Kent County is a scenic peninsula on Maryland’s Upper Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, ideally situated less than a two-hour drive from Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Annapolis, Dover, and Northern Virginia. It is home to two Main Street communities, an Arts & Entertainment District, historic Washington College, and one of the largest marina communities in Maryland.
Kent County is Open for Business
Kent County is only one of five counties in Maryland with NO business personal property tax. Kent County Economic Development led the efforts to pass a state-wide Sales and Use and Personal Property Tax Exemption for Data Centers to locate in Maryland. The County seat of Chestertown is a designated State Enterprise Zone, a federal Opportunity Zone, and a HUBZone. Additional Enterprise Zones are located in Rock Hall and the Betterton/Worton Industrial Area, further expanding opportunities for business incentives.
In 2017, the Kent County Commissioners enacted local legislation to provide a property tax credit, the Commerce Zone Tax Credit, for business entities that obtain new, improved, or expanded premises in all State-designated Priority Funding Areas within the County for up to 10 years. This demonstrates the commitment of the County and its local jurisdictions to advocate for thoughtful growth and development.
Chestertown Business Campus
The Chestertown Business Campus is one of the largest economic development projects in many years. The 80-acre site is home to Dixon Valve & Coupling’s new distribution facility, new corporate headquarters, new manufacturing facility, and a new facility for the growing YMCA.
A Gigabit County
Kent County has completed the backbone implementation of a 110-mile fiber optic backbone throughout the county. The county entered a public-private partnership with Kent Fiber Optic Systems to provide public institutions with high-speed reliable internet access. KentFOS’ open access network allows Internet Services Providers the ability to offer 1G service to businesses and residences. The primary goal was to enhance the infrastructure needed to support new and existing businesses and organizations in Kent County, particularly with affordable, robust, and high-capacity internet access. By taking this action, the county is expanding the competitive capability of local businesses and organizations and providing more opportunities.
Data Center Attraction
Low land cost, wide open spaces, access to fiber and access to 17 million people within 100 miles make Kent County an ideal place for data centers to locate.
Visit www.kentcounty.com/business for more information.
If you could work from anywhere… you would live here.
