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Montgomery County could soon have one of the first local biotechnology investment tax credits in the nation, officials said Thursday during a conference to unveil the recommendations of the county's Biosciences Task Force.

The credit will be similar to the state one, a $6 million annual program that formed in 2006, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said before scores of biotech executives and officials at the Shady Grove Innovation Center in Rockville. Bills filed in the state Legislature that would have implemented county biotech investment tax credits in both Montgomery and Baltimore counties failed earlier this year.

But Leggett said this measure did not require approval by the state, only by the county council. He planned to forward the measure to the council early next year and hoped it could become effective in early 2011. Council President Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said the council will consider the proposal "as soon as we receive it."

The local biotech tax credit was one of many recommendations contained in the task force's strategy to reinvigorate the county's biotech industry. The 34-member committee, formed in October 2008, has been working on the report for about a year.

David Mott, chairman of the task force and general partner of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, which has offices in Chevy Chase, Baltimore and other cities, said the county and state's biotech industries have been "boxing below our weight class" in recent years. "We have a unique opportunity to step back up to our proper weight class," said Mott, former CEO of MedImmune, Maryland's largest biotech.

Besides the tax credit, the task force's long list includes the formation of a public-private partnership to advance the county's program to aid developing businesses with a heightened accelerator concept possibly modeled after those in Seattle and Cleveland, improving commercialization of area research and enhancing bioscience educational programs. "I want to see more companies here to invest in," Mott said.

Johns Hopkins University's Montgomery County campus in Rockville has already formed programs to work more closely with other universities and partners, said Elaine Amir, executive director of the campus and a member of the county task force. Those efforts should continue to grow, she said.

The recommendations will help the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce in its economic development programs, said Georgette "Gigi" Godwin, chamber president and CEO.

"Our long-term economic strength will depend heavily on our ability to grow and attract high quality jobs in knowledge-based, 21st century fields," Godwin said.

Leggett and County Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown agreed with Mott that more was needed to be done to boost the county's biotech community.

"We face unprecedented competition as cities and regions across the nation and around the world invest hundreds of millions of dollars to cultivate their own bioscience sectors," Leggett said. "I believe we are resting on our laurels. We can do better, and we will."

Added Knapp, "We should get to work on [the recommendations] tomorrow."

The task force is being replaced with another one, tentatively called the Montgomery County Biosciences Leadership Group, to monitor the county's progress on the strategic plan, Leggett said. He expected it to form early next year.

Last year, Montgomery's bioscience industry generated revenues of $2.4 billion and employed 9,200 in the private sector and 49,000 in federal government agencies, according to the report. The average private biotech salary was $92,945, about double the county average.

Among recommendations released Thursday by the Montgomery County Biosciences Task Force:

-Create a public-private partnership to augment the county's business innovation network with an accelerator concept that brings together the capital resources of leading venture capital firms with top scientists and entrepreneurs to aid promising biotech startups.

-Court venture capital firms that have investments in county biotech companies to open satellite offices.

-Work with the state delegation and others to reintroduce legislation that would allow early-stage biotech companies to take tax deductions against net operating losses.

-Work with Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland and other research institutions to facilitate greater licensing and commercialization of their research discoveries and technologies.

-Pass legislation to form a county-specific biotech investment tax credit by the summer of 2010.

-Work with the state delegation and others to make the research and development tax credit permanent, as well as refundable or transferable.

-Support partnerships between Montgomery College, other higher education institutions, county public schools and industry to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum development to spark student interest in biotech fields.

-Support efforts by Johns Hopkins and others to expand their research presence, clinical trials and technology transfer activity in the county.

-Create a recognizable brand that differentiates the county bioscience sector nationally and internationally.

-Partner with the Maryland Biotechnology Center to develop a high-profile marketing campaign that complements the state's BioMaryland branding and global marketing effort.