• Management and Efficiency Study Volunteers Feted At City Hall Reception
  
• Schools CEO Russo: Major Reform "Do-able" in Baltimore
  
• Crime Reduction Update: Norris Renews Police Commitment to Operation Safe Neighborhoods
  
• GBC, Mayor to Honor Businesses for Outstanding Community Service On November 6
  
• October 10 Business Education Seminar To Focus on Leadership, Mentoring
  
• GBC UPDATES:
  
  • Letter to the GBC
    
  • Mayor Hires GBC-Presidents' Roundtable Report Staffer Matt Gallagher
    
  • Tech Media Panel Offers Inside View of News Business
    
• GBC MEMBER NEWS:
  
  • New Members
    
  • GBC Members Speak For Education
    
  • Johns Hopkins University Opens Lab to Entrepreneurs
    
  • New Hire in City Council to Work With Businesses
    
  • Leadership Seeks Nominations For Class of 2001
• Verizon's Roberts Joins GBC Board; Bellamy, Manekin Step Off
• "Power, Politics and Style:" GBC After Hours At the BMA on October 16
  

Management and Efficiency Study Volunteers Feted at City Hall Reception

Volunteers who worked on the Greater Baltimore Committee-Presidents' Roundtable's management and efficiency study of key city government agencies were honored at a reception at City Hall September 6.

The six-month study culminated in the July 25 release of a report to Mayor O'Malley, entitled "Managing for Success," that contained more than 250 recommendations for improving city government operations.

"This report is a wonderful document. It has helped all of these agencies to focus on what their mission is going to be for the next five years," said First Deputy Mayor Michael R. Enright. "We asked you to be painfully honest with us. You were, and now we have to deal with it."

Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development Laurie B. Schwartz praised the volunteers, noting that the "support, enthusiasm and participation on the part of the business community was amazing."

GBC Chairman John Morton III, Presidents' Roundtable President Arnold Williams and GBC President Donald P. Hutchinson offered their personal thanks to the more than 100 executive volunteers who attended the reception. More than 250 volunteers worked on the study.

"The majority of the recommendations are being looked at in a positive way by City Hall," Hutchinson told volunteers. Report recommendations were produced by "good managers involved in good business," he added.

MANAGEMENT AND EFFICIENCY REPORT PROJECT FUNDERS:

• W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  
• Greater Baltimore Committee
  
• Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
  
• France-Merrick Foundation
  
• Abell Foundation
  
• Baltimore Community Foundation

To view the report, "Managing for Success," click here...

Schools CEO Russo: Major Reform "Do-able" in Baltimore

Baltimore City's school system, while facing difficult challenges, is in a position to accomplish significant reform if it can obtain more financial resources and if creative reform efforts are strongly supported by businesses, communities and parents.

That's the message the city's new school CEO, Carmen V. Russo, delivered to members of the GBC's Education Committee at its Sept. 13 meeting.

Since a city-state partnership and a new school board began the current system reform in 1997, Baltimore has laid a lot of ground work to get itself ready for "serious improvement," said Russo. "I want to take it to the next level. This work is do-able. But it's hard work."

City schools have submitted to the governor a request for an additional $101 million next year to fund a remedy plan to jumpstart city school reform, she noted. Top priorities for the funding include full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten, recruiting and retaining outstanding teachers, and enriching instruction in language arts, fine arts, and physical education. Other high remedy-plan funding priorities include high school reform and instructional technology.

Her vision includes closing underused schools, building three new schools in the city's growth areas, consolidating some middle schools with elementary or high schools and establishing magnet high schools, beginning with converting Southern High into a technology school.

To achieve support for its "massive" reform plan, the city school system must "build credibility" with key constituents such as parents and state legislators, Russo said.

Among her early goals for the school system's administration is to establish a business-like managing infrastructure characterized by vision and accountability, she told GBC Education Committee members.

Crime Reduction Update: Norris Renews Police Commitment to
Operation Safe Neighborhoods

The Baltimore City Police Department has emerged from a period of leadership transition with a renewed commitment to make Operation Safe Neighborhoods a key element of its homicide reduction plan, according to the project's leaders who met recently with Baltimore Police Commissioner Ed Norris.

Operation Safe Neighborhoods is a 14-agency collaborative effort that focuses law enforcement, community leaders, clergy and service providers on the behavior of chronic offenders. Funding for Operation Safe Neighborhoods includes a $145,000 grant from the GBC Homicide Reduction Fund.

Encouraged by the program's success in reducing violent crime in the Park Heights area, Operation Safe Neighborhoods is poised to expand to the Eastern District - Baltimore's most active area of violent crime, assistant state's attorney Kim Morton told Operation Safe Neighborhoods team members and supporters on August 8.

In Park Heights, since the Operation Safe Neighborhoods strategy was implemented in February, shootings have declined by more than 60 percent and the rate of shooting cases "solved" by police has more than doubled, according to data provided to the Greater Baltimore Committee.

In late July, Norris met with leaders of the Operation Safe Neighborhoods team and reaffirmed that the police department would provide strong tactical support for the initiative. Following Operation Safe Neighborhoods' implementation in Park Heights last spring, expansion of the strategy was delayed as the police department reorganized under Norris' leadership.

Click here for comprehensive information on Operation Safe Neighborhoods, including a detailed summary of the basic law enforcement strategy and inter-agency teamwork that it employs.

GBC, Mayor to Honor Businesses for Outstanding Community Service
On November 6

Mark your calendar to attend the Mayor's Business Recognition Awards luncheon on Monday, November 6, 2000, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Maryland Ballroom at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel. For GBC members, the cost is $50 per person, or $500 per table of ten.

The event honors large and small businesses for community service and philanthropic commitment to the city.

For information and reservations, call Sharon Cooper-Kerr at 410-727-2820, x35.

October 10 Business Education Seminar to Focus on
Leadership, Mentoring

Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County and former GBC board member, will speak at the GBC Business Education seminar entitled "Leadership and Mentoring" on October 10, 2000. Dr. Hrabowski will focus on the values and rewards of mentoring, best practices of organizational and individual mentoring and creating a climate that values and supports mentoring.

The event will take place at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Maryland Ballroom from 8-10 a.m. Continental breakfast will be served during registration from 7:30-8 a.m. The cost for GBC members is $50 per person and $400 per table of ten.

To register to attend, contact Sharon Cooper-Kerr at 410-727-2820, x35.

GBC UPDATES:

• Letter to the GBC
  
  Please accept my congratulations and appreciation to you and the entire Management and Efficiency Review Committee on the publication of "Managing for Success." The Health and Housing Department recommendations as they relate to lead poisoning are smart, thoughtful and well-reasoned. I can assure you we will work with the City to implement the recommendations where possible.
  
  Thank you, on behalf of Baltimore's children, for an entire body of work that will help us all improve the "Quality of Life" in this city.
  
  - Ruth Ann Norton, Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning
  

• Mayor Hires GBC-Presidents' Roundtable Report Staffer
  Matt Gallagher
  
  Matthew D. Gallagher, who recently completed his work at the GBC as project director of "Managing for Success," the GBC-Presidents' Roundtable report to the mayor, has been named by Mayor Martin O'Malley to direct a new information and data-gathering operation for the city.
  
  On August 21, Gallagher joined the mayor's staff as director of operations for "CitiStat." The program will compile and track key data for city agencies to enable the administration to measure, evaluate, and better manage city resources.
  

• Tech Media Panel Offers Inside View of News Business
  
  A panel of six media experts discussed the changing role of technology in the media at the GBC's first fall Business Education Seminar on September 6. They offered guidelines on how to be a more effective newsmaker, discussed how technology impacts the news business, and how you can get your company to jump into the news stream.

GBC MEMBER NEWS

• GBC Members Speak For Education
  
  More than twenty GBC members will participate this year in the Achievement Counts Speakers Bureau, sponsored by the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. Achievement Counts is a campaign designed for participants in the program to speak to ninth grade students in the area, emphasizing the importance of working hard while in school and how the success they experience now will translate into broader opportunities in their personal and professional lives.
  
  Now in its second year, the Achievement Counts campaign covers nine counties throughout Maryland.
  
  

• Johns Hopkins University Opens Lab to Entrepreneurs
  
  Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel is opening itself up to Maryland entrepreneurs for research and development, the Washington Business Journal reported on September 4. The APL and Maryland's Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) signed a memorandum of understanding, allowing private industry to use APL's facilities and its technologies.

• New Hire in City Council to Work With Businesses
  
  Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon hired Debbie Crockett as Community Outreach Director, a new position in the office created by Dixon. Crockett will take a proactive role in establishing relationships and partnerships with a variety of groups, including local businesses. For more information, call 410-396-4804.

• Leadership Seeks Nominations For Class of 2001
  
  The Leadership, a program of the GBC, is currently soliciting applications for next year's class that will begin in January 2001. The program seeks individuals who have reached a significant position in an organization and demonstrate an interest in community service.
  
  Nomination forms are available at www.theleadership.org. Send completed forms and applications by October 16, 2000 to: The Leadership, 111 S. Calvert Street, Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202. For further information, contact Jan Houbolt at 410-727-2820.
  

Verizon's Roberts Joins GBC Board; Bellamy, Manekin Step Off

William R. Roberts, president of Verizon Maryland Inc. as of July 1, has been elected to the GBC Board of Directors. Mr. Roberts started his career in 1980 as a business office manager for C&P Telephone, and has since held positions in operations, human resources, marketing, public affairs, and government relations. Born and raised in Unionville, Maryland, and a 1977 graduate of Morgan State University, Mr. Roberts is an active volunteer in the community. He serves on numerous boards including that of the African Continuum Theatre Company, where he is board chairman and president.

William R. Roberts President Verizon Maryland, Inc.

Sherry Bellamy, former president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - Maryland, and Donald Manekin, a partner with Manekin, LLC, have both resigned from the GBC board due to career changes. Ms. Bellamy is now Assistant General Counsel for Verizon, and Mr. Manekin has taken a sabbatical from Manekin, LLC and accepted the position of chief business officer for Baltimore City Public Schools.

"Power, Politics and Style:" GBC After Hours at the BMA on October 16

The Baltimore Museum of Art will host the next GBC Business After Hours networking reception on Monday, October 16 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. The event, sponsored by Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, includes a tour of the BMA's newest exhibit "Power, Politics and Style."

The new exhibit is "a fascinating example of how American presidents have used furnishings and fashion to reflect political, social and diplomatic ideals for the Executive Office and to convey their vision of the country," according to Doreen Bolger, Director of the BMA.

Native Baltimorean Terry Edmonds, Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting, will be a special guest at the event.

To register to attend, please contact Sharon Cooper-Kerr at (410) 727-2820 x35 no later than October 12, 2000.