Apr. 3--With the help of a state grant, a bio-tech company will hire 50 employees in Frederick and retain 250 workers.

Life Technologies Corp., at 7305 Executive Way, received a $250,000 investment from the state on Thursday.

Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian Johansson was on hand to announce the investment.

He and Life Technologies Corp. CEO Greg Lucier then toured the $900,000, 6,600-square-foot space housing the firm's local operations.

Frederick is the headquarters of Life Technologies' stem cell marketing department, as well as research and development. The company's biggest customer is the National Institutes of Health.

"Building on our Bio 2020 initiative, Maryland continues to foster a supportive environment for life sciences companies like Life Technologies to ensure that we are well positioned for tomorrow's economy," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement. "Life Technologies' cutting-edge work with disease detection has global implications and offers hope to millions of people around the world for a quicker, more thorough diagnosis."

Uplaksh Kumar, Life Technologies' director of Frederick operations, said the region offers a pool of educated and experience workers for the company's research and development, manufacturing, information technology and distribution jobs.

The funds are part of a $1.3 billion, 10-year plan to invest in bio-tech in Maryland that will result in an estimated $6.3 billion in private and federal investments by 2020. Maryland has been rated second nationwide for technology economy preparedness by the Milken Institute.

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