Secretary Coker Visits Carroll County (2025)
Secretary Coker Visit
On Monday, November 10, 2025, Maryland Secretary of Commerce Harry Coker Jr. visited Carroll County officials and economic development staff for an economic engagement tour. This visit is part of Secretary Coker’s efforts to connect with local communities and businesses around the state to learn more about each jurisdiction’s challenges and opportunities and to determine how state government can better assist and support local areas.
Carroll County Economic Development hosted the visit with local partners. The day began with a “Partner Breakfast” where Commissioner Kiler, District 2 and President of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners made welcoming remarks. Commissioner Gordon, District 3, also attended along with other elected officials and community leaders.
A tour commenced with visits to businesses in Westminster and Sykesville. Business visits included Knorr Brake, Hexagon Purus, Zeteo Tech, Northrop Grumman, and Patapsco Distilling Company.
“We were honored to welcome Secretary of Commerce Coker and our state economic development team to Carroll County,” said Denise Beaver, Director of Carroll County Economic Development. “It’s always a privilege to showcase the innovative companies that call Carroll home. From high-tech manufacturing supporting rail, aerospace, defense, and global energy, to cutting-edge biodefense and a thriving spirits industry, Carroll County exemplifies the diversity and strength of Maryland’s innovation economy.”
Knorr Brake Company
Since 1973, Knorr Brake Company (KBC) has been the innovative leader in supplying North American rail market customers, including light rail vehicles, METRO, and high-speed trains. With its North American headquarters in Westminster, Maryland, the company operates sales and service facilities in Carmel, New York; and Union City, California. KBC’s subsidiaries – IFE North America LLC (passenger door systems) and Merak North America LLC (climate-control systems) – are co-located in Westminster. Knorr Brake Company is a member of the Munich, Germany-based Knorr-Bremse Group, the global market leader in braking systems and a leading supplier of other safety-critical rail and commercial vehicle systems. Knorr moved from Baltimore Blvd to its new location Arthur Peck Drive in Westminster, MD and held a grand opening in 2013. Knorr Brake was located on Baltimore Blvd for 18 years prior to moving to this new location.
Hexagon Purus
Hexagon Purus moved to Westminster in 2023, opening a new 60,000-square-foot hydrogen cylinder manufacturing facility at 1221 Independence Way. The company relocated from Taneytown to expand its manufacturing operations.
The expansion is driven by the growing demand for clean energy solutions, particularly for hydrogen-powered vehicles and infrastructure. The company is a global leader in key technologies needed for zero emission mobility, providing hydrogen Type 4 high-pressure cylinders and systems, battery systems and vehicle integration solutions for fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles. Their products are used in a variety of applications including light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, ground storage, distribution, refueling, maritime, rail and aerospace.
The company’s applications are seen throughout the world. Early in 2025, Hexagon received its first orders for hydrogen fuel storage systems for public transportation buses in Europe. They also signed an agreement with Stadler, a manufacturer of rail systems, for hydrogen fuel storage systems for rail applications in California. For the fifth consecutive year, Hexagon Purus was selected to supply hydrogen cylinders for New Flyer’s transit buses in North America. They also reached an agreement with Toyota Motor North America for the serial production of heavy-duty fuel cell electric powertrain kits.
Northrop Grumman Power & Control Systems
Paige Sunderland, Dep. Director, Econ Dev. Presents Joshua Weinberger, Sr. Director, Power & Control Systems & Sykesville Site Executive, Northrop Grumman with the pillar award.
Northrop Grumman’s Power & Control Systems (P/CS) in Sykesville, Maryland is a 200,000 square feet site just 30 miles west of Baltimore. Power and Controls touches nearly every system Northrop Grumman develops and is becoming increasingly more important and integral to achieving system performance as power and energy needs increase and weight/space decrease. Northrop Grumman’s integrated power and energy systems are ideal for supporting current and emerging systems such as electromagnetic sensors, directed energy weapons and radars. Northrop works across sites, business sectors and the industry–collaborating and helping their customers achieve better system performance. Scalable energy storage and management systems are increasingly important for modern naval warfare and Northrop Grumman is leading the way in producing scalable and flexible power storage, management and conditioning solutions using a modular approach to support high-end, power-hungry systems in the future fleet. Core Capabilities…
- Advanced power and electronic control systems
- Engineering and system support through product life cycle
- Manufacturing, Test, Inspection, Quality Assurance, Pack and Ship
- Model and Machine shop for prototyping
- Field / Logistics Support
Zeteo Tech
Zeteo Tech is a venture-backed biodefense and medical device company that has developed a revolutionary new class of fieldable biological mass spectrometers. Their instruments identify airborne microbes, proteins and lipids, and can be used to screen for infectious disease and other bio-threats. Zeteo Tech resides in one of the historic buildings at Warfield at Historic Sykesville.
The U.S. Department of Defense funded initial development of Zeteo’s miniaturized, low-cost, low-power mass spectrometer technology for the identification of aerosolized bio-threats in near real-time. The Department of Homeland Security is funding advanced development and maturation of the systems. One current application focus is critical infrastructure protection.
In 2020, Zeteo Tech was included in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s list of 38 companies recognized as winners of the prestigious Tibbetts Award for their accomplishments in creating cutting-edge technologies. The Tibbetts Awards, named after Roland Tibbetts, the founder of the SBIR Program, honors awardees for the exceptional successes they achieved through SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
Patapsco Distilling Company
Scott Jendrek, founder of Patapsco Distilling, began brewing beer over 30 years ago. His career in biotechnology as a protein chemist sparked a passion for fermentation, leading him to hone his skills over the next three decades. Since brewing beer and distilling spirits share similar early stages, Scott eventually developed an enthusiasm for crafting spirits, specifically bourbon.
In April of 2017, Patapsco Distilling Company welcomed its first visitors. By December 2019, Scott’s wife, Dana, a Penn State graduate with a microbiology degree and over 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, took over the daily operations of the distillery.
Their craft distilling process starts with sound scientific principles, ensuring the final products are of the highest quality. Patapsco Distilling occupies a historic 4,000-square-foot building in Sykesville. All grains for the ir whiskeys are meticulously milled on-site and aged in carefully selected 10-gallon charred white oak barrels. This process infuses each batch of whiskey with distinctive flavors and aromas, giving every bottle its unique character and depth.
Their offerings include vodka, gin, bourbon, single malt whiskey, rye whiskey, Limoncello and seasonal spirits all crafted from locally grown Maryland grains.
