Anne Arundel County Business Incubator Receives an Award Under a Broad Agency Announcement Annapolis, MD (Nov. 9, 2004) - “The National Security Agency (NSA), one of America’s largest intelligence organizations, has selected the Chesapeake Innovation Center (CIC) to help meet the Agency’s growing need for cutting-edge technologies,” announced Janet S. Owens, County Executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Under the contract -- valued at $445,000 for the one-year effort -- the CIC will identify small companies with technology of significant, immediate value to the Agency, with a focus on scouting informatics and information assurance software. Selected companies will also receive assistance from the Center to meet the NSA’s business and technological requirements. The CIC, a program of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation, is a business accelerator and channel partner for organizations that create and purchase homeland and national security-related high technology. It provides business advisory services, networking, knowledge-sharing programs, and other assistance to its members - small businesses with emerging technologies. “The NSA is one of Anne Arundel County’s leading employers. We are proud to help the Agency acquire the technology it needs to safeguard our nation while fostering economic development in our county,” Ms. Owens said. “We are creating a bridge to carry powerful technological innovations from small enterprises into the NSA,” said John Elstner, CEO of the CIC. “ By helping entrepreneurs build their technology businesses and navigate the often complex federal procurement system, we can speed the delivery of technological solutions to the end users who need them the most.” “This is yet another manifestation of the dynamic informatics sector rapidly emerging in Anne Arundel County,” said Bill Badger, President of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC). Informatics software is focused on discovering knowledge buried in vast volumes of data. “More and more of the world’s most critical information technology is being developed and deployed right here.” About CIC: The CIC harnesses the power of entrepreneurship to help our nation maintain its technological edge. A public-private partnership initiated by the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation, the CIC is America’s first business incubator focused on homeland and national security. The Center also serves as a channel partner to large enterprises with a requirement for innovative, security-related high technology. CIC partners include the National Security Agency, Bearing Point, Northrop Grumman, Next Century Corp. and Innovent Nokia. Among its sponsors are ARINC, Kelly FedSecure, Piper Rudnick, and Whiteford Taylor and Preston. About National Security Agency: The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is America’s cryptologic organization. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data processing. | 
