When Wayne Bryden was looking for a place to locate his tech startup company, the Elliott City resident visited the Warfield Commerce and Cultural Center campus in Sykesville and found something familiar — some of the campus' buildings were designed by the same architect who designed buildings at the Johns Hopkins University, Bryden's alma mater.

When the Sykesville structures were built, though, they had a different purpose — they were part of the Springfield Hospital Center, once the key employer in the southern part of Carroll County.

Come January, Bryden plans to bring back a bit of that commerce — his startup firm, Zeteo Tech, will occupy Building G, a brick building tucked away in the back of the complex that once housed female patients.

It wasn't just the aesthetic connection to Hopkins — where Bryden obtained master's and doctoral degrees in physical chemistry — that drew him to the commercial campus just over the line in Carroll County off Route 32.

At a ribbon-cutting this past week, Bryden said one of the reasons the company is moving to Sykesville is the town's proximity to the defense industry, with likely connections to Fort Meade and Washington.

“I can't tell you how excited we are to be here,” said Bryden.

Another bonus: Employees who come from Howard County, as he does, will have a reverse commute, sparing them from heavy rush-hour traffic.

Founded in 2013, Zeteo Tech focuses on mass spectrometry and defense-related research, development and production capabilities, according to the firm's website. The new location will be the company's headquarters as well as labs for building mass spectrometers, Bryden said.

Bryden had a 25-year career at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory off Route 29, where he conducted biodefense research. The website notes that he's author of more than 80 publications and holds seven U.S. patents, and was twice honored as an APL Inventor of the Year.

The company lists customers that include the Army, the Department of Homeland Security, APL and defense contractors Raytheon and Boeing.

For officials from Carroll County and Sykesville, those credentials are just what they are looking for to build a reputation and a technology base at Warfield.

“I've been waiting for like 20 years for them to show up,” said Jonathan Herman, one of the developers at Warfield and a former mayor of Sykesville. “They are the perfect type of tenant.”

Zeteo is set to be the second company to open shop in the Warfield Commerce and Cultural Center. The buildings were once part of the hospital but were vacated during downsizing. The Warfield campus occupies just over 50 acres.

During his tenure as mayor, Herman worked with the town's council to purchase the buildings from the state.

“What the building really symbolizes is the state, the town, the county really working together,” Herman said.

The hospital once provided jobs for many of Sykesville's residents, and Herman predicted the buildings will once again provide jobs for Carroll and Howard counties.