Donald C. Fry Biography
Donald C. Fry
President
Greater Baltimore Committee
 Donald C. Fry became president of the Greater Baltimore Committee, the central Maryland region's most prominent organization of business and civic leaders, on November 1, 2002. Since that time he has presented a new vision for the GBC that is taking shape in the form of bold initiatives designed to strengthen the area's business climate.
Assessing the potential for the region's growth in the emerging bioscience industry, the GBC has emerged as a lead organization supporting the development of two bioscience parks. The first is the University of Maryland Baltimore's BioPark on Baltimore's west side. This park of approximately eight acres will support 800,000 square feet of lab space and create about 2,000 new jobs. On the east side, a plan to couple the development of a bioscience park with massive neighborhood redevelopment on an 80-acre site has already begun. The East Baltimore Life Sciences and Technology Park is designed to have two million square feet of lab space and to create at least 4,000 new jobs for area residents. The GBC has taken on the role of creating a bioscience community of companies, agencies and higher institutions to build an environment of support for the two bioscience parks and the biotechnology industry in the region.
In 2003, Don Fry unveiled plans for a major new initiative that would "bridge the gap" between large companies and minority-owned companies. This massive, multi-dimensional effort will include seminars, networking, and mentoring efforts designed to create a unified business community with tangible benefits for minority-owned businesses. The GBC has also reached out to women business owners, encouraging their active participation in the organization and has doubled the number of women serving on its board.
Regional transportation is the GBC's third initiative. Drawing on his experience as chair of the Vision 2030 Task Force charged with developing a long-range vision for regional transportation for the next three decades, Don Fry has made advocacy for viable regional transportation a GBC priority. Pulling together a broad coalition of transportation advocates he has launched a three-pronged initiative that includes lobbying at the state level, monitoring and evaluating new developments and proposals, and working on the federal level to insure that regional transportation plans are funded.
Because of Don Fry's former position as a member of the Maryland Senate representing Harford and Cecil counties and as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Harford County, the GBC is able to represent the business community in the state legislature with added insight and influence.
Prior to being named GBC president, Don Fry served as the GBC's executive vice president with full responsibility for managing the day-to-day operations. He also oversaw the GBC's economic development and community revitalization efforts on Baltimore's west and east sides and the organization's public safety initiatives including strategies to reduce crime and increase drug treatment availability.
From 1980 to 1999 Don Fry was engaged in a private law practice in Harford County. During this time he served in the Maryland Senate from 1997 to 1998. He was a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee and its subcommittee on Public Safety, Transportation, Economic Development and Natural Resources. His tenure in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1991 to 1997 included service on the House Ways and Means Committee, Appropriations Committee, chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Transportation and the Environment, and membership on the Capital Budget Subcommittee. He was one of a handful of legislators to have served on each of the major budget committees of the Maryland General Assembly.
From 1988 to 1991, Don Fry chaired the Transit Advisory Panel, a 28-member group of elected officials, community leaders and transit riders that developed long and short-term recommendations for the future of transit in Maryland for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He also represented the House of Delegates on the Governor's Commission on Management and Productivity. His other appointments included the Joint Transportation 2000 Committee and the Special Joint Task Force on Transportation.
Don Fry is a 1979 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law. He earned a B.S. in political science from Frostburg State College. He lives in Harford County with his wife Bonnie and son Matthew. |
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