Exploring Frederick County

Jessica Fitzwater, County Executive, was sworn in on December 5, 2022. Ms. Fitzwater was born and raised in Smithsburg, Maryland, and has been residing in Frederick County for 17 years. A member of the first-ever Frederick County Council, she represented Council District 4 for two terms before being elected County Executive. As a Council Member, she championed numerous pieces of legislation that were enacted on a bipartisan basis, including: repealing the County’s English-only Ordinance, improving affordable workforce housing by strengthening the Housing Initiative Fund, creating a Human Trafficking Task Force, addressing anti-discrimination, and establishing a Climate Emergency Mobilization Work Group. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and a Master of Science in educational leadership from Hood College. Ms. Fitzwater is also a graduate of Emerge Maryland, a prestigious political leadership program for Democratic women. Prior to being elected County Executive, she was a music teacher with Frederick County Public Schools at Oakdale Elementary for over 16 years, where she also directed an extracurricular chorus. In 2012 Ms. Fitzwater was named one of The Frederick News-Post’s 13 Young Professionals Under 30, in 2014 she was named the National Education Association’s (NEA) Political Activist of the Year, she was named one of the MD Daily Record’s Leading Women in 2015 and is one of the MD Daily Record’s Top 100 Women of 2023. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Frederick County Teachers Association, the Frederick Symphony Orchestra, and the Frederick Arts Council.

As the CEO of TEDCO—Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies—Troy leads the organization’s mission to support economic development through the cultivation of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. He brings to bear more than 25 years of experience in investment management, higher education, telecommunications, information/communication technology, and management consulting in this leadership role. Prior to joining TEDCO, Troy was the chief operating officer at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), the nation’s only urban land-grant university. UDC encompasses a six-site community college, a four-year baccalaureate campus, and a law school, and serves 7,000 degree- and certificate-seeking students. He oversaw an array of critical functions at UDC, including capital construction, communications, emergency management, enrollment services, facilities management, government relations, information management, institutional research, marketing, public safety, risk management, and strategic planning, to name a just a few. An entrepreneur at heart and in spirit, Troy founded the management consulting firms LeMaile-Stovall LLC and GTMS Partners, LLC. He also co-founded and served as the first president and CEO of GulfSouth Capital. His resume includes positions as the interim president of Zenith Education Group; principal at Butler Snow Advisory Services; executive vice president and chief operating officer of Howard University; and senior vice president and chief financial officer Jackson State (Mississippi) University, where he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall HBCU CFO of the Year. Earlier in his career, Troy held positions at McKinsey & Company, Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T), AT&T Bell Labs, and Rockwell international. Troy is a subject matter expert in capital stack formation and a frequent speaker on venture capital, economic development, and higher education administration, among other topics. He has published articles on entrepreneurship, venture capital, economic development, diversity and inclusion, and higher education. His expertise has been recognized through the various awards he has received including the Dealmakers Award and the Most Admired CEO, among others.

Rick Weldon is the President/CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to his employment with the Chamber, Rick has served as a public administrator for both the City of Frederick and the City of Brunswick, a member of the Board of County Commissioners for Frederick County, and as a two-term member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing southern Frederick County and southeastern Washington County. Born and raised in New Castle County, Delaware, Rick relocated to Maryland after a tour of duty in the US Navy Submarine service and a decade-long employment tenure as a civilian in ship systems procurement with the Navy Department in Crystal City, VA. Rick is a 1998 graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Frederick County program, and has lectured, advised and assisted program participants for over 20 years. Rick has experience at every level of government, from local to federal. Rick also understands the nonprofit charitable giving industry, having served as the CEO of United Way of Frederick County during a challenging economic period (the national recession from ’08-2010). Rick resides in Brunswick with Amy, his wife of 43 years. Rick has three grown children and five grandsons. Rick and Amy are active outdoors enthusiasts, and Rick’s many hobbies include teaching & watching youth baseball, Community Theater (over 23 local productions in MD, VA and WV) as well as reading and being a grandfather.

Mary Ford-Naill joined The City of Frederick in 2017 as its Manager of Economic Development. Prior to this role, her career included over 30 years commercial and residential real estate industry experience. Mary’s current role focuses on promoting business attraction across key industry sectors, such as biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and technology and implementing business expansion and retention initiatives within the city. She is actively engaged in the entrepreneurial ecosystem supporting Frederick’s local incubator and accelerator program as well as diverse start-up business ventures throughout the city. Mary is passionate about service to the community and is an active member of Rotary International and has served in leadership roles and both the district and local levels. Mary has a MBA and BA from Hood College. She is a graduate of Leadership Maryland (’23) and Leadership Frederick (’03). Mary is a current board member for the Golden Mile Alliance and techfrederick, organizations that play pivotal roles in the development and promotion of Frederick's business landscape. She previously served on the board for several non-profit organizations including the Downtown Frederick Partnership, Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, and Saint John’s Catholic School.

Mr. Holbrook joined St. John Properties in 2009. As Regional Partner, he directs the comprehensive acquisition, development, construction, leasing, and asset/property management activities for the firm’s portfolio in Virginia and in Central Maryland including Frederick, Montgomery, and Washington counties. Mr. Holbrook has nearly three decades of diverse experience in the commercial real estate industry and holds a Bachelor of Science from East Carolina University and a Masters in Business Administration in Real Estate and Finance from American University in Washington, D.C. Mr. Holbrook is active in numerous professional and civic organizations including NAIOP Virginia and he has served as adjunct faculty/lecturer at the graduate real estate programs of Georgetown University and John Hopkins University.

Taylor O. Chess is President, Development for Peterson Companies and serves on the Company’s Investment Committee. Taylor has developed retail projects valued over $250 million. He is a visionary, known for spotting acquisition opportunities, imagining the possibilities, divesting of property, acquiring land, and building joint ventures. Taylor has been instrumental in leading the company’s expansion into new ventures and development and looks at all disciplines of real estate to find the best use based on market conditions and social and economic changes. Prior to Peterson Companies Taylor was Senior Vice President, Investments at Regency Centers where he established the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast offices. During his eight years, he developed 11 centers valued at approximately $660 million and assisted in the acquisition of 140 centers. Taylor studied at California State University, Northridge. He serves on numerous philanthropic boards and committees including Joe Gibb’s Youth For Tomorrow, Fairfax County Sports Tourism Tax Force and mentors real estate students through ULI’s mentoring programs. He was recently appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin as a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of directors to help establish policy and provide direction to management for the operation of Dulles International and Reagan National Airports and the Dulles Toll Road. He served as ICSC’s State Director of Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia and has been a guest speaker for the GWU Real Estate Program. FUN FACT: While studying in California Taylor tried his hand at Hollywood and landed roles in popular television shows and movies like Dynasty, Matlock, Solid Gold and Space Balls to name a few. FAVORITE PROJECT: Creating new development opportunities. Once he’s achieved a goal, he looks forward to the next big thing.

Brad focuses on all activities associated with the marketing, brokerage, and negotiation of both new and existing leases along the northern I-270 corridor. Brad spends much of his time in Frederick and Northern Virginia, seeking to expand the footprint of the Matan organization and overseeing acquisitions in these areas. Prior to taking this role at Matan, Brad, a commercial real estate broker, served as Vice President of Sales and Leasing for McShea and Company. Though, he credits most of his real estate ingenuity to the years he spent working alongside his father in his family-owned construction businesses. Brad holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Georgetown University. Among his many achievements, Brad was named Broker of the Year in Frederick County in 2016 and 2017. Brad has been active over the years as a leader in in regional economic development through terms on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce of Frederick County, the Business and Industry Committee of Frederick Memorial Hospital, and the Business and Industry Committee for the Frederick Office of Economic Development. Brad has also worked with the Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County, the Downtown Frederick Partnership and was a 2005 Leadership of Frederick graduate. Brad continues to give back to his community through volunteer work and serving as both a baseball and basketball coach for the county youth.

Lara Fritts is a certified economic developer with over 25 years of experience in economic development, community development and management. Her experience spans city and regional levels in both public and private sectors assisting companies to execute their location strategies or development projects while helping communities achieve their goals. She has an expertise in building economic development organizations for elected officials having started six public-private partnerships/departments. Lara has an extensive career, having held positions in Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Utah. Currently, she serves as the Division Direction of the Frederick County Maryland Division of Economic Opportunity which oversees economic development as well as the Frederick County Workforce Services. Prior to her role in Frederick County – Lara was the only women leading a publicly traded micro-cap real estate company trading on the OTC Markets. There she stabilized the company by securing over $12M of affordable housing assets, reducing debt and teeing up the next acquisitions which would bring additional cash-flow to the company. Her economic development experience is expansive, and a career highlight was serving as the Director of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development (SLC DED) she was the architect of developing an economic development department where she oversaw three divisions – Business Development, the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City Arts Council. In three years, she worked to bring more than 30 new companies to Salt Lake City including UPS, Amazon, Stadler Rail, and others totaling over 9,000 jobs and nearly a billion dollars in capital investment. With her team she helped to deploy over $44 million into an affordable housing strategy creating over 3500 units throughout the city. Known as a community vitality champion she has strengths in economic recovery, affordable housing, strategic planning, tax credits and incentives, and organizational development. She is sought-after speaker and consultant on real estate, community revitalization, and economic development finance. Lara gives back to the economic development profession by serving on the Board of the Maryland Economic Development Association, volunteering, mentoring, and advocating economic development topics. Lara holds a master’s degree in urban studies from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in regional analysis from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. She is the recipient of Consultant Connect’s Top 50 Economic Developers in 2019 and was named a Fellow Member of the International Economic Development Council in 2020 which honors economic development professionals for attaining unusual stature in their field and closely related disciplines.

As the Director of Leasing, JP oversees the day-to-day leasing activities for the Matan Companies’ current portfolio, including all office, lab, and industrial properties throughout the Washington DC metro area. With over 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, JP applies his knowledge, expertise, and client relationship skills to the continued growth and success of Matan Companies. JP holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Fordham University. As a native of Washington DC and graduate of Gonzaga College High School, JP continues to give back to his local community and utilize his knowledge of the DC-metro region to enhance the presence of Matan.

Mr. Kevin Furnary brings his leadership and extensive relationships to his consulting opportunities. Mr. Furnary has spent his career as a business developer and entrepreneur, marketing new products and creating new business opportunities in active sports and industrial service industries since 1978. He has been successful at revitalizing distressed business opportunities with new ideas, direction and capital. Mr. Furnary’s long term involvement in industry has earned him a reputation as an innovator in product design and marketing. His broad network of industry associates is invaluable to the Company’s efforts to create a working business model. Mr. Furnary grew up in the Washington DC area, graduating from Gonzaga College High School and earning his bachelor’s degree from Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. Kevin lived with his wife and their four boys in Boulder, Colorado, from 1981 until September, 1998, where he was the founder of a design engineering firm around outdoor sports. They relocated to the Washington DC area. Kevin now owns a successful consultancy brokering Energy procurement and DER Planning and continues pursuing commercialization efforts of patented technologies for industrial, municipal and commercial markets.