2026 MEDA Primer for Economic Development in Maryland

Laurie (Boyer) Babb is a Director of Economic Development on the Business Development team at the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). She focuses on business retention/expansion projects, real estate/site selection and efforts to recruit corporate headquarters. She also manages the ACE Loan Fund program which provides loans to small, minority, and woman-owned businesses.

Ms. Babb previously served as the Economic Development Manager for the Business Advancement Team in the Office of the County Executive, Montgomery County Government where she was responsible for the management and oversight of the County’s economic development financial incentive programs and the administration of contracts with third party vendors providing economic development services on behalf of the County. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she developed policies and procedures and implemented over $40 million in emergency grant programs established to directly assist local businesses.

Previously, Laurie served as the Executive Director of Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), and as Executive Director for the Frederick County Office of Economic Development. In May 2006, she earned her professional Economic Development Certification (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council. She has 20+ years of economic development experience.

Ms. Babb is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery Class of 2014 and Leadership Frederick County Class of 1997, currently serves as a Past President of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA) and is co-chair of the MEDA Professional Development Committee, on the Leadership Committee of NAIOP DC-MD, and on the Sponsorship Committee of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) MD Suburban.

Ms. Babb has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Spanish from Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA and a Master’s degree in Communication Studies from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV.

Ms. Brown is the Director of Maryland Small Business Programs and State Director of the Maryland Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC). As the Director, she oversees multiple federal programs hosted at the University of Maryland, including APEX Accelerators, Mid-Atlantic Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), and the Maryland Business Opportunities Center (MBOC), a program that was developed under her leadership. In her primary role, she provides leadership to the Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) which is a statewide program that is comprised of more than 22 locations. The SBDC is a partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the U.S. Small Business Administration to facilitate management training and technical assistance to Maryland’s small businesses. In the last 3 years, Ms. Brown has been instrumental in raising an additional $10 million to be spent over a 5-year period.

Ms. Brown joined the Maryland SBDC in 1998 as a program coordinator. She was later promoted to the Deputy Director position, where she was responsible for overseeing the Network’s operations for 20 years. In 2023, Ms. Brown was promoted to her current position. Some of her accomplishments over the years include the development and evaluation of policies, procedures, and program initiatives for the Network. Ms. Brown led the Maryland SBDC Network to prepare the ASBDC Accreditation self-study and implement organizational improvements, which resulted in accreditation without conditions. She developed a desk reference guide for the Maryland SBDC, which codified the organization’s procedures. As the Deputy Director, Ms. Brown led the annual proposal preparation and submission for a $4+ million funding package. Ms. Brown coached a specialty consulting team through the challenges of achieving results in Baltimore City after the unrest. She negotiated annual goals and objectives with agency officials in a climate of changing priorities. Ms. Brown is active on America’s SBDC Accreditation Committee, where she and other State and Associate Directors conduct peer reviews of SBDC programs nationwide. The accreditation process, funded by the U S Small Business Administration and based on Baldrige standards of excellence, drives continuous improvement for SBDC programs nationwide.

Before joining the SBDC, Ms. Brown practiced law at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, PA, assisting low-income individuals with issues ranging from family law to Supplemental Security appeals and bankruptcy. While in business school, she began her pursuit of entrepreneurship development through the Urban Business Assistance Corporation by providing technical assistance to small businesses in New York City. Upon earning her M.B.A, Ms. Brown worked with Syndicated Communications, a venture capital firm that targets minority-owned media communications companies, and Media Communications Group, a specialty-lending group affiliated with Signet Bank as an Investment Analyst.

Ms. Brown received her B.A. in English, cum laude, from Howard University, her J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.

Lora Brown joined Prince George’s Community College as an adjunct professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department at Prince George’s Community College in Fall 2021.

Lora Brown participates in various civic groups in Prince George’s County and the Washington, DC, area where she currently resides. Ms. Brown is a very active member of her church, where she serves on the Trustee Board, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Logan Dean serves as Apprenticeship Program Manager for the Maryland Department of Labor. He coordinates a statewide team of apprenticeship experts who help employers develop high-quality Registered Apprenticeship programs which train workers in more than 200 occupations. The Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program is responsible for developing and promoting apprenticeship opportunities across a diverse range of industries, while safeguarding the health and wellbeing of Maryland’s almost 13,000 Registered Apprentices. Prior to joining the Apprenticeship team, Logan served as Policy Analyst for Labor’s Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning and Director of Service Learning at the Living Classrooms Foundation.

With over 20 years of expertise across municipal, county, and state economic development, Heather holds a wealth of knowledge in transforming communities.

Heather’s career spans a range of economic development focuses, from business and community development to downtown revitalization. After graduating from Hood College with her B.A. in Business Administration, she started her career in economic development, working with the City of Frederick Department of Economic Development. She then transitioned to the Maryland Department of Commerce as Director of Regional Growth and Retention before returning to Frederick in 2017 to serve the Frederick County Office of Economic Development as Deputy Director.

Most recently, Heather served as the Assistant Secretary of Business and Industry Sector Development with the Maryland Department of Commerce.

In this role, Heather oversaw all aspects of the state’s business development efforts, including domestic and international business attraction and in-state business retention and expansion efforts; strategic industry sector development; economic development finance programs; and the agency’s advocacy and support for military and federal assets in the state.

Continuing her dedication to economic development, she became a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) in 2007 and is a graduate of the Leadership Frederick County (2011) and Leadership Maryland (2017) programs.

In 2012, Heather received the Leading Women Award from the Maryland Daily Record, which honors women under forty for outstanding career achievements. Recipients are chosen based on their professional experience, community involvement, and dedication to inspiring change.

Heather was honored by the Development Counsellors International (DCI) 40 Under 40 Awards in 2015, which celebrate the top forty economic development professionals under forty who show exceptional leadership, dedication, and innovation in their work every day.

Richard Griffin, AICP, CEcD is the Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick.
In that role oversees four City Departments including the Department of Economic
Development, Downtown Parking Department, Frederick Municipal Airport, and Weinberg
Center for the Arts. Griffin is accredited economic developer and urban planner with over 30
years of experience.
During his 20+-year tenure in Frederick he has overseen major City Projects including the design
and development of award-winning Carroll Creek Park, airport expansion, and parking garage
development along with coordinating complex development projects delivering jobs and tax
base in downtown and commercial corridors. He has worked with many businesses in Frederick
including AstraZeneca, Fort Detrick, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Stulz,
Wilcoxen, Precision For Medicine, and many small mom and pop shops, and minority and
women owned businesses.
Richard has experience working at the city, county, regional, and federal level in Maryland,
Virginia, North and South Carolina and Washington State. He served on the district staff of the
late US Representative James Clarke from the 11th District of NC. He is a US Army veteran
having served as a Cavalry border guard on the East German Border during the cold war and as
a commissioned Armor officer in the NC National Guard and Army Reserves.
Mr. Griffin holds degrees from Western Carolina University and Clemson University. He is the
President of the Board for the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA), and
serves on the Boards of the Fort Detrick Alliance, the Frederick Innovative Technology Center,
Inc, and others. He is Rotary Paul Harris Fellow and volunteers as a scout leader and youth
mountain bike race team coach. His wife Lynne is a FCPS teacher and they live, work, and play
in Downtown Frederick.

Nick Henninger-Ayoub serves as Director of Project & Program Development at the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO). In this role, he assists with new projects and programs to support statewide infrastructure, real estate, and financing strategies that advance Maryland’s competitiveness and inclusive growth. Nick plays a central role in administering the Maryland Business Ready Sites Program (MBRSP), a first-in-Maryland grant program to accelerate site readiness and attract large-scale business investment across the state. His background includes policy leadership at the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) and research and data analysis at the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB), in addition to previous international work in development economics. With a B.A. in Economics and M.P.P. in International Development from the University of Maryland College Park, and an M.A. in Political Science from Boston University, Nick brings a data-informed, partnership-driven approach to shaping Maryland’s economic future.

Jennifer Jones is an industry thought leader with over 20 years of business and leadership experience in the private and public sectors. During her tenure in the public sector, Jones has been an integral part of the Howard County business ecosystem, directly assisting and forging valuable relationships with thousands of Howard County businesses. Over the course of her career, Jones has served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Howard County Government, where she helped thousands of businesses survive and thrive through the pandemic. She also served as the Vice President of Business Development at Live Nation, where she was responsible for business analysis and market expansion.

In her most recent role as Business Development Strategist for the County Executive’s Office, Jones advised on economic development, holding over a dozen business roundtables to understand and address challenges, and implemented entrepreneurship and small business initiatives. Jones is an active Howard County resident and public servant, serving as a board member of several community and business organizations, including the Howard County Tourism Board, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Howard County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Downtown Columbia Partnership and the Howard County Center of African American Culture.

Jones holds a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law, a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Jayson Knott is Senior Director of the Office of Business Development at the Maryland Department of Commerce. He leads teams responsible for attracting new businesses to Maryland, growing existing Maryland businesses, and providing assistance to Maryland small businesses. Knott began his tenure with the Department in 1998, first working in publications and advertising, and then moving into business development in 2000. Prior to the Maryland Department of Commerce, he spent nine years coordinating publications for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Knott received his BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1987, and has completed numerous continuing education courses with IEDC. A Westminster native, Knott lives in Towson with his wife and two sons.

Since 2015, Tamar has served on the Regional Growth and Retention team of the Maryland Department of Commerce, the state’s economic development agency. Based in Frederick, Tamar works with businesses across industries and in all stages of the business life cycle to connect them with state and ecosystem resources, develop business opportunities, and address challenges. Prior to joining Commerce, she served as a local government affairs director for the Maryland Association of REALTORS® and led the federal public policy operations at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Tamar holds the Certified Economic Developer designation from the International Economic Development Council. She earned her BA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MPA from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was a Lyndon Baines Johnson Scholar.

James Palma is an AICP-certified planner and is currently employed as Research Director for the
Maryland Department of Commerce. He has been active in the areas of demographic and economic
policy research for over 20 years. Prior to joining Commerce, Jim was a planner for the Maryland
Department of Planning, where he worked to support Census 2010 and PlanMaryland. Previous to this,
Jim worked for a private planning and engineering firm in Florida and was a researcher for a public
policy institute at the University of Massachusetts. Jim has presented at various conferences on topics
such as the use of Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data in Smart Growth measurement and
predicting future land use needs for industrial development, as well as researching and authoring
various articles and studies. Jim received a B.A. in Political Science and an M.R.P. from the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, and is a past president of the Maryland chapter of the American Planning
Association.

Stephen Rice serves as the Economic Development Manager for the City of Annapolis, Maryland. In this role, Stephen co-leads the Community and Economic Development Division within the Department of Planning and Zoning. He manages economic development projects, facilitates revitalization efforts and helps to recruit and retain businesses in the city. Stephen also advocates for policies that ensure that Annapolis continues to be a great place to start, grow or expand a business.

Previously, Stephen worked for American Communities Trust in Baltimore as Director of Community Development. In this role he worked with New Markets Tax Credits to revitalize challenged communities across the country. Stephen also served as Vice President of Business Development for the Howard County Economic Development Authority after a long tenure at the Greater Baltimore Urban League where he led the economic development team.

Stephen was raised in Columbia, Maryland and is a proud graduate of Wilde Lake High School. He then completed his undergraduate education at Morehouse College where he studied Economics. Stephen later completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Vanderbilt University and his Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree at Harvard University. He can often be found enjoying the wonders of Annapolis with his wife Edith and their daughter.

As TEDCO’s Chief Development & Marketing Officer, Tammi Thomas is responsible for the overall strategic direction, execution and management of TEDCO’s marketing and fundraising strategies. Her leadership is instrumental towards the organization’s success in identifying, investing in, and growing Maryland-based technology and life science-based start-ups. Tammi is an award-winning communicator with more than 30 years of experience in marketing, technology, economic development, higher education, and entrepreneurship. Among other awards, she recently received the Distinguished Women Award from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (2024) and was named one of I-95 Business’ Influential Women (2025).

She serves on the World Trade Center Institute’s CEO Council, Maryland Momentum Fund Advisory Board and President of MEDA’s Board of Directors.

Tammi earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama State University and an MBA from the University of Baltimore. She takes great pride in her daughter, Sydney, who’s a nuclear engineer serving on a guided missile submarine. Go Navy!

Economic and Tourism Development Director, Kent County, Maryland
With a strong foundation in business and leadership, Jamie Williams brings a strategic focus to driving economic growth and enhancing tourism in Kent County. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, and earned a Master Certificate in High-Performance Leadership from the National Association of Counties (NACo) Professional Development Academy in 2020.

A graduate of Shore Leadership (Class of 2021), Ms. Williams currently serves on the Board of the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA), where she co-chairs the Professional Development Committee. She is also an active member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). In addition to her professional commitments, Ms. Williams serves as Treasurer of the Chestertown Rotary Club and Secretary of the Queen Anne’s County Alumni Association.

Her prior experience includes leadership roles such as Assistant Plant Manager and Customer Service Manager for a millwork distributor, as well as Office Manager for a land surveying firm, positions that have contributed to her well-rounded perspective and hands-on approach to business and economic development.