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By the time 2009 is through, Montgomery County will have approved master plans calling for more than 150,000 advanced-technology jobs in nearly 50 million square feet of laboratory and research space in most of the county's busiest employment corridors. But, there isn't yet a real strategy for how to fill that space with the life science workers and cutting-edge biotechs that will make those centers thrive, says County Councilman Michael J. Knapp.

With those broad ideas coming together, Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown laid out a 10-point plan Wednesday that he hopes will kick-start a dialogue to better define relationships with federal, academic and private life science industry leaders, create a "pipeline" to funnel breakthroughs to the capital it needs to get to market, establish a county biotech investment tax credit, and expedite life science and advanced-technology ventures through the county's permitting process.

Montgomery County is at a crucial moment in shaping its economic future, Knapp said, as county leaders rework its "life sciences zone" to promote mixed uses and craft the multidecade blueprints for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's move to White Oak, Germantown's burgeoning business corridor and the vision to transform the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center — already the county's largest node of biotech — into an 800-acre "Science City."

But Knapp, who has helped launch and grow biotech ventures for nearly 20 years, sees a "disconnect" in how county government is positioning itself to coordinate those moving pieces.

"We're talking about land use, but we're not necessarily talking about what we want to do to reinvigorate our economic development activities around how we're going to use that land," Knapp said. "… There are things that are taking place that, interestingly, are related, but we haven't actually connected the dots. Given where we are, and what we want to do, we need to connect those dots. You can wait; the problem I have with that is that everybody else right now in the country is trying to figure out what to do — so if we wait, in a competitive environment, somebody else gets there first … If you get all these pieces working, I'm hard-pressed to figure out where else in the country — with the exception of Silicon Valley and the biotech corridor in Massachusetts — that competes with you."

The push comes as County Executive Isiah Leggett's biotech task force wraps up work on its first report since being created last year. The task force's recommendations will "dovetail and expand upon" Knapp's points when released next month, which will likely include a biotech tax credit and fast-tracking life science projects through county approval, said Steven A. Silverman, director of the county's Department of Economic Development.

But foremost, the council needs to approve Gaithersburg West with enough density to make it worthwhile for companies to move there, Silverman said.

The County Planning Board's draft allows for 20 million square feet total. Critics of the plan are calling on the council to scale that back by one-third or more. Leggett (D) says Gaithersburg West needs to be 18 million square feet — enough density to catch international attention and to justify the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, but not so much to require all five highway interchanges projected if Science City is fully built out.

"There's not much point in trying to market your life science centers if they can't accommodate the businesses we're trying to attract," Silverman said.

County Council members who have read Knapp's proposal want to learn more, but say it shows promise, particularly re-establishing the county's policy of "green taping" biotech ventures through the county's usual red tape, developing a structured plan to attract businesses and overhaul the county's image with the business community.

Jack Garson, a lawyer with Garson Claxton in Bethesda and member of a Montgomery County economic development advisory group, said, "Mike presents some great and exciting ideas, although a few are like apple pie and motherhood. No one is going to object. They're not controversial ideas — they're not necessarily cutting edge. The intent is excellent."

"Some of these ideas have been floating out there already," said Richard Zakour, executive director of the MdBio division of the Tech Council of Maryland. "But he has laid out a plan, put a stake in the ground and he has always been very supportive of the [biotech and tech] industry."

Johns Hopkins University officials want to get a better sense of what Knapp means by striking written "memoranda of understanding" with the county. But overall, Knapp is "laying the foundation for what really looks like a positive action plan," said Elaine Amir, executive director of the university's campus nearby in Rockville.

"We've got the ingredients, but [Knapp] has structured it into a framework that we can execute," she said. "He's looking at the execution of a plan, where in the past there's been a lot of talk about planning. We're at the place where we need to do something and we're excited."

That excitement is shared by others.

"We are excited to see a renewed commitment to economic development, science and technology, and attracting high paying jobs to Montgomery County," said Georgette "Gigi" Godwin, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, of Knapp's proposal. "We're looking forward to partnering with council member Knapp, the county executive and … Steve Silverman to make many of these initiatives a reality."

Staff Writers Erin Cunningham and Steve Monroe contributed to this report.