Recent News

Bioscience executives rank biotech investment tax credit as the most important state initiative to induce life sciences industry growth in Maryland, reports GBC President and CEO Don Fry in his August 27 commentary on Center Maryland.

The timing couldn't be worse for a report advocating for the potential imposition of more taxes on Maryland businesses and for our state's elected leaders to work toward reducing tax incentives that nurture economic development.

The ultimate source that would deliver the city a fresh, healthy new revenue stream isn't slots or finding new ways to ratchet up taxes or city fees. City leaders must rededicate themselves to increasing city revenue the old-fashioned way - through economic growth.

Here's a forecast that demands attention: More than 908,000 new jobs and job openings due to retirements will be created in Maryland by 2018.

Governor O'Malley appoints GBC President Donald C. Fry to new state commission to study how state funds its transportation infrastructure.

GBC's vice president will serve on state task force to study the benefits of nanobiotech and the state role in supporting its development.

The city is showing signs that it has ended its precipitous population slide of the last six decades, according to recently-issued 2009 population estimates and historical data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

PlanMaryland, characterized as "design-build," is the State's first comprehensive plan for sustainable growth and development, Maryland State Department of Planning Secretary of Planning Richard Eberhart Hall told GBC members at a Built Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting.

Candidates for virtually any elected office in the upcoming election are proclaiming their support for "jobs, jobs, jobs," implying that they fully recognize business' core value to the state and local economies as the primary generators of jobs.

The living-wage proposal, which proponents are seeking to resurrect in the Baltimore City Council, would require all major retailers in the city to pay their employees at least $10.59 per hour, making Baltimore one of only a handful of U.S. cities to extend such a wage mandate beyond government-funded projects and vendors.

For elected officials who have the power to make the rules in a community, the quest for a well-meaning policy that will, by itself, accomplish a laudable social objective that would broadly benefit your constituents can be intoxicating.

Business climate rankings vary so much because no two sets of criteria used by any of the surveys are alike. However, collectively the rankings tend to identify Maryland's growth prospects, technology, innovation, workforce, and education as key strengths.

Major business advocacy organizations from Maine to Virginia, including the Greater Baltimore Committee, are urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund and lead an $18.8 million planning effort for strengthening high-speed rail resources and related transportation modes in the heavily-traveled northeast corridor.

Baltimore City Mayor and business and civic leaders launched Harborplace’s 30th anniversary weekend...

If you're a business owner or manager, how would you like to start an initiative in your workplace that would save your company almost six times the cost to implement it and increase employee productivity?

A recent report on the education requirements projected for the nation's work force in 2018 sends a compelling message to students, administrators and teachers in Maryland's K-12 schools, as well as to our state's higher education institutions.

If you're a business owner or manager, how would you like to start an initiative in your workplace that would save your company almost six times the cost to implement it and increase employee productivity?

The PRSA Maryland Chapter on June 17 named Gene Bracken, executive director of communications for GBC, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

When the issue of Maryland's competitiveness as a place to locate or expand a business comes up, the discussion invariably gets around to how our state fares on a variety of published business rankings.

Nominees from nine GBC-member companies were named among winners of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) 2010 Best in Maryland Awards on June 17 at the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel.

Wide availability of well-developed solar equipment, coupled with government incentives, is what makes solar energy the front runner. Here's a brief update on three other developing alternative-energy sources and challenges they face.

More than 100 GBC members and guests participated in the 2010 Greater Baltimore Committee Golf Classic at Greystone Golf Club in White Hall, Maryland.

An overflow audience of more than 180 high-tech managers and advocates gathered today at a GBC-hosted event to begin exploring options for Baltimore to develop a high-speed fiber optic network with or without winning a 1,200-city competition to obtain free fiber installation from Google.

The Greater Baltimore Committee honored Baltimore City Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld with the Howard "Pete" Rawlings Courage in Public Service Award at the GBC's 2010 Annual Meeting on May 18.

The Greater Baltimore Committee on May 18 named Baltimore native and Poly graduate Willard Hackerman, president and CEO of Whiting-Turner the recipient of the GBC's 2010 Regional Visionary Award.

Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., a Baltimore business legend, minority business pioneer, and former GBC board member, died on May 24 at Union Memorial Hospital.

While there are unique circumstances relating to the recent contest between Maryland and Virginia for the Northrop Grumman headquarters, our state's second-place finish in a high-profile two-horse race serves as a useful reminder of the basic reality of economic development.

More than 750 of the region’s business and civic leaders celebrated GBC’s vision, leadership & accomplishment at its Annual Meeting on May 18.

15 Maryland businesses today signed a letter of intent to participate in the state's new Healthiest Maryland initiative.

The GBC Education & Workforce Committee's Higher Education Subcommittee would like to obtain information from members regarding internships.

Key information reported at the GBC’s BioParks event on May 11 suggests that bioscience development activity may have slowed in the recession years, but it is far from stagnant.

On May 4, Governor Martin O'Malley signed a largely under-the-radar bill that quietly gives teachers unions in Maryland a new and significant advantage in the collective bargaining process with local school boards.

Vulnerabilities remain in Maryland's corner of cyberspace. Business and government managers need not panic because these threats exist. Smart, "reasonable techniques" can protect our information infrastructure.

If you haven't already done so, please remember to reserve your place now at the GBC's Annual Meeting on May 18 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, 300 Light Street, in Baltimore, for the premier annual networking event for business owners, CEOs, executives and civic leaders.

The prospect of Maryland developing offshore wind power received media attention this week when the Obama administration approved the nation's first offshore wind farm near Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

If you haven't already done so, please remember to reserve your place now at the GBC's Annual Meeting on May 18 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, 300 Light Street, in Baltimore, for the premier annual networking event for business owners, CEOs, executives and civic leaders.

The Greater Baltimore Committee is a sponsor of the 2010-11 Baltimore Speaker Series presented by Stevenson University.

Computer security has become an "increasingly important part of our national debate," U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin told more than 90 GBC members who attended an April 22 GBC cyber security workshop in Baltimore.

Baltimore City and Maryland are among governments across the U.S. facing declining pension fund assets and escalating costs.

The GBC is offering its members the opportunity to buy box seat tickets to Orioles home games this season on its Web site.

A look at the outcomes of business-related legislation in the 2010 Maryland General Assembly.

Business leaders and baseball fans from the Baltimore region's business community had a close-up look at the Orioles team at the Greater Baltimore Committee's annual rite of spring, "Lunch with the Orioles," on April 12.

Baltimore's political, technology, and business leaders are pulling out all the stops to convince Google executives that Baltimore is the perfect place to install Googles' new high-speed fiber-optic cable.

More than a thousand of the region’s business, civic and political leaders will review and celebrate the Greater Baltimore Committee’s work to strengthen the business climate in the Baltimore region and in Maryland at the GBC’s 2010 Annual Meeting on May 18 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore.

A panel of experts will discuss the implications of cyber security threats for Maryland business during a special Greater Baltimore Committee event on cyber security at 7:30 a.m. April 22 at The Tremont Grand.

For people who are not accountants or actuaries, there are few things more challenging than fully comprehending issues relating to employee pensions and other retirement benefits.

Fans will have a chance to win a 2011 spring training trip to Sarasota, Florida at GBC’s Lunch with the Orioles on April 12.

Leaders of two Columbia, Md. companies and the directors of university programs in Baltimore and College Park that conduct genome research and work to commercialize bioscience products have been named winners of the 2010 Maryland Bioscience Awards.

As many as 500 baseball fans in business suits are expected to descend upon the Hilton Baltimore on April 12 for the Greater Baltimore Committee's 30th annual Lunch with the Orioles.

Greater Baltimore President & CEO Donald C. Fry and executives from 21 GBC-member companies have been named by the Daily Record to its 2010 ‘Influential Marylanders’ list.

The Greater Baltimore Committee has been asked by Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to play a key role in the effort to convince Google to select the city as a site for its new high-speed fiber initiative.

The GBC's Don Fry discusses a point of contention among legislative leaders as to the origins of Maryland's current fiscal challenges.

Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Md., has appointed Ivan L. Harrell, Ph.D., as dean of student services.

The Greater Baltimore Committee's annual breakfast tribute to Maryland's bioscience entrepreneurs is March 25 at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore.

It’s not time to panic. But it is time for Maryland to make a smart, focused long-term commitment to stabilizing and reforming the state’s pension funding.

A Greater Baltimore Committee task force announces recommendations for addressing fiscal challenges facing Baltimore City's fire and police pension plan.

The Maryland Port Administration and Ports America recently announced a ground-breaking 50-year partnership to lease and operate the state-owned Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore.

Maryland has a proven tool -- the Historic District Tax credit -- for creating jobs and private sector investments while also revitalizing communities. The GBC's Don Fry is urging lawmakers to enact Governor O'Malley's "Sustainable Communities" legislation that would extend and strengthen it.

GBC President & CEO Donald C. Fry and nine GBC members are among the “Power 20” honored by the Baltimore Business Journal.

Tax credits for building rehab, hiring the unemployed and generating renewable electricity are among governor’s legislative proposals before the Maryland General Assembly, along with a bill to lengthen new teachers’ probationary periods.

In his February Daily column, GBC President and CEO Donald C. Fry details the history of Maryland’s Transportation Trust Fund’s current fiscal challenges.

As a result of de-regulation, residential customers in Maryland can now shop for electricity suppliers, but most have yet to take advantage of their ability to choose.

GBC President Donald C. Fry vows to fight a recommendation by General Assembly budget analysts to divert revenue targeted for transportation to the state's General Fund, Fry tells Sun reporter Michael Dresser.

The recession has reminded all of us – in the private sector and in government – of a basic economic principle: government doesn’t create jobs. Businesses do.

Maryland’s business and elected leaders are looking to convert our state’s celebrated strengths in research and our highly-educated workforce into expanding science and technology business sectors that will be major drivers of our future economy.

Greater Baltimore Committee President & CEO Donald C. Fry will co-chair transition team's economic development and jobs committee.

The GBC’s Jan. 19 State House Update reports that, in addition to federal stimulus funding, the plan to balance the FY2011 budget could include Medicaid reimbursement reductions and shifting some General Fund budget items to the bond-funded capital budget.

BALTIMORE, MD (January 15, 2010) – Governor Martin O’Malley today named Dr. Judith A. Britz, a scientist, academician and entrepreneur with more than 25 years in Maryland’s bioscience industry, as Executive Director of the Maryland Biotechnology Center, a part of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

Fyodor Biotechnologies Inc. announced that it has completed its relocation into a new, state-of-the-art facility in the BioInnovation Center at the University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore, Maryland.

Governor Martin O'Malley announced last Friday that he will seek to implement a program to make $50 million in tax credits available over three years for commercial and residential rehabilitation of historic buildings.

Preserving Maryland’s bioscience investment tax credits and other business incentives, support for charter schools and higher education resources, protecting the state’s transportation funding from being used for other purposes, and nurturing the growth of small businesses are among the Greater Baltimore Committee’s priorities for the 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly, which convenes this week on January 13.

William W. Heintzelman, president, Evergreen.cfo., LLC has been named chair of the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Emerging Business Council.

As a group, state lawmakers are generally lukewarm to the idea of aggressive tax-credit programs and other incentives to nurture business growth in Maryland and to lure new business here.

It would be far more constructive for Maryland's business leaders and elected leaders to achieve a consensus on what, specifically, are the most important characteristics of a good business climate.

Ten Baltimore-area businesses, a university, and a state agency were honored as winners of the 2009 Mayor’s Business Recognition Awards for civic leadership and outstanding community service.

Two Maryland lawmakers who are among the most vocal in Annapolis on energy policy presented opposing views on the issue of whether to re-regulate electricity rates at the Greater Baltimore Committee’s December 9 Energy Symposium.

Corridor Inc. has named nominees for the 2009 Corridor Person of the Year. Online voting for Corridor Person of the Year begins Dec. 7 and closes Jan. 7.

In the event of inclement weather on the day of a GBC committee meeting or member event, the following policies will take effect ...

We are expected to be accessible anytime, anywhere - but still drive 45 minutes to go 15 miles to be in the office at a certain time, telecommuting expert Rick Albiero told GBC members at a Telework Baltimore event on December 1.

The GBC's enhanced Web site at www.gbc.org has drawn favorable reviews from a number of members who have contacted us since the Web site was launched on November 25.

It's difficult to rejoice over the current stock market rally when the jobless rate is almost 10 percent in our nation and 11 percent in Baltimore City. But the recovery from the recession has begun...

Synergy Physical Therapy, a locally owned and independent private physical therapy office, recently purchased a nearly 2,000 square foot medical office condo in Maple Lawn, Maryland, a 600-acre mixed-use development in Howard County.

Governor O’Malley’s announcement that the state and Ports America Chesapeake had entered a 50-year public-private partnership to improve and operate Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine drew strong praise from GBC's Fry.

For our future’s sake, all of us in our neighborhoods, businesses, law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system need to go beyond the statistics and ask ourselves what we can do better to reduce violent crime.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will deliver the keynote speech and co-host the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Small Business Summit on December 7 at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel.

Experts will detail new options for employees to commute electronically at a special event “TeleWork Baltimore,” hosted by the Greater Baltimore Committee, Baltimore Metropolitan Council, and Maryland Department of Transportation.

Eleven of the region’s top health care institutions and Greater Baltimore Committee members hosted a health care vendor fair on November 11 at The Forum Caterers.

Another family benefited from a simple car donation because of a community initiative helping to change the lives of low income families in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Public-private partnerships have been used sporadically by cities and states since the 1980s for highway and transit projects. However, governments, including MD’s, are showing increasing interest in such partnerships.

Organizations will be honored for civic leadership and outstanding community service at the 2009 Mayor’s Business Recognition Awards, hosted by the GBC and Baltimore Development Corporation, on December 14 at Hyatt Regency Baltimore.

MD has many economic development strengths to build on – life sciences, health care, technology, and defense industries; its transportation resources, highly-educated workforce, and quality of life, to mention just a few.

A general consensus that the recession is beginning to dissipate is prompting optimism in the financial community tempered by concerns over a continuing high rate of joblessness, a still-sluggish housing market, and...

MD's draft six-year Consolidated Transportation Program issued in September reflects both a growing long-term deficit in funding transportation infrastructure and the recession’s negative effects on the state transportation fund’s revenue sources.

GBC President & CEO Donald C. Fry and nominees from 10 GBC-member companies have been named among winners of The Daily Record’s 2009 Innovator of the Year Award.

Four recent studies by the GBC's Transportation Funding and Governance Task Force that review potential options for strengthening revenue to Maryland’s Transportation Trust Fund are available online here...

The Leadership, a program of the Greater Baltimore Committee, is accepting applications for its Class of 2010, which begins in January.

Biotech thrives on persistence – a key reason for the governor and state lawmakers to find ways to get planned bioscience funding and investment incentives back on track.

A panel of experts will discuss financing, business and technology; health care, and green, energy and sustainability at the GBC's Small Business Summit.

For MD, next year is an election year – a time when leaders in Annapolis do not traditionally look to enact measures that either cause controversy or bring them close to the third rail of election politics – taxes...

Five Baltimore-area companies, a majority-minority partnership, and two individuals were named winners of the Greater Baltimore Committee’s 2009 Bridging the Gap Awards.