LA PLATA — Fifty-two would-be business owners in Charles County are waiting for a spot in a county training program that so far has room for only about a dozen at a time, and county commissioners want to know what it would cost to let more of them in.
Launchpad Charles County, a pilot entrepreneurship program run by the county’s Economic Development Department, drew 64 applications when it opened, Anthony Adesina, the department’s business retention and expansion manager, told the Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 20. Fifty-two of those applicants are still on a wait list.
“I’d like that to sink in,” Adesina said.
The demand puts commissioners in front of a familiar problem: the federal pandemic money that paid for the county’s last big small-business program is gone, and next year’s budget is expected to be tight. During the presentation, commissioners asked staff to return with a cost per cohort and floated paying for another round with one-time money rather than waiting for the next budget cycle.
From BGAP to Launchpad
Launchpad grew out of the Business Growth Advantage Program, known as BGAP, a grant and training program the county funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Adesina said more than 140 Charles County businesses completed BGAP between 2022 and about 2024, and the county paid out more than $1.5 million in grants to them. The county lists the program among its ARPA-funded business initiatives.
Some of those businesses grew revenue, hired locally or moved from a home office into a storefront, Adesina said. BGAP was competitive, and not every applicant got in or qualified, which left a backlog of interested business owners.
Launchpad was built to reach that group, Adesina said, along with a rising number of residents trying to start businesses or turn side jobs into full-time ventures, including people affected by federal government layoffs.
Unlike BGAP, Launchpad is a training program. According to the county’s Launchpad program page, the pilot was a four-month, fully virtual course for one cohort of 10 to 12 people with a business idea or a newly established business. It met twice a month for eight sessions, from May 14 through Aug. 27. Graduates receive a certificate and can join a peer-mentoring network called Circles of Seven, in which small groups of entrepreneurs meet periodically with a facilitator.
The pilot ran largely on donated time. Local consultants and businesses volunteered as trainers and mentors at no cost to the county, Adesina said, and some of those mentors were BGAP graduates themselves.
‘How much does it cost per class?’
Commissioners pressed for a number. One commissioner called BGAP’s end-of-program grant “that nice little check” that made a difference for small businesses and asked what a class costs, saying he needed a figure before budget talks. Economic Development Director Jim Chandler said the department does not have one yet.
Chandler said he has challenged his staff to build a model that works without ARPA money. The department plans to gather feedback from the pilot’s participants, adjust the program and return “in a few weeks” with ideas on how to scale it, he said.
The same commissioner suggested enlisting established local business owners as mentors in place of paid consultants and offering them a tax break in return, arguing the county could save money while keeping the program going. He also asked whether the board could use one-time money for another cohort now. With 52 businesses waiting, he said, helping even 10 to 12 of them sooner would matter, since the next budget cycle is about eight months away.
A county staff member told him the board could approve the money as a one-time expense, as it has done for scholarships, and consider making it recurring later.
Another commissioner pointed to a Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland mentorship program that pairs experienced farmers with newcomers, saying the same approach could work for other kinds of businesses.
The return-on-investment pitch
Chandler opened the department’s update by citing the Maryland Economic Development Association’s return-on-investment study, which he said shows $11.67 for every dollar invested in county economic development organizations, based on a three-year average. The association’s most recent publicly reported statewide figure, released in January, was $9.18 in state and local tax revenue for every dollar over fiscal years 2023 through 2025. Chandler did not say in the meeting whether $11.67 is a statewide or a Charles County figure.
The department also reported on its redesigned website, launched in May, and on hiring in the Western Charles County Technology Corridor, which the Chronicle covered separately.
The Launchpad discussion comes as Southern Maryland’s federal workforce faces pressure. A recent regional study found the area’s defense jobs face a clearance gap and a retirement wave.
No vote was taken. Any money for a second cohort would need a separate vote by the commissioners once staff returns with a cost.
