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Local businesses in Howard County getting a boost

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COLUMBIA, Md. — Local business is getting a boost from Howard County.

Today County Executive Calvin Ball announced several parts of an executive order.

That order prioritizes locally-owned businesses when the county buys certain items or hands out contracts for work.

One such local business is Nightmare Graphics in Ellicott City where Ball made the announcement.

He says the move is two-fold. It keeps more money in the county and encourages local business growth something the county has focused on since he took office.

"For every dollar spent in Howard County with a local business, approximately 83 cents goes right back into our local economy," he said. "When we first came into office, only 100 firms were certified with our office of procurement and contract administration under the local business initiative. Today we've increased that participation rate by 137% and I'm proud to announce we have a record 237 firms."

Ball says he's putting these rules in place now since the pandemic continues to linger on hurting small businesses more and more.