Carroll County officially welcomed GSE Systems to Eldersburg last week in the former London Fog building on Londontown Boulevard.

The company brings about 85 jobs to the area and fills up a once-vacant giant.

"We're growing very rapidly here, and that of course is the reason that we are here," said John Moran, GSE chief executive officer, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week. "We listened carefully about the advantages of coming here to Carroll County."

GSE Systems builds simulators and training programs for nuclear reactors, coal-powered plants and desalination systems for companies worldwide. The company built the first nuclear power plant simulator in 1971.

The company has made more than 349 training systems in about 50 countries, Moran said.

"Sixty percent of the world's nuclear power plants in operation today were built by GSE," Moran said. "In the United States, that number is over 85 percent."

The company reported an estimated $31.9 million revenue in 2007. GSE employs 150 employees in 16 countries, Moran said.

With GSE in the former London Fog building, the office space there is fully leased, though some warehouse space is still available, said Larry Twele, county director of economic development. GSE will occupy about 40,000 square feet.

"They had lots of choices, and they chose Carroll County," Twele said.

The company relocated from Woodlawn to the London Fog building, 1332 Londontown Boulevard, in the spring.

According to its Web site, the move saves the company $1 million per year compared to its previous location, and gives it about 25 percent more space.

London Fog left Eldersburg in 1994 for Darien, Conn., leaving 465,000 square feet of building space vacant, but the county has filled the majority of the space with clients such as Waganer Digital Video, NASA contractor RFID Integrators, Signature Events and others.

"For Carroll County, it's a real plus to take a building that has always been real prominent in the community and make it into a building that's going to be the same thing -- very prominent," Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge said.

Commissioner Michael Zimmer said GSE Systems is a "gold medal" for the county.

"If you're a highly educated worker, high-tech worker, you don't have to go to Hunt Valley, you don't have to go to BWI, Fort Meade," said Zimmer. "You can stay right here in Carroll County."

On the Web ...

Click here to learn more about GSE Systems and its work with nuclear simulators.

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