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Over the objections of one member, the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday supported a $500,000 state conditional grant to help a global biotechnology company grow its Frederick operations with 100 new jobs and expanded research facilities.

The Maryland Economic Development Assistance and Authority Fund conditional grant is being awarded through the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to Life Technologies of Carlsbad, Calif., which has 160 locations worldwide, including one in Frederick.

"Life Technologies is working with Maryland's state and county economic development organizations to expand the company's presence in Frederick, which is its largest distribution center on the East Coast," company officials said in a statement, which called the company "the leading provider of tools for stem cell research."

Responding to some residents' concerns, Uplaksh S. Kumar, director of the company's Frederick operations, said Life Technologies' work does not involve unethical use of embryonic stem cells.

The company, with 9,000 employees, posted sales of $3.3 billion last year.

The Frederick facility grew from 247 to 374 last year. The state grant is conditional on adding 100 jobs by the end of 2011.

The grant will also cover the cost of expanding the facility's manufacturing and research and development capabilities, with total project costs estimated at $6 million.

"If they do not meet those conditions ... they repay the money," said D. Gregory Cole, executive director of the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority and director of DBED's finance programs, who attended Tuesday's meeting.

The commissioners' vote allows DBED to move forward with the grant, Cole said.

Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson Jr. (R), a longtime opponent of such measures, voted against the grant.

"It is rank hypocrisy for those county commissioners who have been whining for the last two years about state budget cuts and voted in support of this resolution to allocate $500,000 of state funding to a private business corporation," Thompson said.

Cole said it is a common practice for governments to offer incentives for companies seeking to relocate or expand.

"Very often, what this money does is level the playing field between Maryland and somewhere else that may have some other cost advantage," Cole said. "It's an economic decision to cause growth to occur in an area."

The state grant also requires a 10 percent match from the county, said Laurie M. Boyer, executive director of the county's Office of Economic Development.

That $50,000 county match will be provided in services, such as training services provided by organizations such as Frederick Community College and Frederick County Workforce Services and recruitment assistance, according to a letter from Boyer to Kathleen Lynch, senior manager of government relations with Life Technologies.

"A strong company like Life Technologies adding jobs is good for the local community," Boyer said, also citing Life Technologies' community involvement.

The company's nonprofit charitable arm, the Life Technologies Foundation in Frederick, last week made a $50,000 donation to the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville to educate public school teachers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., about genomics.