James “Jim” Bailey may not be a I-68 native, but his enthusiasm for Garrett County is undeniable. Since 2006, he has run his federal contracting firm, GCC Technologies, LLC from various locations in the I-68 region, and has shepherded the company from start-up to success.

After retiring from the U.S. Air Force, Bailey put his prior experience with government contracting to good use, this time from the other side of the desk. After founding GCC Technologies with his wife in 1997, he moved the company to an incubator space in Garrett County. He and his family were eager to escape the Washington Metropolitan Area’s urban sprawl and enjoy a more relaxed pace of life, and GCC Technologies benefited from the county’s “improved business atmosphere” and involved local government.

In fact, the move to an incubator space in the Garrett Information Enterprise Center (GIEC) was the start of a rapid growth spurt for the

company. “The help we got out of the Department of Economic Development has been great,” Bailey says, crediting them with providing the support GCC Technologies needed to grow. In 2008, they were awarded the Maryland Best Technology Service Incubator Company of the Year Award, and after moving into their own space in Oakland, they once again won Company of the Year, this time in the Graduate category. “Having the support from the county. . . was instrumental in getting us those awards,” Bailey says.

Today, GCC Technologies has over 200 employees working on its various contracts. Notable clients include the Small Business Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs—at one point, says Bailey, he had as many as 90 employees working on that contract alone. The majority of the company’s employees hail from Garrett County, and GCC Technologies is one of the highest-paying companies in the region. They also offer extensive employee benefits, from health insurance to counseling services.

Bailey is driven by a philosophy of mutual care when it comes to his employees. “If we take care of our people, they’ll take care of our customers,” he explains. Both the skilled workforce and the location of Garrett County also offers unique benefits. According to Bailey “the work ethic here is very good,” and GCC Technologies has little trouble attracting motivated, intelligent and educated workers to their team. Bailey and his team also leverage the low costs of doing business in the region: “Having the opportunity to operate out of here certainly helps us to be more competitive.” The county is within two hundred miles of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, but a world away from the high business costs of those markets. Coupled with this strategic location, the talented workforce enables GCC Technologies to secure high-profile contracts and deliver exceptional services.

Part of GCC Technologies’ growth has included opening a second office in Silver Spring, Maryland. But Bailey has no doubts about where his home base lies. Every time he visits the second office, “I can’t wait to get back to Garrett County. . . When I come up Big Savage Mountain and hit the county line marker. . . I feel like I’m home.”

Find a home for your business and yourself in the I-68 region. Explore your options on the I-68 Regional Alliance website.