Howard County Executive Calvin Ball is on a week-long trip diplomatic trip to Canada to strengthen business and cybersecurity ties between Howard County and our neighbor to the north.
Ball has accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at Toronto Tech Week 2025, the conference taking place from June 23 – June 27, 2025.
Ball’s visit will focus on building partnerships with Ontario and making it easier for Canadian and international tech companies to enter the U.S. market through Howard County. He will speak at the Toronto conference and, with a delegation of Howard County officials and business leaders, will visit Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Ottawa. The Trade Mission is led by the Howard County Economic Development Authority with goals of forging international collaborations and exploring partnerships in the IT/Cyber and AgTech sectors.
“One of the United States’ greatest allies, and one of the Five Eyes, is our neighbor up north,” Ball said in a statement. “Maryland and Howard County already have a strong relationship with Canada, and this trip will only deepen our economic ties through agribusiness, food processing, cybersecurity, and education. I look forward to expanding opportunities for Maryland’s businesses and learning more about ways Canada and Howard County can develop new strategies to strengthen our alliance.”
The visiting delegation will include members of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, Howard County Government, Howard County Office of Workforce Development, Howard Community College and Howard County business owners. Local business leaders on the trip include Seema Sigh (CEO of Foodco USA), James Jean-Baptiste (CEO of Cyberlinx Solutions), and Colin Hamill, CEO of Sentinel Forge Technologies.
They will meet with government officials, business leaders, and members of research institutions to champion Howard County as a place for Canadian companies to call their U.S. base.
Canada is already Maryland’s top trading partner, so Ontario and Maryland have an established partnership, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on trade and investment. Ball is looking to build on this relationship.
While in Niagara, the delegation will explore food processing, AgTech, advanced manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. They will visit the newest technology centers, research institutions, and innovation hubs working on clean technologies, food safety, and prototyping.
In Toronto, the group will be involved in the Toronto Tech Week conference, where Ball will be the keynote speaker. His address is entitled “Why Local Partnerships Matter- A Gateway to the U.S. Capital Region’s Tech Ecosystem,” and a key agenda item involves finding an Ontario counterpart for Howard County Economic Development or the Maryland Innovation Center with whom to form a meaningful MOU.
The delegation’s time in Ottawa is hosted by a partnership between Howard County Economic Development Authority and Invest Ottawa. Howard County and Ottawa share proximity to their respective national cyber and defense agencies, like the NSA and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. There will be a forum during which companies, innovation hubs, and government partners from both regions connect and collaborate on shared concerns and interests. The forum will help new and growing cybersecurity businesses build lasting partnerships and perhaps even find new market opportunities between the United States and Canada.
