Garrett County economic development team lists projects, jobs and infrastructure plans
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Summary
Economic development staff presented 2024–25 project updates including housing projects, business expansions, a new Sunrise Sanitation facility (26 net new jobs), Keiser's Ridge infrastructure, airport hangars and two large solar projects on reclaimed mine lands.
Garrett County’s economic development staff on Feb. 3 reported multiple projects across the county that they said will create jobs, add business facilities and expand infrastructure.
Staff said 2024 produced a number of new or completed projects and that 2025 is shaping up as an active year for business recruitment and expansion. Updates included housing and commercial projects, business relocations, planned industrial buildings and airport improvements.
Key items reported:
- Grantsville attainable-housing project: Ground is broken and reservations are being accepted online, staff said. The county characterizes the multi-site housing initiative as a three-phase program (Grantsville, McHenry, Oakland) and said Grantsville is accepting reservations.
- Sunrise Sanitation: A county resolution recently approved will allow Sunrise Sanitation to buy a roughly 4-acre parcel in the Southern Garrett business park; staff said the company will relocate operations from West Virginia and create 26 new full-time jobs.
- Keiser’s Ridge Business Park: Staff said they are under agreement to sell about 15 acres to an unnamed company; the county also awarded a bid to Daystar Builders to build a 50,000-square-foot speculative (shell) building, and planned installation of two 30,000-gallon centralized propane tanks to serve future tenants.
- Gentry and McHenry business parks: Kenneth Behrends and a company in the cannabis processing/ingredients sector have plans that could create 40–60 full-time positions; additional local developers are expanding operations.
- Airport: New airport manager Addison Wire was introduced; staff reported eight new hangars planned on the west apron, new biplane tour operations launching in spring and work with FAA/MAA on a business-park access road.
- Solar: The county said it hosts two of the largest solar projects in Maryland on reclaimed strip-mine land (a ~900-acre project called Solar Backbone and another project over 1,000 acres in the Bloomington area) and is receiving numerous community solar filings.
Why it matters: County staff framed the portfolio as diversified economic development — multiple industries and project types — and highlighted that state and regional grant funds have been used to leverage local investment. Commissioners and staff said many projects rely on non–county funding and that locally available grants such as the George Edwards fund have been critical.
Quotes and context: "We're holding our own quite well here in when the rest of Maryland is struggling economically," an economic development lead said. Staff emphasized that two large solar projects are proposed on reclaimed mine lands rather than active farmland.
Ending: Staff asked residents and businesses to engage with development staff and noted several projects are at permitting or engineering stages; the county said it will continue to use grants and partnerships to limit county taxpayer exposure while advancing projects that add jobs and taxable activity.
