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NEWS RELEASE

February 20, 2008

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County Executive Ulman Travels to India for Economic Development Mission

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – County Executive Ken Ulman will embark on an economic development mission to Bangalore, India, on Friday evening, February 22, 2008. The County Executive will arrive in India on Sunday, February 24, and begin three full days of site visits and meetings in India’s “Silicon Valley,” Bangalore. The trip is sponsored and funded by the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

India is the second fastest-growing major economy in the world, and several Howard County businesses now have offices in India. The largest proportion of immigrant population in Howard County is from Asia (54.5%).

One of the featured meetings is with leaders from the Indian Space Research Organization Leadership Satellite Center, where Executive Ulman will learn more about the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR). The MiniSAR was built in Howard County by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and funded by NASA; it will be one of two US scientific instruments on board India’s first mission to the moon, the Chandrayaan-1.

In addition to meeting with targeted prospects, the objectives of the mission include promoting increased cross-investment between Howard County and India, providing firsthand market information and business contacts and developing and expanding strategic relationships with key Indian and U.S. organizations.

“Howard County is already on the international scene - we are visible to foreign governments, aerospace companies, universities, research centers, and many diverse commercial ventures,” said Ulman. “Bridging international cultures, developing relationships, and exploring mutual opportunities for this County are all part of this Administration’s goal of making a great County even better.”

“Executive Ulman’s visit to India is an excellent opportunity to help us highlight Howard County as a location for Indian businesses that want to expand in the U.S.," said Michael Galeone, Chairman of the Economic Development Authority. "Howard County is an attractive home for Indian companies because of our location, labor force, technology base and infrastructure, and we welcome the opportunity to expand our relationships with the Indian business community.”

Ulman will also meet and tour Prism Microsystems, Incorporated, in Bangalore. Prism is a leading integrated Information Technology solutions provider whose U.S. office is located in Columbia, Maryland. Ulman also has meetings scheduled with: Wipro Technologies, the third largest IT services company in India; US Commercial Service representatives; the Regional Director of the National Association of Software and Services Companies; and the IT Secretary for the Government of Karnataka.