Under Armour’s celebratory launch of its new Baltimore Peninsula flagship store this month was much more than a typical retail ribbon cutting. Amid student marching bands, sports mascots and skyrocketing smoke, a mix of business leaders and elected officials joined athletes to get a first look at the new development project.
Yet, the intended audience for the event was the hundreds of Baltimore City school students. Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s remarks spoke directly to them, sharing his story as he ushered in the first phase of a 280,000-square-foot headquarters for the iconic home-grown brand.
Seeing a formerly barren industrial site redeveloped, step by step, into a 235-acre $5.5 billion development of new companies, housing, hotels and expansion of waterfront park access is likely a first for the students. One day soon, they’ll see entrepreneurs like Pinky Cole bring her popular Atlanta-based restaurant Slutty Vegan back home. Development investments at this scale are a seismic shift for most major American markets, especially for ours.
This is the first of a series of major private investments and expansion projects moving from concept to activation that will continue the momentum toward a universally acknowledged renaissance for a city long overdue for its moment.
In the next year, ribbon cuttings will open the 250,000-square-foot life sciences lab space facility 4MLK and T. Rowe Price’s new headquarters in Harbor East. Projects like the B&O Railroad’s $30 million project to reorient to a new public plaza, Downtown Rise and the redevelopment of Penn Station are proof points that Baltimore can hold its own as a hub of innovative new urbanism. Regionally significant projects like Howard County’s Gateway Master Plan, the $1 billion 330-acre redevelopment project in Sparrows Point and major cultural investments to transform Preakness into a multi-week festival that rivals the Derby are all major steps forward.
These marquee moments meet what is likely the Greater Baltimore Committee’s most important investment, our regional economic brand initiative. With the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the acquisition of Upsurge Baltimore, the regional business leaders have done the hard foundational work to break apart siloes. Meanwhile, amplifying our regional economic assets and civic progress to widespread national and international awareness has been in the works for nearly two years.
This year, GBC selected international firms Resonance, Ipsos and Timbre Strategies to shape how the region amplifies the stories like Baltimore Peninsula, Sparrows Point and B&O to the many entrepreneurs, investors and location advisers who make decisions on where they expand and in which communities they deploy private capital.
The firms engaged more than 150 business, creative and civic leaders across every sector and benchmarked our region’s performance against 13 U.S. markets. Ipsos polled hundreds of business decision-makers to understand how they view the Baltimore region for the critical vetting communities endure prior to economic growth and investment. They also reviewed existing reports and branding campaigns from each of our regional partners. The themes distilled from the research highlight seven takeaways:
- Internally, we need to be better advocates for what makes this region amazing instead of apologizing for what it lacks. Stop defending, start promoting.
- While we differ when it comes to the assets that best express our region’s personality and vibe, all stakeholders agree: It’s good to live here.
- Our economic story isn’t focused enough on driving private investments, a shift for a state that’s historically benefited from federal proximity.
- We have a good relative perception from business leaders, in line with our likely competition.
- Our quality of life and the ease of entry for starting a business or a career here are two key priorities for communication that we should be leaning into more.
- Our region is an undisputed leading market for the industrial sector. In playing to this strength, as we invest in projects such as rebuilding the Key Bridge, the message of these public investments will help us maintain our edge.
- The final takeaway is one that the hundreds of startups, creators, and emerging companies have said to us: We are a tech hub. The designation and the U.S. Department of Commerce grant we received this year, as part of the five-year $10 billion bipartisan initiative, will help us compete in the next round. The recognition itself 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.
This coupled with record progress toward tackling some of our longer-standing civic challenges on public safety and vacant housing position us to send an economic message to the wider world that the Baltimore region is here to win. For the many young people on hand for Under Armour’s celebratory launch and the many people passionate about the future of this region — the time for telling the story of our strengths is long overdue.
Mark Anthony Thomas is the president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee.