Carroll County residents and visitors will be welcomed to “feel right at home” in Carroll County with the construction of two new Gateway signs. The signs are part of an effort to redevelop and revitalize major corridors leading into the County.

The two signs are located on MD 140 in Finksburg and MD 26 at the Liberty Reservoir. These locations were chosen to help promote redevelopment in the MD 140 Finksburg corridor and, in the case of the MD 26 sign, to fulfill a goal spelled out in the 2001 Freedom Community Comprehensive Plan. Specific sign locations along the two highways were subject to technical criteria that met State Highway Administration requirements.

The signs were funded by the County’s hotel tax, which is collected by hotel, motel, and innkeepers on overnight stays. The hotel tax legislation specifies all funds collected are dedicated to promote tourism and related efforts. Larry Twele, Director of Economic Development, commented: “Constructing welcome signs is a step in beautifying main entrances to our County and helping to create positive first impressions to our visitors. We hope to fund more signs along major thoroughfares as funds dedicated for this purpose allow.”

Inc. magazine once again ranked The Barbour Group, LLC, in the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. This year The Barbour Group was ranked 1,264, exceeding last year’s ranking of 2,334. This ranking is substantiated by The Barbour Group’s nearly 252% increase in revenue over the past three years compared to the average company in the insurance industry during the same period.

“Karen Barbour and her team have demonstrated the courage and business backbone to benefit other small business contractors who have found in The Barbour Group the knowledge needed to compete,” said U.S. Representative Roscoe Bartlett, Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee.

The Barbour Group, is an independent insurance agency focusing on small business construction bonding and commercial insurance. 

To view The Barbour Group’s Inc. 5000 company profile visit: http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2009/company-profile.html?id=200912640

On September 17th, Lehigh Cement was honored with the "2009 Philanthropist of the Year" business category award by the Community Foundation of Carroll County.

Over the last 10 years, Lehigh has donated over $900,000 in direct financial contributions to the community and its employees have volunteered countless hours to area organizations.

Too numerous to name them all, some of Lehigh's notable contributions have been made to: Carroll Hospital Center Foundation, Carroll Community College, Carroll Hospice, McDaniel College Student Grant Program, Carroll Youth Services Bureau and many community groups in and around Union Bridge.

Congratulations Lehigh for your continued support of the Carroll County community.

Governor Martin O'Malley recently declared September as "Workforce Development" month.

According to the Governor: "Maryland is committed to supporting an innovation economy built upon a foundation of educational excellence for pre-school to graduate school students and also for adult workers."

The Governor credits his Workforce Investment Board, the twelve local Workforce Investment Boards, the Dept. of Labor, Licensing & Regulation and the 35 One-Stop Career Centers that offer "tangible benefits to thousands of job seekers each year...helping to connect them to academic skills training, occupational training and employment opportunities within a broad array of industries."