Sponsored By:
Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation
Annapolis Economic Development Corporation

Senate President Thomas V. (Mike) Miller, Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch were joined by Senate Minority Leader E. J. Pipkin and House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell to address the most pressing-and the most heated-issues of the legislative session. Some of our region's most knowledgeable executives, including Sean M. Looney, Vice President for State Government Affairs at Comcast, Donald C. Fry of the Greater Baltimore Committee, Kathleen T. Snyder of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Brian Levine of the Tech Council of Maryland, and James C. Dinegar of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, provided an essential business outlook for the sessionThe Maryland Economic Development Association’s Winter Conference was held in Annapolis on January 12th.  President Laurie Boyer opened the conference at 9:00 a.m. reinforcing the focus of the conference - the Legislative Outlook for 2012. Bob Hannon, President of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation, provided introductory comments and introduced Josh Cohen, Mayor of Annapolis.  Hannon praised Cohen for seeing the importance of Economic Development and creating a public / private economic development corporation to serve the City of Annapolis.   Mayor Cohen welcomed all the attendees, and expressed his appreciation to MEDA for having the Winter Conference in Annapolis.

Maryland Business Leadership Panel

MEDA Treasurer, Sean Looney moderated the Business Leadership Panel that included Donald Fry, President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee; Kathleen Snyder, President & CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce; James Dinegar, President of the Greater Washington Board of Trade; and Brian Levine, VP of Government Relations for the Tech Council of Maryland.

The focus of the panel discussion was how to shape public policy at a time when there are so many diverse opinions on how to create jobs and accelerate economic development.  Looney posed several questions to the panel for discussion, the first one being, “What is the biggest need?”

The panel agreed that educating legislators about job creation and economic development was the biggest need. Kathleen Snyder stated that the business perspective is not well understood by most legislators and that most of them don’t have a business background.  “We’re in a constant mode of educating [the legislators] about the effect regulations have on business.” Snyder said.  She also plugged the Maryland Chamber Business Day in Annapolis, January 19th, a proactive effort to bring business leaders to Annapolis to connect with and educate legislators about the business perspective.

Donald Fry echoed Ms. Snyder’s belief that educating legislators is paramount.  Fry stated that one of the key points to emphasize with legislators is that transportation is a key component to economic growth and job creation.  He said, “People don’t recognize transportation as an issue until it becomes a crisis.”  Brian Levine agreed with both Snyder and Fry that legislators need to be educated beyond their respective niches or key focus area, but also shared that there was a need to “pound the issue” that tech and bio-tech issues are important to everyone in Maryland.

The panel also discussed the pros and cons of the proposed gasoline tax, and identified the most important things the General Assembly could do to help Maryland compete with other states for growing jobs.  These included investing in higher education, doubling or tripling the Research and Development tax credit, investing in transportation infrastructure, staying close to the Federal mandate with health care reform, continuing to support Cyber Security industry sector, and continuing to grow the capabilities of the Port of Baltimore.

Maryland Legislative Outlook Panel

MEDA President, Laurie Boyer moderated the Legislative Outlook panel.  Four legislators from the Maryland General Assembly presented their views on the outlook for the 2012 Session and took questions from the audience.  Panelists were Michael Busch, Speaker of the House; Mike Miller, President of the Senate; Anthony O’Donnell, Minority Leader of the House; and E.J. Pipkin, Minority Leader of the Senate.

Senator Miller indicated that Maryland is well positioned for economic growth, especially when compared to sister states.  “We’re the wealthiest state with the lowest poverty rate, and the number one educational system in America” Miller stated.  He continued, “Though we have the highest educated workforce in the Union, we need to get engineering and medicine talking to one another … and get the scientists working together.”  He concluded by saying that we have to get the government to stop talking about tax increases and talk jobs, jobs, jobs.

Senator Pipkin lamented that PlanMaryland, the state’s first comprehensive plan for sustainable growth and development, has had a negative impact on rural Maryland. He also stated that the money Maryland spends on transportation does not benefit the majority of the taxpayers.  He continued that 90% of all Marylanders use roads to get to work, yet the majority of the taxes collected for transportation fund mass transit such as the development of the Orange and Purple Metro Lines.  Senator Pipkin believes that the proposed gasoline tax is a good thing because it will get the General Assembly talking about where resources are being used.  Pipkin said he would propose having regional transit authorities in the areas served by mass transit that would collect taxes to fund the infrastructure from those localities.

House Speaker Busch echoed Senator Miller’s adulation for Maryland being number one in education, stating this was a huge factor in attracting and retaining companies that need an educated workforce.  The Speaker also stated that the goal of the House of Delegates this session would be to assist creating jobs in the construction industry. He noted that Maryland needs improvements in infrastructure, and the construction industry is currently down 20%.  This would mean lower labor costs at a time when interest rates are also low.

Delegate O’Donnell believes Maryland should engage in discussion on bringing back manufacturing.  He also stated he was concerned about businesses leaving the state due to a strict regulatory process that favors the environment.  He continued, “We have to be careful about the environment … but we have to do it in a balanced way.”  O’Donnell also expressed dissatisfaction in the way resources are allocated to certain jurisdictions in Maryland, claiming a lack of fairness, especially to the smaller, rural communities.

Keynote Address – Christian Johansson

Christian Johansson, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) offered the Keynote Address after lunch.  He spoke about what it takes for states, municipalities and communities to be successful in economic development – and what DBED is doing this Legislative Session to help aid that success.

The Secretary mapped out a plan that began with recognizing the economic development trends, noting that talent drives innovation and innovation drives economic development.

• National unemployment percentages follow the level of education attained.  Education drives employment and affirms talent.  Maryland’s investment in education has paid off with a proliferation of talent.  We’re in the talent game.
• 98% of business growth comes from businesses already located in Maryland.  We need to focus on growing the in-state business. 
• 70% of net new jobs come from 1% of the companies, and companies under five years old are growing the fastest.  We need to figure out how to identify and help those companies.

When addressing what DBED is doing to assist in business growth and job creation, the Secretary stated they are looking at recommending an increase in the Job Creation Tax Credit which is available to every jurisdiction in Maryland, rewarding employers that create a chunk of net new jobs in a two-year window.  Additionally, DBED is looking to simplify the One Maryland tax credit that rewards companies who locate or expand in Maryland’s distressed regions.  DBED continues to support the Invest Maryland program and small business access to capital programs.

Conclusion

The MEDA Winter Conference ended at 2:00 p.m. with a drawing among all attendees for free hotel accommodations at the MEDA Annual Conference in April. Congratulations to MEDA member Paige Bethke, Director of Economic Development for Talbot County, who won the drawing. The Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge donated the award.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our Annual Conference April 29 – May 1 at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge!