CEO Note: The Pursuit of Opportunities

CEO Note: The Pursuit of Opportunities

October 23, 2024

Dear Partner and Supporter,

Today marks the one year milestone of the Baltimore Region’s federal Tech Hub designation: a five-year, multi-faceted program to vie for $10 billion in funds and receive additional targeted support to grow our economy.

The recognition has helped Baltimore’s assets shine: we’ve been recognized as a top market for tech talent, a top emerging biotech hub, a competitive center of innovation, and a top innovation hub to watch. Leading this effort gave GBC a chance to signify a major step forward in our organization’s transition.

This month, we briefed our partners on the competitive economic landscape for the Baltimore Region, with the aggressive and proactive pursuit of opportunities central to the work of America’s best and most impactful regional organizations.

In short: our counterparts in Detroit, Columbus, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Austin, and Pittsburgh have built regional operations that shape their economic brands, maintain aggressive pipelines of business investment projects, and regularly galvanize stakeholders to go after major investment opportunities from US and global firms and federal agencies.

This includes:

Local and out-of-market business expansions (ex. Airbnb)
R&D centers and public investments (ex. Army Future Command)
Advanced manufacturing and logistics projects (ex. Intel)
New venture and investment firms (ex. Westly)
Startup supporting and ecosystem organizations (ex. New Lab)
Foreign direct investment projects and landing pads (re: BGS, Berlin / NYC)
Special opportunities (ex. SXSW in London, US Clean Energy Summit)
Next generation of entrepreneurs and growth firms

Tech Hub was just one opportunity.

Our merger with the Economic Alliance gave us time to pause and set us on a new and more ambitious path for work that’s now central to GBC’s mission.

We recently announced a call for speakers for the 2025 Baltimore Region Investment Summit and the appointment of Lakey Boyd as our new Chief Economic Officer, an exceptional leader with the experience and evolving curiosity to position GBC’s economic investment strategy to compete to win.

With our 10-year plan in hand and the regional brand effort underway, we will position the Baltimore Region for the pursuit of opportunities that will elevate our economy. This requires a strong collaboration with private, nonprofit, and academic partners and the public sector at local, state, and federal levels.

And equally important, your support: engaging on our steering committees, joining our resource network, participating as a business investment ambassador, or just staying updated for special opportunities.

Meanwhile, get to know Lakey or Carter McClure (Regional Innovation Officer) as we continue to move our work forward.

Sincerely,

Mark Anthony Thomas

President & CEO