Editing Columbia, Maryland (section)

== Economy ==
[[James Rouse]] conceived of a city, not a suburban [[bedroom community]], and a large area on the eastern edge was allocated for industrial purposes. The centerpiece of this aspect of the development was a [[General Electric]] [[Home appliance|appliance]] plant on a {{convert|1125|acre|km2|adj=on}} site previously operated as a cattle farm.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1996/05/19/farmers-towns-forgotten-pioneers-in-1960s-they-sold-land-to-rouse-making-columbia-possible/ |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |title=Farmers: Town's forgotten pioneers. In 1960s, they sold land to Rouse, making Columbia possible |date=May 19, 1996 |author=Laura Barnhardt |access-date=July 30, 2015 |archive-date=July 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702034239/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-05-19/news/1996140161_1_rouse-acre-farmers |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=Columbia GE Plant Grows |date=May 17, 1973}}</ref> After an injunction attempt was blocked in 1969, the plant began operations in 1972, peaking at 2,300 of the predicted 12,000 jobs. It was closed in 1990, with all but {{convert|21|acre|m2}} of the property being sold back to Howard Research and Development.<ref name="New City"/>{{rp|141}} One section of the property was subsequently redeveloped for [[big box retail]]; the remainder became the large Gateway Commerce office complex, still being expanded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/md/otherdocs/generalelectricmd_SB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714181149/http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/md/otherdocs/generalelectricmd_SB.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=live |access-date=July 4, 2014 |title=STATEMENT OF BASIS GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY COLUMBIA, MARYLAND EPA ID NO. MDD046279311 JUNE 2012}}</ref> In 1968, Bendix Field Engineering moved to a new {{convert|143000|sqft|adj=on}} facility on the historic [[Woodlawn (Columbia, Maryland)|Woodlawn Plantation]] where it was used for engineering activity. Howard County purchased the vacant facility creating the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship in 2011, which relocated to the vacant Patuxent Publishing building in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |title=Bendix Field Unit to Move |author=Peter Muncie |date=September 20, 1968}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |title=Howard Co. to buy Columbia Flier building as headquarters for business incubator |author=Amanda Yeager |date=May 8, 2014}}</ref> There is still a smaller industrial area to the south of this, but by and large East Columbia is dominated by commercial real estate—office, retail, and wholesale—in contrast to the original plan, which saw the Town Center area as the commercial center of Columbia.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Merchant of Illusion: James Rouse, America's Salesman of the Businessman's Utopia |page=114 |author=Nicholas Dagen Bloom|journal=The Professional Geographer |date=2005 |volume=57 |issue=1 |doi=10.1111/j.0033-0124.2005.466_6.x |bibcode=2005ProfG..57..148Z }}</ref>

The U.S. federal government is the source of many jobs for Columbians. Several large [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] installations and R&D facilities surround Columbia, the largest being the [[National Security Agency]] at [[Fort George G. Meade]], and the [[Applied Physics Laboratory]] south of Columbia, both pre-dating the establishment of Columbia. Companies which have had research facilities in the area include [[W.R. Grace and Company]]. Further afield, many Columbians commute to government and government contractor jobs in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=West |first=Tom |date=April 2014 |title=Fisking Pittsboro Matters: Let's take a look at Columbia vs Chatham Park |url=https://www.chathamjournal.com/weekly/opinion/chatlist/fisking-pittsboro-matters-columbia-vs-chatham-park-140426.shtml |access-date=June 28, 2024 |archive-date=June 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628143551/https://www.chathamjournal.com/weekly/opinion/chatlist/fisking-pittsboro-matters-columbia-vs-chatham-park-140426.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Companies based in Columbia include W.R. Grace and Company,<ref>"[http://www.grace.com/Media/GraceInYourArea/documents/GraceInMaryland.pdf Grace in Maryland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703032518/http://www.grace.com/Media/GraceInYourArea/documents/GraceInMaryland.pdf |date=2011-07-03 }}." W.R. Grace and Company. Retrieved on June 29, 2011. "Corporate Headquarters & Grace Davison Headquarters W.R. Grace & Co. 7500 Grace Drive Columbia, MD 2104"</ref><ref name="CDPMap">"[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US2419125&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on Columbia CDP, Maryland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606041837/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US2419125&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on |date=2011-06-06 }}." [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. Retrieved on February 26, 2010.</ref> [[Sourcefire]], [[PetMeds]], [[MICROS Systems]], [[Martek Biosciences]], [[Integral Systems]], [[GP Strategies Corporation]], [[Corporate Office Properties Trust]], and the consumer research company [[Nielsen Audio]] (formerly Arbitron).{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} When [[MaggieMoo's]] was an independent company, its headquarters was in Columbia.<ref name="CDPMap"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Tricia |date=February 16, 2007 |title=Firm with Md. roots buys MaggieMoo's |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2007-02-16-0702160038-story.html |work=The Baltimore Sun |location=Baltimore |access-date=November 11, 2022 |quote=...Richard J. Sharoff bought the company. He moved the operation to Columbia... |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111165024/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2007-02-16-0702160038-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Shopping ===
[[The Mall in Columbia]], located in Town Center, is a large regional shopping mall with three anchor [[department store]]s, a multiplex movie theater, and more than 200 stores and restaurants.

There are several other major competing shopping centers in [[East Columbia Business District, Columbia, Maryland|East Columbia]], including Dobbin Center strip mall opened in 1983, Snowden Square big box retail on the remainder of the GE industrial site, Columbia Crossing I and II big box retail started in 1997, and Gateway Overlook.<ref name="New City"/>{{rp|142}}

Columbia's nine "village centers" provide residents with nearby shopping as well, often including supermarkets, [[filling station]]s, [[liquor]] stores, [[dry cleaning|dry cleaners]], restaurants, and [[hair salon]]s. The village centers are laid out so that individual stores are not visible from the road, unlike traditional [[strip mall]]s. The arrangement is criticized because it makes it difficult for newcomers and non-residents to know what shopping is available; it is praised for eliminating much of the garishness of roadside America.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}

The village centers have evolved over time. Oakland Mills Village Center in [[Oakland Mills, Columbia, Maryland|Oakland Mills]] had a traditional layout—stores located off a central corridor—until its demolition in the late 1990s. The Rouse Company abandoned the village center concept in 2002, selling off the assets to [[Kimco Realty]] for $120 million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2002/02/08/rouse-selling-columbia-centers/ |last=Vozzella |first=Laura |title=Rouse selling Columbia centers |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=February 8, 2002 |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180534/https://www.baltimoresun.com/2002/02/08/rouse-selling-columbia-centers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Kings Contrivance Village Center in [[Kings Contrivance, Columbia, Maryland|Kings Contrivance]] underwent major construction in 2007 and 2008 when a new supermarket was added to the center, but maintained the original character of stores around a central corridor and plaza. Owen Brown village center is now managed by GFS Realty, and the Long Reach Village center was declared blighted and purchased by Howard County for resale in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lavoie |first1=Luke |title=Columbia market study presents recommendations |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-village-study-final-0605-20140530-story.html |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=May 30, 2014 |access-date=January 10, 2015 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003139/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-village-study-final-0605-20140530-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>