Prince George’s (PG) County, Maryland has an advantage; geographically, it is perfectly situated between Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. The proximity to the federal government, the Port of Baltimore, and major interstate routes make the region an ideal location for economic opportunities for a variety of industries. The county already has major points of interest including Northwest Stadium (home of the Washington Commanders), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the MGM National Harbor, Joint Base Andrews, and Six Flags America. And the PG County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) works to ensure that current and future businesses have the tools and resources necessary to launch, grow, and be successful.
During Japan-Maryland Night, we met Jose Burnes, the Business Development Manager for PG County EDC’s Manufacturing and Warehousing division. He was quite surprised REPROCELL’s US headquarters was in PG County and expressed an interest in learning more about us and what we do. Naturally, we extended an invitation and on February 11, 2025, Jose dropped by for a visit.
CEO Rama Modali (pictured) explained that REPROCELL USA, formerly known as Bioserve Biotechnologies (https://www.reprocell.com/bioserve ), has been a fixture in PG County since 1989 when the company was born out of the University of Maryland’s Technology Advancement Program, which was an incubator program that provided tech start-ups with the literal space and access to venture capital required to start a company. One of the things Jose was curious about is whether REPROCELL has felt any impact from the mass downsizing of the federal government. Given our proximity to DC, Maryland is home to many federal employees and agencies. Jose also asked about staffing concerns, particularly if employees lived close by and how we recruit new employees. But most importantly, Jose wanted to know whether we were happy being in PG County. While many biotech companies in Maryland are in Montgomery County along the I-270 Technology Corridor, Rama assured that the economic advantages of being in PG County have allowed us to grow and prosper.
During the tour of the facility (pictured), Mike Seddon and I made sure to highlight the services we provide including biorepository services, iPSC services, DNA/RNA extractions services, genotyping and sequencing services, and sales of stem cell products and reagents. The main point we wanted to emphasize was that any one of our services potentially can help our clients with their research in developing a therapeutic. Jose was also happy to hear that many of our vendors and suppliers are local to Maryland, some even local to PG County. Mike said that our vendors and suppliers are as much as part of REPROCELL as its employees.
Above: Prince George's County EDC's Jose Burnes tours REPROCELL USA,
with Eric Paz and Mike Seddon
In previous blog posts I have said that it is vital for REPROCELL to build and maintain relationships, not only within biotech, but also with state and local governments. This visit by the PG County EDC is certainly an important step in ensuring our continued success. And Jose reiterated that they are always available to provide assistance should we require it. REPROCELL is starting to step out more into the spotlight and we look forward to entertaining more county and state officials and showing them our capabilities and demonstrating how we contribute to advancements in therapeutics and personalized medicine.
See also this this post on Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation’s Linkedin:
Photo credits: All photos were taken by Justin Gibbs (PG County EDC)
