Economic forecast: Clearing skies

Call him a financial guru of Anne Arundel County.

Rick Morgan has played a significant role in building the local business base as the county's economic development director in the 1990s. Now, he serves as president and chief executive officer of CommerceFirst, an Annapolis-based business bank that opened in 2000 and has roughly 1,000 business customers.

As if there weren't enough on his plate, Morgan is chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce and serves as finance officer for the Maryland Economic Development Association and treasurer for the Anne...