevin McGhee, president of the Laurel Clergy Association. McGhee, who moved to Prince George 's from Howard County , said he was startled to discover no parent volunteers working in one elementary school while he was looking for a school for his daughter.
The Clergy Association, he added, is trying to involve parishioners, businesses and other residents in the work of several Laurel schools.
"I'm not making excuses, but we have challenges," said Tom Dernoga, Prince George 's County Council member for the Laurel area.
Prince George 's and Montgomery counties, Dernoga said, have roughly the same number of students. However, Montgomery has a tax base of $80 billion while the Prince George 's tax base is $40 billion, Dernoga said.
Consequently, Montgomery spends $10,000 a year educating each public-school student while Prince George 's spends $7,000, he said.
"We have more children in poverty," Dernoga said. "We have more English-as-a-Second-Language students. We have more transition students. What we have is a system that takes a lot of kids with a lot of challenges with less resources and improves them. But it doesn't improve them enough."
To fix the education system, Dernoga said, Prince George 's County "has got to change our economics."
Carmen Camacho, a Laurel resident and co-owner of a business in downtown Silver Spring , said if the county wants a better economy, it must become more business-friendly.
Camacho said she has begun investigating the possibility of moving her 27-year-old business, which produces custom plaques and promotional items, to Laurel's Main Street .
However, Camacho said she has encountered red tape, little assistance and obstacles to obtaining information when dealing with the county government.
Camacho added that she was transferred to 12 different people inside county government one day and still didn't get an answer to a straightforward business question.
"I finally hung up and said, 'I give up. I'll stay where I am.' "
Those kinds of experiences do tangible harm to the county's economy, said Laurel City Council member Fred Smalls.
"The image of this county has really hamstrung us from attracting businesses, especially national chains," he said.
Other participants at the forum said crime levels, often-ignored gang problems and insufficient policing levels deter individuals and businesses from moving to Prince George's.
On average, the county police force has just 900 officers available for duty at any given time, Estepp said.
County Executive Jack Johnson and Police Chief Melvin High, however, have stated that the force needs to maintain its full allowable complement of 1,400 officers.
A study by the Fraternal Order of Police, Estepp added, concluded that the county needs more than 2,000 officers.
Participants at the forum also stressed that Prince George's County needs better transportation systems, but clashed on whether that meant building or abandoning the proposed Intercounty Connector.
Members of the Business Roundtable intend to complete their "vision framework" by the end of the year.
Then, Estepp said, members will attempt to convince public officials, business people, civic groups and individuals to support several key initiatives.
"This is a group of corporate CEOs who have the power to move mountains," said Ann Harter, director of communications for the roundtable.
The organization's board of directors, she noted, includes the corporate heads of Verizon Maryland, Lockheed Martin Information Technology, Southern Maryland Healthcare, Industrial Bank and the Michael Companies.
E-mail Linda Strowbridge at lstrowbridge@patuxent.com.
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