Story said HCEDA stopped comparing Howard County withother counties in the metropolitan area because "it just wasn't fun anymore," and instead initiated, in its five-year strategic plan of 2006, a comparison with 20 successful jurisdictions across the country, picked for their similarities to Howard.
"We examine these jurisdictions, such as Somerset County, N.J. ... and ask, `What makes this place so successful?' We consider stealing their best practices, but often we discover that we compare favorably."
The county's success on the business front reflects on Story, making him "one of the most effective economic development officers in the state," said Ted Venetoulis, who was Baltimore County executive from 1974 to 1978 and worked with him then. "He is somewhat of a legend, really."
Venetoulis, chairman of Corridor Media Inc., said he also attributes some of his long-time friend's success to his "colorful one-liners."
Basu agreed, saying, "Aside from Dick's stellar performance in economic development, he is also known for his height [6-feet-2] and his sizable sense of humor."
That quick-wittedness gives him a decided edge when talking business, Story said, but it also lands him unusual work on occasion. He has been commentator for Cow Plop Bingo since it began five years ago in Betterton, the small Kent County town where he and his wife grew up, and has emceed the annual Betterton Days for 25 years.
The game involves leasing 2-foot-by-2-foot squares of pasture to players who "wait for Mother Nature and gravity to confer at the south end of a northbound cow," he explained, and once the roughage-stuffed bovine "makes its move," spotters determine a winner who gets a cash prize.
His agenda is so regularly crammed that his wife of 40 years, Virginia Ann Clark Story, long ago decided to fill some of her evenings by teaching night classes in human resources disciplines at two area colleges, he said.
Aside from his appearances on behalf of HCEDA, he sits on the boards or committees of a dozen organizations, including the Columbia Foundation, Howard Community College, and the Maryland Economic Development Association, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2006.
He said he and his wife often communicate via sticky notes on their refrigerator and must plan dates to make enough quality time for each other.
