Maryland is where the federal government put both its doctors and its spies
- NIH, the world’s largest biomedical research agency, is headquartered in Bethesda
- Johns Hopkins has led the US in research spending for 43 straight years
- The NSA and US Cyber Command both sit at Fort Meade
- The Old Line State, 7th to ratify the Constitution (1788)
How Maryland’s digital economy grew
The US Naval Academy is founded
Established in Annapolis with 50 midshipmen and seven professors.
The world’s biomedical engine, and the university that keeps funding it
NIH is 27 institutes and centers, around 18,500 employees, and a roughly $45 billion annual budget — by its own description, the largest biomedical research institution in the world. Johns Hopkins, which opened as the country’s first research university in 1876, has led every US university in total federal research spending for 43 consecutive years, a streak substantially driven by its Applied Physics Laboratory. NIH-funded basic research contributed to every new drug the FDA approved between 2010 and 2016.
Medicine and intelligence, thirty miles apart
The FDA is headquartered on a repurposed Naval Ordnance Laboratory campus in Silver Spring. Meanwhile at Fort Meade, the NSA and US Cyber Command anchor a genuine cybersecurity industry cluster — Fort Meade and the NSA alone generate an estimated $17.8 billion in Maryland economic activity and support over 125,000 jobs.
How Maryland businesses buy websites
The federal research and intelligence agencies get the headlines, but most of Maryland’s businesses are the trades and shops serving Baltimore’s neighborhoods, Annapolis, and towns across the rest of the state.
Professional and B2B services
A state built on research and security contracting rewards clarity about exactly what you do.
Trades and home services
Maryland is small but dense — say plainly which towns and counties you actually serve.
Shops and hospitality
Clear hours and location, readable on a phone, matter in Baltimore’s neighborhoods and beyond.
How well do you know Maryland’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Maryland quiz · 1 of 3
In what year did Johns Hopkins University open as America’s first research university?
Why FastSites works here
A state whose two biggest exports are rigorous research and quiet precision understands the value of getting the basics right without fuss. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same discipline for a small business.