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Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History

1985 Isaac Newton Square
Reston
Virginia
20190
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives

From branded fluid milk to commercial ingredients like cream and high heat powder, Maryland & Virginia products represent an important sector of America's food chain.

History of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc.

With its headquarters in Reston, Virginia, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc. serves the interests of approximately 1,500 dairy farmers located in 11 mid-Atlantic and Southern states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Member farms may be smaller than 100 cows or larger than 2,000. Maryland & Virginia markets members' products at competitive prices and pools their collective buying power to purchase agricultural equipment and supplies for them. The Association also employs a field staff to help members with their milk production, offers equipment loans, and lobbies the government on their behalf. Maryland & Virginia markets more than three billion pounds of milk each year, serving such major urban markets as Baltimore, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.

The raw milk is sent to the co-op's four processing plants. Located in Newport News, Virginia, Marva Maid Dairy produces whole, lowfat, and reduced fat milk as well as buttermilk, flavored milk, eggnog, and orange juice. The Maola Milk and Ice Cream unit, based in New Bern, North Carolina, produces fluid milk, ice cream, ice cream novelties, and juice for consumers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Maryland & Virginia also operates a manufacturing plant in Laurel, Maryland, that uses excess milk to produce butter, condensed milk, and nonfat dry milk to be sold to food companies as ingredients for such products as infant formula and baked goods. Finally, the co-op sends some of its milk to Valley Milk Products LLC, a Strasburg, Virginia-based, majority-owned joint venture with Utz Lake Inc., to produce butter, cream, dried milk powder, and condensed milks, which are then sold as ingredients for bread, baby food, ice cream, and frozen dinners. Maryland & Virginia also maintains an equipment warehouse in Frederick, Maryland, offering 1,500 agricultural items in stock. Although orders are shipped throughout the country, co-op trucks are able to make monthly deliveries to member farms in parts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

The co-op is governed by a 23-member board of directors. Each of the organization's 22 districts elects a director, and a public director serves to provide an outsider's perspective.

Rise of Cooperatives Linked to Industrial Revolution

The cooperative concept arose in Europe in the late 1700s and early 1800s, in response to societal changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Rural residents who once produced their own food now went to work in city factories and were very much at the mercy of shopkeepers or company stores where prices were high and products often adulterated to squeeze out further profit. In England consumers fought back, as groups began pooling their money to buy groceries from wholesalers. The first to form a lasting co-op was the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, which opened a store in 1844 to serve the needs of striking textile workers in Rochdale, England.

In colonial America, Benjamin Franklin established one of the earliest co-ops in Philadelphia for mutual fire insurance. For the most part, however, American co-ops were formed by farmers, who used them to purchase equipment and supplies, provide storage or processing services, and in some cases market their products at the best price. Most of them were short-lived, however, the victims of poor organization and management.

Not until the 1890s did the cooperative movement in America truly take shape and begin to have an impact on the country's commerce, as farmers rebelled against the power wielded by the railroads, bankers, and manufacturers. Buying power was one advantage, but farmers also began to form co-ops along commodity lines to gain marketing leverage. In 1893, for example, several local associations were united into one organization, the Southern California Fruit Exchange, which established a formula for all cooperatives that followed. To stimulate sales, the Exchange began advertising its lemons and oranges under the "Sunkist" label.

Because of anti-trust legislation, co-operatives operated in a shadowy area of the law, since in theory they could be considered an unreasonable restraint of trade. But the cooperative movement, which enjoyed its most explosive growth from 1919 to 1922, had political allies, the Farm Bloc Members of Congress from Southern and Midwestern states, and in 1919 the National Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation tried to pass legislation that was favorable to co-ops. It was defeated by commercial groups, but was rewritten and introduced by Senators Arthur Capper and Andrew Volstead a year later. The landmark Capper-Volstead Act finally passed in 1922, allowing farmers and ranchers to join marketing co-ops without fear of antitrust litigation.

Switch to Cooperative Status: 1923

Maryland & Virginia was established during this period, adding to the membership of the National Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation. It was organized and incorporated in September 1920 as a nonprofit corporation. Legally an association, it would not become a cooperative until 1923. It immediately hired a manager, who began signing up member dairy farmers. They agreed to pay the new co-op one-fifth of one cent per gallon to market their milk. Unfortunately distributors refused to pay the price the organization wanted and for a time members were no better off than before. In fact, the Association was in debt to the tune of $108,000 by 1924. The passage of Capper-Volstead provided some clout, but more important was a Virginia law, the Milk and Cream Act of 1925, which allowed the state to set the minimum price for milk to save producers from price cutting, which in the long run could endanger supply, and called for the use of an arbitrator to settle differences between producers and dealers. The law was challenged but ultimately upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1937. The leadership of Maryland & Virginia's second general manager, John McGill, and president Frank Walker also played a key role in the turnaround of the organization, which got out of debt and by the close of the 1920s had built up a surplus of nearly $180,000.

With legal backing, Maryland & Virginia began to enjoy strong growth in the 1920s. It built a pair of processing plants, and also joined forces with a Baltimore association to create a common marketing agency. The foundation established was strong enough to withstand the tribulations of the 1930s, as the stock market crashed in 1929 and America descended into the decade-long Great Depression. It was a difficult period for the Association, which had to go to court in order to sell its products in the Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia area. Maryland & Virginia also had to contend with cheap uninspected, "bootleg" cream that flooded the Washington, D.C., market. The co-op went so far as to hire a private detective agency to keep an eye out for the offenders and offered a $500 reward to anyone with information about the sources of illegal cream. In 1939 the District's Embassy Dairy was caught with 200 cans of Indiana cream by local officials. Although the plant was fined a nominal $10, the event spurred a Congressional investigation into the matter.

The United State's entry into World War II in late 1941 provided the stimulus needed to finally bring the Depression to an end. But for Maryland & Virginia and other milk producers the war did not lead to a boon. To put industry on a war footing and make the best use of resources, the government imposed price controls. Milk producers had hoped to see a price increase but government intervention prevented it and they had to wait to enjoy better economic times. Maryland & Virginia did its part during the war by donating milk to the Stage Door Canteen, a Broadway theatre café that catered to soldiers, sailors, and marines. The Association also donated money to the Red Cross. During the first 20 years of its existence, surplus milk had been a perennial problem, but during the war years the Association had difficulty satisfying contracts--and still had to contend with low milk prices that usually resulted from surpluses. Federal subsidies helped, but they were lifted at the close of the war, forcing Maryland & Virginia to contend with the usual forces of supply and demand in the marketplace.

Following a brief recession at the end of hostilities, the U.S. economy soared in the post-war years, and so did Maryland & Virginia, as returning servicemen married and began raising the baby boom generation, which would drink massive amounts of milk. To support members it opened a pair of equipment operations in Frederick, Maryland, by the end of the 1940s. Expansion continued in the 1950s, spurred to some extent by the introduction of new technology in the dairy industry. For example, the first bulk farm tank came into use in the early 1950s. Prior to this, farmers had to store their milk in cans for transportation to processing facilities. Members took advantage of the new bulk tanks and in the summer of 1951 the Association established two truck routes to service 14 farm tanks, the operations of which ranged in capacity from 200 to 600 gallons. In another important industry development, processors were now also allowed to use chemical sterilization methods on their milking equipment rather than rely solely on steam. The Association also expanded during this period. It acquired Embassy Dairy in 1954 and the plant began to process members' surplus milk. Maryland & Virginia's processing capacity was bolstered even further a year later when Olney Acres' manufacturing plant was purchased in Laurel, Maryland. The addition of these two plants solved the long-time problem of what to do with surplus fluid milk: It could now be converted into storable products, thereby taking fluid milk off the market and supporting prices.

Marva Maid Plant Built in 1962

In 1962 Maryland & Virginia began the construction of the Marva Maid plant in Newport News, Virginia. When milk processing began a year later, Maryland & Virginia was able to extend its marketing reach to Virginia's Tidewater Region. The 1960s was also a period of consolidation in the dairy industry, as a number of cooperatives merged, such as the Middle Atlantic Diary Council. Maryland & Virginia worked with other associations when a drought led to lower milk production. Unable to provide enough milk to its processing plants, Maryland & Virginia worked with other co-ops to process their excess milk. Furthermore, the Association joined forces in 1968 with Inter-State Milk Producers' Cooperative and Maryland Cooperative Milk Producers, forming the Pennmarva Dairyman's Federation to serve as a common marketing agency.

The 1970s saw significant milk production increases across the country. Maryland & Virginia expanded its operations during this time by acquiring Colony Farms Dairy in 1971. It was then merged with Marva Maid. Another important development came in 1976 when Maryland & Virginia became affiliated with the Land O'Lakes butter operation.

Milk production increases and further expansion continued into the 1980s. The Laurel plant added new receiving facilities, and to relieve the problem of surplus milk the Association joined with others to develop a method for freeze-drying milk solids. In addition, members took advantage of two government programs that kept milk supplies in check: the Dairy Diversion program, through which farmers received payments for lowering production in 1984 and 1985; and Whole Herd Buyout (or the Dairy Termination Program), which paid farmers to slaughter their dairy cows and agree to stay out of dairy farming for at least five years. While Maryland & Virginia lost some members in this way, it also added some when Capitol Milk sold its assets to Southland Corporation, the holding company for the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, and its producers became members of the Association. Another important change in the 1980s came in 1983 with the passage of the Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act, which opened the door to national advertising and the promotion of dairy products. In 1986 The Middle Atlantic Milk Marketing Agency was formed to handle the co-op's promotional activities, with member farms charged a 15-cent deduction to support the effort.

At the start of the 1990s, Maryland & Virginia's milk production topped the two-billion-pound mark, which resulted from changes at the Laurel Plant in 1992, as the drying, evaporation, and handling facilities were renovated and enlarged. By now the Association's annual revenues were in the neighborhood of $350 million, but despite growth it faced a challenging future. It was losing members in its core territory as dairy farmers had to contend with the rising cost of feed and other essentials while the price their milk fetched remained flat at best. Moreover, the Washington, D.C. suburbs, where dairy farms were once prevalent, had become more valuable for housing developments, and land speculators convinced many farmers to sell their property and their herds and start a new life. As a result, the city's fresh milk supply crept further south and west. The trend continued over the course of the 1990s and by the end of the decade changes were in order for the Association. Maryland & Virginia merged with Carolina Virginia Milk Producers, adding 400 members and increasing the Association's milk production to three billion pounds a year. Later in 1999 the Association also bought Valley Milk Products LLC to handle some of that extra milk.

In January 2000, the Association took another major step by joining forces with Land O'Lakes East and Southeast Milk, Inc. to form the Advantage Dairy Group as an East Coast milk marketing operation. Several months later, two more co-ops, Lone Star Milk Producers and Arkansas Dairy Cooperative Association joined. A year after that, Land O'Lakes looked to take the idea one step further and merge with Maryland & Virginia, Lone Star, and Arkansas Dairy. Essentially Land O'Lakes would be absorbing the three smaller co-ops. The idea did not sit well with Maryland & Virginia members, who immediately circulated a petition to force a special session. In a matter of weeks the merger was scrapped. Nevertheless, the milk industry continued to consolidate.

Maryland & Virginia took its own steps to keep growing. In 2003 it acquired North Carolina's Maola Milk and Ice Cream Co. At the same time it had to contend with depressed wholesale prices, which were continuing to drive dairy farmers out of business. One idea launched by the National Milk Producers' Federation, was Cooperatives Working Together, a private program to trim cattle herds to reduce production and increase prices. Maryland & Virginia also made efforts to cope with low dairy prices by making its manufacturing operations more productive, to the benefit of its members. In 2005 the Laurel plant added robotic palletizing to more efficiently package butter, an investment that the Association expected to pay off in less than two years. In 2006 Maryland & Virginia also increased its production capabilities by acquiring Giant Food's dairy processing plant in Landover, Maryland, which processed 700,000 pounds of milk each day, supplying nearly 200 grocery stores. For the past 30 years, Maryland & Virginia had been the plant's only milk supplier, so in effect the Association would be reaping further benefits from the milk its members produced.

Principal Subsidiaries

Marva Maid Dairy; Maola Milk and Ice Cream; Valley Milk Products LLC.

Principal Competitors

Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.; Dean Foods Company; Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Related information about Maryland

pop (2000e) 5 296 500; area 27 090 km²/10 460 sq mi. State in E USA, divided into 23 counties and one city; the ‘Old Line’ or ‘Free State’; the first settlement (1634) located at St Mary's (state capital until 1694); seventh of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution, 1788; gave up territory for the establishment of the District of Columbia; abolished slavery, 1864; capital, Annapolis; other chief city, Baltimore (85% of the population live in this area); bounded E by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean; Chesapeake Bay stretches N through the state, almost splitting it in two; the Potomac R forms most of the S border; the Susquehanna and Patuxent Rivers cross the state, emptying into Chesapeake Bay; highest point Mt Backbone (1024 m/3360 ft); to the N and W is the rolling Piedmont, rising up to the Blue Ridge and Pennsylvania Hills; to the S and E is Chesapeake Bay with indented shores forming a popular resort area; the Eastern Shore with over 12 000 km²/4500 sq mi of forest is noted for its scenic beauty; iron and steel, shipbuilding, electrical equipment, machinery, processed foods; poultry, dairy products, corn, soybeans, tobacco.

Maryland (IPA: ), is a Mid-Atlantic state located on the East Coast of the United States and is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a South-Atlantic state. Its history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and Southern regions of the United States.

Maryland is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania; A portion of extreme western Maryland in Garrett County is drained by the Youghiogheny River, as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, while the remainder of the state drains, via the Bay, into the Atlantic Ocean. So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland's geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state's official nickname to "Bay State", a name currently used by Massachusetts.

The highest point in Maryland is Backbone Mountain, which is the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac. This geographical curiosity, which makes Maryland the narrowest state, is located near the small town of Hancock, and results from Maryland's northern and southern boundaries being marked by the Mason-Dixon Line and the north-arching Potomac River, respectively.

The Delmarva Peninsula comprises the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entire state of Delaware, and two counties of Virginia, which together form a long extension down the Atlantic seaboard. This region includes the cities of Salisbury, Annapolis, Ocean City, and the southern and eastern parts of greater Baltimore. This region includes Frederick, Hagerstown, and northern and western parts of metro Baltimore. Extreme western Maryland, in Allegany County and Garrett County has a colder continental climate due to elevation (more typical of inland New England and the Midwestern U.S.) with mild summers and cold, snowy winters.

Precipitation in the state is very generous, as is most of the East Coast. Snowfall Map

Flora and Fauna

As is typical of states on the East Coast, Maryland's plant life is abundant and healthy. A good dose of annual precipitation help to support many types of plants, including seagrass and various reeds at the smaller end of the spectrum to the gigantic Wye Oak, a huge example of White oak, the state tree, which can grow in excess of 70 ft tall. Included among these are the Crepe Myrtle, Italian Cypress, live oak in the warmer parts of the state, and even some hardy palm trees along the coast and in the bay area. USDA Plant Hardiness Zones in the state range from Zone 5 in the extreme western part of the state to 6 and 7 in the central part, and Zone 8 around the southern part of the coast, the bay area, and parts of metropolitan Baltimore.The state harbors a great number of deer, particularly in the woody and mountainous west of the state, and overpopulation can become a problem from year-to-year. The Chesapeake Bay provides the state with its huge cash crop of blue crabs, and the southern and eastern portion of Maryland is warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop.

Lawns in Maryland carry a variety of species, mostly due to its location in the Transition Zone for lawngrasses. The area around the Chesapeake Bay is usually turfed with transition species such as Zoysia, Tall fescue, and Bermudagrass.

National Park Service

Areas under the control and protection of the National Park Service include:

Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg
Antietam National Cemetery
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Assateague Island National Seashore
Baltimore-Washington Parkway
Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park on the Potomac River
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network
Clara Barton National Historic Site at Port Tobacco
Fort Foote Park in Oxon Hill
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore
Fort Washington Park in Fort Washington
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo
Greenbelt Park at Greenbelt
Hampton National Historic Site near Towson
Harmony Hall in Prince George's County
Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick
Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm in Oxon Hill
Piscataway Park in Accokeek
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, the corridor between the Chesapeake Bay and the Allegheny Highlands
Suitland Parkway in Prince Georges County
Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Port Tobacco

History

In 1629 George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, applied to Charles I for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland, which was at the time the northern part of Virginia. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632.

On March 25, 1634, Lord Baltimore sent the first settlers into this area, which would soon become one of the few predominantly Catholic regions in the British Empire (another was Newfoundland, where religious disputes led to the first flag's coloring). The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 was one of the first laws that explicitly dictated religious tolerance (as long as it was Christian). The act is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.

Based on an incorrect map, the royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This proved a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland. The Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania, engaged two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason-Dixon line, which would form the boundary between their two colonies and would later become the dividing line between North and South.

After Virginia made the practice of Anglicanism mandatory, a large number of Puritans migrated from Virginia to Maryland, and were given land for a settlement called Providence (now Annapolis). In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government and set up a new government that outlawed both Catholicism and Anglicanism. However, after England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, when William of Orange and his wife Mary came to the throne and firmly established the Protestant faith in England, Catholicism was again outlawed in Maryland, until after the Revolutionary War.

St. Mary's City was the largest site of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of the colonial government until 1708. In 1708 the seat of government was moved to Providence and renamed Annapolis in honor of Queen Anne.

Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, and became the seventh state admitted to the US after ratifying the new Constitution. The following year, in December of 1790, Maryland ceded land selected by President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of Washington, D.C..

During the War of 1812, the British military attempted to capture the port of Baltimore, which was protected by Fort McHenry.

Despite strong support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the American Civil War, in part due to precautions taken by the government in Washington, D.C. President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, ordered US troops to place artillery on Federal Hill to directly threaten the city of Baltimore and helped ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 108,972 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 9,752 people.

As of 2004, Maryland's population included 583,900 foreign-born residents (10.6% of the state population), of which an estimated 56,000 are undocumented immigrants(1% of the state population).

Most of the population of Maryland lives in the central region of the state, in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.

The three counties of Western Maryland (Allegany, Garrett, and Washington) are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia more than they do the rest of Maryland.

Race

The five largest reported ancestries in Maryland are German (15.7%), Irish (11.7%), English (9%), American (5.8%), and Italian (3.6%).

Blacks are concentrated in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, and the southern Eastern Shore. Italians are centred mostly in the large city of Baltimore.

Maryland has one of the largest proportions of racial minorities in the country, trailing only the four minority-majority states. For example, Baltimore was the location of the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789), and Emmitsburg was the home and burial place of the first American-born citizen to be canonized, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Many Federal government agencies are located in Maryland, including:

- Census Bureau
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), formerly the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- National Security Agency (NSA)
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Consumer Product Safety Commission

There are also numerous military facilities in Maryland:

Aberdeen Proving Ground
Andrews Air Force Base
Army Research Laboratory
National Naval Medical Center
Fort Meade
Fort Detrick
Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center
Naval Air Station Patuxent River
School of Military Packing Technology
United States Naval Academy
Webster Field
Bainbridge Naval Training Center (closed in 1976)

Maryland has a large food-producing sector. Agriculture is oriented to dairying for nearby large city milksheads plus specialty perishable horticulture crops, such as cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, tomatoes, muskmelons, squash, and peas (Source:USDA Crop Profiles). In addition, the southern counties of the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay are warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop zone, which has existed since early Colonial times. Salisbury is home to Perdue Farms.

The third component of the food producing sector is Maryland's food-processing plants, which are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state.

Manufacturing, while large in dollar value, is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20% of the total. Maryland is home to several large military bases and scores of high level government jobs.

Maryland is the fifth wealthiest state in the nation www.abagmd.org/info-url2446/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=289379.

Transportation

Roads

Maryland's Interstate highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 connects the western portions of the state to I-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-83 connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania). I-97, fully contained within Anne Arundel County and the shortest one- or two-digit Interstate highway outside of Hawaii, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.

There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. The Capital Beltway is currently heavily congested, however, the ICC or Intercounty Connector, which may begin construction in 2006 or early 2007, could be the beginning of an outer, second beltway. Construction of the ICC was a major part of the campaign platform of Governor Robert Ehrlich, who took office in 2003.

Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either not signed or are relatively short (see List of minor Maryland state highways). Major state highways include Routes 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road), 4, 32, 100, 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), and 404.

Airports

Maryland's main airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (formerly known as Friendship Airport and recently renamed for former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was born in Baltimore). Other airports with commercial service are at Easton, Hagerstown, and Salisbury. The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., are also serviced by the other two airports in the region, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Northern Virginia.

Trains

Amtrak trains serve Baltimore, BWI Airport, and New Carrollton along the Northeast Corridor. In addition, train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland on the Amtrak Capitol Limited. MARC trains, operated by the State's Transit Authority, connect nearby

Law and government

The Government of Maryland is conducted according to the state constitution. The Government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.

Power in Maryland is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Unlike most other states, significant autonomy is granted to many of Maryland's counties.

Most of the business of government is done in Annapolis, the state capital. Virtually all state and county elections are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four, in which the President of the United States is not elected - this, as in other states, is intended to divide state and federal politics.

The Judicial branch of State government consists of one united District Court of Maryland that sits in every county and Baltimore City, as well as 24 Circuit Courts sitting in each County and Baltimore City, the latter being courts of general jurisdiction for all civil disputes over $5,000.00, all equitable jurisdiction and major criminal proceedings. The intermediate appellate Court is known as the "Court of Special Appeals" and the state supreme court is the "Court of Appeals". In 1980, it was one of just 6 states to vote for Jimmy Carter. In 1992, Bill Clinton faired better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's 6th best, in 2000 Maryland ranked 4th for Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his 5th best performance in Maryland.

While Maryland is a Democratic party stronghold, perhaps its best known political figure is a Republican--former Governor Spiro Agnew, who served as United States Vice President under Richard Nixon. The governorship is also a point of interest, as Republican incumbent Robert Ehrlich will be his party's nominee facing Democratic party challenger Martin O'Malley, the Mayor of Baltimore. home to Aberdeen Proving Grounds and hometown of baseball great Cal Ripken

Annapolis – state capital, home of United States Naval Academy
Baltimore – site of Bowie State University
College Park – suburb, home to the University of Maryland, College Park and College Park Airport, the oldest continuously operated airport in the United States
Columbia – large unincorporated planned community managed by the Columbia Association
Cumberland – regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland
Ellicott City – county seat of Howard County and original terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Frederick – western gateway to Appalachian Mountains, suburban center, county seat of Frederick County
Germantown – fastest growing community in Montgomery County
Gaithersburg – largest community in 3 county Western Maryland region
Laurel – home of Laurel Park horse racecourse and scene of assassination attempt on George Wallace in 1972
Ocean City – largest city and business center of Delmarva peninsula
Silver Spring – home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the headquarters of the Discovery Channel
Towson – county seat of suburban Baltimore County
Waldorf – largest town in Southern Maryland
Westminster – County seat of Carroll County, Maryland and host of the annual Maryland Wine Festival.

Education

Colleges and universities

Allegany College of Maryland
Anne Arundel Community College
Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore Hebrew University
Baltimore International College
Carroll Community College
Capitol College
Cecil Community College
Chesapeake College
College of Notre Dame of Maryland
College of Southern Maryland
Columbia Union College
Community College of Baltimore County
Frederick Community College
Frostburg State University
Garrett College
Goucher College
Hagerstown Community College
Harford Community College
Hood College
Howard Community College
Johns Hopkins University
Loyola College in Maryland
Maryland Institute College of Art
McDaniel College
Montgomery College
Morgan State University
Mount St. Mary's University

Prince George's Community College
St. John's College, Annapolis
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's Seminary and University
Sojourner-Douglass College
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
United States Naval Academy
University System of Maryland
- Bowie State University
- Coppin State University
- Frostburg State University
- Salisbury University
- Towson University
- University of Baltimore
- University of Maryland, Baltimore
- University of Maryland Baltimore County
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- University of Maryland University College
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
- University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
- Universities at Shady Grove
Washington Bible College
Washington College
Wor-Wic Community College
Villa Julie College

Professional sports

Baltimore Ravens, NFL Football
Baltimore Bayhawks, Major League Lacrosse
Baltimore Blast, Major Indoor Soccer League
Baltimore Orioles, Major League Baseball
Baltimore Pearls, American Basketball Association
Maryland Nighthawks, American Basketball Association

Minor League baseball teams
- Hagerstown Suns
- Bowie Baysox
- Frederick Keys
- Aberdeen IronBirds
- Delmarva Shorebirds

Maryland Championship Wrestling

Miscellaneous topics

State symbols

State bird: Baltimore Oriole
State boat: skipjack
State cat: calico cat
State crustacean: blue crab
State dinosaur: Astrodon johnstoni
State dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
State drink: milk
State fish: rockfish (striped bass)
State flower: Black-eyed Susan
State folk dance: square dance
State fossil: Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae
State gem: Patuxent River Stone
State horse: thoroughbred horse
State insect: Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
State nicknames: "The Old Line State" and "The Free State."
State reptile: diamondback terrapin
State song: "Maryland, My Maryland"
State sport: jousting, lacrosse (state team sport)
State theatres: Center Stage and Olney Theatre
State tree: white oak

Sister states

The State of Maryland has eight sister states, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

Anhui Province, China
State of Jalisco, Mexico
Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea
?ód? Voivodship, Poland
State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wallonia, Belgium
Région Nord-Pas de Calais, France

Maryland also has one sister city:

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Chronology

Key Dates
1920 Incorporation of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Inc. as a nonprofit entity.
1923 The association converts to cooperative status.
1955 The Olney Acres manufacturing plant is acquired.
1962 The Marva Maid milk processing plant is opened.
1971 Colony Farms Dairy is acquired.
1999 The association merges with Carolina Virginia Milk Producers.
2003 The Maola Milk and Ice Cream Co. is acquired.
2006 Giant Food's plant is acquired by the association.

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