A New Vision
For Baltimore's
Economy

We are proud to share the final report Baltimore Together: A Platform for Inclusive Prosperity. This report serves as Baltimore City’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the next five years. It is the culmination of a two-year process that gathered insights, feedback, and recommendations from over 300 diverse voices representing business, government, and community. However, this is much more than a report; this is a commitment to creating a better, more inclusive, and equitable Baltimore through economic growth!

Read the final report here

View the Baltimore Together Infographic here

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Building an Equitable Economy in Baltimore 

The Baltimore Together plan identifies critically important goals to strengthen Baltimore City’s economy and outlines strategies and tactics for reaching them. The Baltimore Together team hopes this document will serve as a call to action and roadmap over the next five years.

Baltimore City must forge a new way forward; if we fail to adopt the strategies identified in this report, we can expect the city to continue to decline. Business as usual is not an option.

The work ahead will require the contributions from many -- individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies. Working collaboratively, we can achieve the Baltimore Together vision and fulfill the enormous possibility that Baltimore City offers.

Vision

Baltimore will show the world how to create an urban economy that is based on diversity, inclusion, and resiliency and uplifts historically excluded Baltimoreans, while attracting investment, businesses, and people committed to contributing to an equitable economy.

We will build a strong and inclusive economy by recognizing our city’s history of racialized economic disinvestment and the damage systemic racism has done to our Black residents and the greater community.

We will ensure economic opportunity for people of color by building on Baltimore’s many assets to implement strategies and policies that invigorate underserved and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) businesses in growth sectors and build generational wealth in Baltimore’s communities of color.

Findings

The Baltimore Together process compiled key data and findings about the city’s economic conditions, including these:

• Baltimore has wide economic racial disparities.
• Baltimore City’s job growth has been predominantly dependent on large companies and institutions; small businesses are not fulfilling their potential. 
• BIPOC-owned businesses account for a small share of business revenue and are primed to fuel economic growth.
• Baltimore’s economy was significantly affected by COVID-19, especially in the arts and culture, tourism, and hospitality sectors.
• Baltimore is still seeing population loss while it attracts more-educated residents. 

Strategies

The Baltimore Together process articulated four key strategies to guide the city’s economic development work over the next five years.

• Work Together:  Baltimore is home to many important civic leaders, business groups, major nonprofit institutions, foundations, and engaged individuals. But far too often, these entities and individuals work separately, without strong coordination with others. A key goal is to foster new and more effective collaboration and cooperation among public and private partners to look for opportunities to work together to fix economic systems.
• Invest in People and Places: Every Baltimore resident and business owner should have the opportunity to succeed, but many have been left out of the mainstream economy. A wide-ranging effort is needed to reverse this by creating new opportunities for economic advancement and wealth building in BIPOC communities. Every person should have access to resources to elevate their economic situation — from education and career training to capital and technical assistance.
• Build from Strength: We must take advantage of Baltimore's considerable economic strength and social assets to support an inclusive growth strategy. These include a philanthropic community that stewards billions of dollars in assets with a focus on community issues, our world-class health care and educational institutions, and strong and growing economic sectors. And Baltimore’s location, port, and transportation system are major economic development building blocks.
• Compete to Succeed: We must work collaboratively to address major challenges and competitive imbalances that hold the city back. Challenges such as racial disparities, crime, high taxes and an inaccurate national profile must be tackled as part of an economic development strategy.

Catch Up on What Has Been Done

An interim Baltimore Together report was issued in January 2021 that includes a summary of the work to date, preliminary findings, and recommendations. To read earlier reports, please click the links below:

1. Interim Report - audio version here opens a new tabOpens a new tab
2. Residential Growth Strategy Opens a new tab

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Resources

Below are various links to data and resources from Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC), which have informed or were incorporated into the interim Baltimore Together report.

Employment Statistics in Maryland by county opens a new tab

Monthly Employment by Industry and Jurisdiction opens a new tab 
Based on the latest release of the QCEW, this gives us the most up-to-date look at federal employment data to track the pandemic's impact on the regional economy. It summarizes employment for industries at the 2-digit and 4-digit NAICS levels for the U.S., Maryland, Baltimore Region, and all counties in Maryland

Most Exposed Sectors

The most exposed sectors* are those that were/are either shut down or experienced reduced demand such as restaurants and bars, travel and transportation, entertainment, personal services, other sensitive retail, and sensitive manufacturing.

The dashboards below present economic data on the sectors that are most exposed to economic impacts from COVID-19. They compare the most exposed sectors to all other sectors in the economy for data points such as jobs, gross regional product, payrolled business locations, and median hourly wages.

• Most Exposed Sectors by Category: Baltimore Region Comparison opens a new tab
• Median Hourly Wages by Sector Group and Race and Ethnicity opens a new tab

For additional data, please visit the BMC Baltimore Regional Recovery Dashboard opens a new tab.

About Baltimore Together

Baltimore Together is a public-private initiative led by the Baltimore Development Corporation to support the creation of a common vision of inclusive economic growth in our city. Through a thoughtful year-long process, a diverse group of stakeholders developed a comprehensive economic development strategy that builds on Baltimore’s strengths, acknowledges its challenges, and identifies a range of steps that will help create an inclusive and vibrant economy for all.