At The Fair, A Chance To Voice A Political Opinion

"The level of trust and confidence we have is not so easily come by," Sarbanes said to a crowd of about 100 people, noting that other government contractors have shown less reliability.

"The federal government has come to rely on Hopkins," Roca said in response, adding that Hopkins has directed $250 million to APL for projects just since 2000.

APL is the county's largest private employer, with 4,300 workers, and 550 of the scientists who work on military and civilian space projects will be concentrated in the new building, which replaces a former Westvaco Corp. building that was demolished on the 35-acre site. The new campus is directly across Johns Hopkins Road from APL's main campus.

The 200,000-square-foot new "Building 200" will try to meet the "Gold" environmental standard set by the U.S. Green Building Council with such things as a reflective roof, low-flow water fixtures and energy-saving lighting. The building is scheduled to be ready sometime in 2011. Models of APL-built spacecraft will adorn the lobby.

Harvey Cleary, a Houston-based contractor, is to construct the building, and expects to employ several hundred construction workers at the job's peak, said Mike Harvey, a principal with the firm who attended the groundbreaking. Grading and clearing operations have already begun.