Maryland’s Business Agency Unveils Online Tracking Tool

January 21, 2012 in Maryland, News | Posted in: Finance , Government , Maryland

The Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) recently unveiled the first phase of  Finance Tracker, a new on-line tool that allows people to look up what enterprises have received grants, tax credits, equity investments and loan enhancements from the Agency.

Finance Tracker features a searchable database of DBED funding awards in 30 categories and is sortable by company, amount, location, program and fiscal year.

In launching this free, internet-based tool, DBED Secretary Christian Johansson said, “The goal of  Finance Tracker is to both inspire interest in our finance programs and help businesses and entrepreneurs understand the types of financing available by perusing the nature and number of qualified recipients.” He further explained, “An equally important objective was to make this information significantly more accessible and transparent to anyone interested in learning how and where the State invests economic development resources.”

Creation of the Finance Tracker was motivated by a previously negative report card that ranked the Agency poorly for access to finance program information. The Governor’s State Stat Office and DBED’s offices of finance, IT and interactive marketing collaborated to develop this first phase. Finance Tracker is located on the agency’s award-winning web site, www.ChooseMaryland.org.

Finance Tracker is part of  Maryland Made Easy, an ongoing interagency initiative to streamline procedures, simplify regulations and improve communications where business and government intersect. Launched by Governor O’Malley in January 2011, Maryland Made Easy has reformed State Highway Access permit process, unveiled an interactive one-stop shop web site, created a “Fast Track” concurrent permit review application, and awarded a contract to begin converting more than 400 licenses and permits to a web-based application by the end of 2012.