Sally Sternbach, Executive Director, and Daniel Hurtado, Marketing Manager, both with REDI, will be attending the convention as well as hosting a trade booth promoting Rockville’s position as a major hub of leading bioscience and advanced technology companies. BIO 2004 marks the third year Rockville’s economic development group has attended the annual convention.

“We are excited about the opportunity to promote Rockville and the region as a major player in advanced sciences and technology at the annual BIO conference,” said Sternbach. “The convention offers a rare opportunity to sell Rockville as an ideal location for bioscience firms to the largest gathering of industry experts and to make contact with key decision makers.”

The economic development departments for both Montgomery County and the State of Maryland will also be represented at the conference as part of the “Maryland Pavillion”.

REDI will once again showcase a Rockville-based bioscience company at the annual convention. BIOCON, Inc., a research laboratory servicing the biomedical and biotechnology communities, will be featured alongside REDI at this year’s exhibit booth, a testament to the public-private partnership nature of Rockville’s approach to economic development. The company’s participation at the event will also enable conference attendees to interact with an actual Rockville-based business together with the city’s economic development agency.

REDI will also participate in the International Marketplace, a pre-conference symposium designed for international participants to meet and network with high-level representatives from U.S. companies, academic institutions, and other organizations. The international program will allow REDI to network with representatives from businesses overseas, promote Rockville on a global level, and to gain a better understanding of the approach taken by international companies in expanding into the U.S. market.

“There are many companies that have helped place Rockville in the international spotlight, and by attending the conference we are helping to promote those companies while also bolstering Rockville’s reputation as an attractive location for new and expanding businesses,” Sternbach said.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. For further information on BIO 2004 and BIO’s past conferences, visit www.bio.org.