MDOA – The Longevity Opportunity
July 15, 2026
| The Longevity Opportunity How Maryland’s Ecosystems are Helping People Live Longer |
| By Harry Coker, Jr., Maryland Secretary of Commerce, and Carmel Roques, Maryland Secretary of Aging |
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| Each year, The Maryland Department of Health’s Developmental Disabilities Administration brings together technology vendors, service providers, and community partners to show Marylanders what is possible through technology. This year’s theme, Technology Solutions: Building My Good Life, will showcase how technology can expand opportunities and support greater independence, choice, and community inclusion, and takes place on August 27, 2026. If you would like to participate, you can register here. |
| Viji Elumalai dealt with diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and mental health challenges throughout her life. Her son, Sathya, designed an innovative tool to help her, and now many others, manage these chronic conditions. Maryland turned out to be the perfect place to build his company and realize his dream. After training at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health and Carey Business School in Baltimore, Sathya founded Aidar Health in Columbia. With help from over $1 million from the state’s Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit and the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority, as well as a seed investment of $250,000 from TEDCO, Aidar developed “MouthLab.” This hand-held device quickly measures multiple vital health parameters, helping people manage chronic diseases at home at any age. Aidar Health is a small but dynamic part of the longevity economy—products, services, and contributions driven by people aged 50 and over. |
| Older Marylanders are a dynamic force at the core of our economy. They will make up over one-third of the state’s workforce by 2030 according to Longevity Ready Maryland, the comprehensive 10-year plan developed by the Department of Aging. They drive growth through their contributions to companies as highly knowledgeable workers and mentors, and as entrepreneurs. As consumers, their spending will soon support an estimated 1.7 million jobs in the state. They also contribute an outsized share of state income tax revenue, even as we’ve provided new senior tax breaks in recent years. |  Adults over 50 contributed to 56% of spending in the U.S. in 2018. That amount is expected to increase to 60% by 2050. Learn more about the economic contributions of older adults on the LRM Data Dashboard. |
| Maryland’s unique mix of world-class life sciences companies, health research institutions and regulators, and a top-ranked technical workforce—combined with targeted state incentives—makes the state a leader in innovative products and services that help people stay healthy as we age. In Sathya’s words, “As a company that integrates AI, machine learning, data science, medical device development, and healthcare services, Maryland provides the perfect convergence of resources to support our diverse technological and business needs.” Innovative technologies only matter when they connect to real people in our communities. That’s why we’re home to “living labs” like those at Asbury Communities in Gaithersburg. Working with the AgeTech Collaborative from AARP, Asbury provides a structured demonstration space where residents try out new solutions and provide direct feedback to startups. The tech side of Maryland’s longevity economy ranges from small startups like Aidar to billion-dollar “unicorns” like Bethesda-based Aledade. As a public benefit corporation and physician-led, national leader in value-based care, Aledade uses advanced analytics and AI-enhanced tools to champion this approach. Aledade’s platform empowers clinicians to prioritize preventive health for older adults, rewarding better outcomes over more procedures. This means older patients nationwide stay healthy and out of the hospital. Companies that protect our health, must also protect our data privacy and security. There is no better place to develop secure products than Maryland. We are at America’s epicenter of cybersecurity talent. This allows our longevity startups to build ‘Security by Design,’ ensuring the health data of seniors is protected by the same caliber of talent that secures our national intelligence infrastructure. Maryland has the skills companies need to grow. Our highly skilled workforce reaches well beyond the life sciences and cyber. And we work with employers and our top-flight learning and training institutions to meet new skills needs as they arise. Looking at the bottom line, improving “healthspan” through research, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and age-tech innovation generates billions in national and global revenue for Maryland companies each year. By treating the transition to an older society as a frontier for innovation, we are not just supporting older Marylanders—we are exporting the future of wellness to a world searching for solutions. Helping people live longer, healthier lives is both a duty and an opportunity. We’re proud to build the future of longevity here in Maryland. |
| If you own a business that has an innovative way to impact longevity, the State Small Business Credit Initiative is taking requests for technical assistance. Funding is available for businesses facing challenges due to social, geographic, and economic factors. |