Jessica Fitzwater believes in a Frederick County where everyone can live, work, and thrive – a place where all residents feel a strong sense of belonging. As County Executive, she works every day to make this vision a reality for over 270,000 residents in our community.

She is committed to investing in students, educators, and families. She taught music at Oakdale Elementary School for 17 years, and she held leadership positions in the Frederick County Teachers Association, Maryland State Education Association, and National Education Association. In her first two budgets as County Executive, she made record investments in public education and prioritized school construction and renovation.

She is also committed to managing Frederick County’s growth responsibly while preserving our quality of life. She is leading the implementation of the Livable Frederick Master Plan, which calls for sustainable growth balanced with preservation, and she increased the County’s investments in land preservation, bikeways and trails, and agricultural programs.

Jessica previously served on the Frederick County Council, where she championed bipartisan initiatives to increase access to affordable housing, combat human trafficking, make our community more resilient to climate change, and repeal the County’s English-only Ordinance. When she was first elected, she was one of only two women under the age of 40 serving in county government in the entire state.

She grew up in Smithsburg, is a proud graduate of public schools, and earned degrees from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Hood College. She is a widow and the mother of two children, Jonah and Jane. She lives in the City of Frederick and is a member of Beth Sholom Congregation.

As the CEO of TEDCO—Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies—Troy leads the organization’s mission to support economic development through the cultivation of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. He brings to bear more than 25 years of experience in investment management, higher education, telecommunications, information/communication technology, and management consulting in this leadership role.

Prior to joining TEDCO, Troy was the chief operating officer at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), the nation’s only urban land-grant university. UDC encompasses a six-site community college, a four-year baccalaureate campus, and a law school, and serves 7,000 degree- and certificate-seeking students. He oversaw an array of critical functions at UDC, including capital construction, communications, emergency management, enrollment services, facilities management, government relations, information management, institutional research, marketing, public safety, risk management, and strategic planning, to name a just a few.

An entrepreneur at heart and in spirit, Troy founded the management consulting firms LeMaile-Stovall LLC and GTMS Partners, LLC. He also co-founded and served as the first president and CEO of GulfSouth Capital. His resume includes positions as the interim president of Zenith Education Group; principal at Butler Snow Advisory Services; executive vice president and chief operating officer of Howard University; and senior vice president and chief financial officer Jackson State (Mississippi) University, where he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall HBCU CFO of the Year. Earlier in his career, Troy held positions at McKinsey & Company, Southwestern Bell Telephone (now AT&T), AT&T Bell Labs, and Rockwell international.

Troy is a subject matter expert in capital stack formation and a frequent speaker on venture capital, economic development, and higher education administration, among other topics. He has published articles on entrepreneurship, venture capital, economic development, diversity and inclusion, and higher education. His expertise has been recognized through the various awards he has received including the Dealmakers Award and the Most Admired CEO, among others.

Michael Kuykendall, Senior Vice President for Catellus Development Corporation, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company’s acquisition, development and construction activities on mixed-use projects throughout California, Colorado and Maryland. Most recently, Michael relocated to Maryland to open an office for Catellus where he oversees the company’s operations in the region.

Naren is Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Site Head at Kite’s

manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland. Naren joined Kite in 2018 in Global

Manufacturing to lead Kite’s manufacturing network strategy. He has held roles in Kite’s

Global Supply Chain and led teams in Network Planning & Business Systems and in

External Supply Operations. In these roles, Naren has contributed to increasing Kite’s

capacity and capabilities to serve patients globally while driving new technology

implementation, increased operational efficiencies and risk reduction.

Prior to joining Kite, Naren worked at Amgen for ~14 years, where he oversaw the

company’s operations strategy and manufacturing strategy execution. His educational

background includes a BS in Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Madras, India, an MS in

Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University and an MBA from UCLA.

Lane Gregory is a marketing and sales operations leader with over a decade of experience driving growth and innovation at STULZ USA, a global provider of mission-critical cooling solutions. She oversees cross-functional initiatives spanning Marketing, Sales, and Product teams, aligning strategic messaging with business goals. Lane holds an MBA and PMP certification and teaches marketing in the MBA program at Hood College. She is passionate about brand storytelling, data-driven strategy, and building scalable systems for success.

Mr. Holbrook joined St. John Properties in 2009. As Regional Partner, he directs the comprehensive acquisition, development, construction, leasing, and asset/property management activities for the firm’s portfolio in Virginia and in Central Maryland including Frederick, Montgomery, and Washington counties. Mr. Holbrook has nearly three decades of diverse experience in the commercial real estate industry and holds a Bachelor of Science from East Carolina University and a Masters in Business Administration in Real Estate and Finance from American University in Washington, D.C. Mr. Holbrook is active in numerous professional and civic organizations including NAIOP Virginia and he has served as adjunct faculty/lecturer at the graduate real estate programs of Georgetown University and John Hopkins University.

Andrew joined CPG in 2017 and has since grown his real estate sales experience to over $300 million in real estate investment and land development opportunities across the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metro markets. His expertise spans a wide range of areas, including residential, industrial, and commercial development, net lease properties, zoning, and entitlements.

Before joining CPG, Andrew directed and managed his family-owned land planning and surveying firm, providing him with a strong foundation in the real estate entitlement process. Having successfully assisted with numerous annexations, rezonings, new developments, and redevelopments, he continues to leverage his skill set to help CPG clients minimize risk and maximize value.

A graduate of Georgetown University and a lifelong resident of Frederick County, Maryland, Andrew has served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Frederick and currently serves on the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals. He resides in Middletown, Maryland, with his wife and three children and holds real estate sales licenses in Maryland and Virginia.

Brad focuses on all activities associated with the marketing, brokerage, and negotiation of both new and existing leases along the northern I-270 corridor. Brad spends much of his time in Frederick and Northern Virginia, seeking to expand the footprint of the Matan organization and overseeing acquisitions in these areas. Prior to taking this role at Matan, Brad, a commercial real estate broker, served as Vice President of Sales and Leasing for McShea and Company. Though, he credits most of his real estate ingenuity to the years he spent working alongside his father in his family-owned construction businesses.

Brad holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Georgetown University. Among his many achievements, Brad was named Broker of the Year in Frederick County in 2016 and 2017. Brad has been active over the years as a leader in in regional economic development through terms on the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce of Frederick County, the Business and Industry Committee of Frederick Memorial Hospital, and the Business and Industry Committee for the Frederick Office of Economic Development. Brad has also worked with the Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County, the Downtown Frederick Partnership and was a 2005 Leadership of Frederick graduate. Brad continues to give back to his community through volunteer work and serving as both a baseball and basketball coach for the county youth.

Lara Fritts is a certified economic developer with over 25 years of experience in economic development, community development and management. Her experience spans city and regional levels in both public and private sectors assisting companies to execute their location strategies or development projects while helping communities achieve their goals. She has an expertise in building economic development organizations for elected officials having started six public-private partnerships/departments.

Lara has an extensive career, having held positions in Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Utah. Currently, she serves as the Division Direction of the Frederick County Maryland Division of Economic Opportunity which oversees economic development as well as the Frederick County Workforce Services. Prior to her role in Frederick County – Lara was the only women leading a publicly traded micro-cap real estate company trading on the OTC Markets. There she stabilized the company by securing over $12M of affordable housing assets, reducing debt and teeing up the next acquisitions which would bring additional cash-flow to the company.

Her economic development experience is expansive, and a career highlight was serving as the Director of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development (SLC DED) she was the architect of developing an economic development department where she oversaw three divisions – Business Development, the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City Arts Council. In three years, she worked to bring more than 30 new companies to Salt Lake City including UPS, Amazon, Stadler Rail, and others totaling over 9,000 jobs and nearly a billion dollars in capital investment. With her team she helped to deploy over $44 million into an affordable housing strategy creating over 3500 units throughout the city.

Known as a community vitality champion she has strengths in economic recovery, affordable housing,

strategic planning, tax credits and incentives, and organizational development. She is sought-after

speaker and consultant on real estate, community revitalization, and economic development finance. Lara gives back to the economic development profession by serving on the Board of the Maryland Economic Development Association, volunteering, mentoring, and advocating economic development topics.

Lara holds a master’s degree in urban studies from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in regional analysis from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. She is the recipient of Consultant Connect’s Top 50 Economic Developers in 2019 and was named a Fellow Member of the International Economic Development Council in 2020 which honors economic development professionals for attaining unusual stature in their field and closely related disciplines.