Fostering a strong local economy doesn’t solely fall to the mayor’s office, but the city’s top elected official and chief evangelist can be instrumental in bringing new business and jobs to Baltimore.
Voters in this month’s primary election will choose from a crowded field of mayoral hopefuls to implement their vision to grow the local economy.
Incumbent Mayor Brandon Scott, who is seeking re-election, boasted of a peak low 2.3% unemployment rate last summer, down from a 12.6% high early in his tenure.
While the unemployment rate fluctuates monthly, annualized data from the state reveals that 8.5% of Baltimore City residents were unemployed in 2020, that number dropped to 2.9% by 2023 as Scott asks voters for another four years.
“Our economy is the eighth fastest growing in the United States of America,” he said. “Because of the diversity of investment. We have to support all of those industries as they continue to evolve and grow in Baltimore.”
The mayor, if reelected, said he’d direct continued efforts to invest in the port, and support the growth of light manufacturing as top priorities.
“We’re a city that has to focus on so many different things and we have to continue to support our diverse and growing economy,” Scott said.
Former Mayor Sheila Dixon, Scott’s top opponent, want’s the Baltimore Development Corporation to take a more active role in identifying key businesses and industries the city can support to grow the economy.
That the agency “has to be proactive,” more so than it has been under Scott’s leadership, she said. Dixon said more solar and conduit manufacturing jobs are easy targets, same with paper and chemical manufacturing. She also wants to work with industry in the Fairfield Area and Curtis Bay.
“We’ve got to work with existing companies and the state, as well as our federal partners, to make sure that we have capital that can help companies to grow,” she said.
A future in tech
Nearly every candidate that spoke with Baltimore Fishbowl identified tech as a future staple to the regional economy.
“With the growing tech industry in the city of Baltimore, we continue to see that growing, and we have to support that,” Scott said, pointing to President Biden’s designation of Baltimore as a regional tech hub in October, 2023.
The designation aims at growing the region’s leadership on developing health tech and biotech to “forge a new direction for American healthcare innovation.”
Dixon said she’d look to the Greater Baltimore Committee, the organization leading those efforts, to “determine what we can do to help.”
Another candidate, Wendy Bozel, pointed to tech as an industry she’d focus on bringing to Baltimore as well, although did not specifically mention the designation in an interview with Baltimore Fishbowl.
Small businesses and other targets
Dixon said if elected she’d direct the Small Business Resource Center to take an inventory of small businesses across the city and identify ways to support their growth.
“We have a larger Hispanic community in the city, a lot of businesses and entrepreneurs in the Hispanic and Latino community, and they don’t feel a part of city government, but they’re contributing in a big way,” Dixon said. “I want to make sure that we bring them to the table as well.”
For Businessman Bob Wallace the approach is twofold. If elected, he’d like to focus on bringing key industries: light manufacturing and urban agriculture are key areas for growth. It’s important to Wallace that investment happens in Baltimore neighborhoods, especially urban agriculture, since it would have the added benefit of providing fresh local food to residents in food deserts.
“We want to match the current skill set of our current workforce with industries that need that particular skill set,” Wallace said of growing light manufacturing. “We give them opportunity to make a decent living, and then we upskill them over time using state resources and federal resources.”
Bozel said the city should do more second-chance hiring. She also wants the criminal justice system to focus on upskilling the incarcerated to aid in their securing employment and reduce recidivism.
As mayor, Bozel is also hoping to learn from leaders in Louisville about how they capitalize on the Kentucky Derby. Her vision for the Preakness includes a weeks-long celebration, with fireworks and a War of 1812 reenactment, a Preakness Restaurant Week, a ball, boat and balloon races. Bozel previously told Baltimore Fishbowl she’d like an accompanying arts festival as well.
Bozel wants to leverage the Preakness Stakes as an economic boon “so that people have a reason to come to Baltimore and stay, and when they stay, they’ll see the charm that our city really does have.”
Baltimore Fishbowl’s 2024 mayoral candidates issues coverage includes candidates with an active campaign website and who are receiving contributions into their campaign accounts. Scott, Dixon, Wallace and Bozel meet those criteria.
Previous On The Issues coverage included former city, state and federal prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah, who Wednesday dropped out of the race ahead of early voting, which runs May 2 through 9. Vignarajah endorsed Dixon Wednesday, telling reporters “I want an impatient mayor. I want somebody who is ready to deliver now, that is not quite literally learning on the job, and is still learning on the job,” an apparent dig at Scott.
The Scott campaign in a statement called Vignarajah’s Dixon endorsement “one failed corrupt politician endorsing another.”
Full mayoral campaign issues coverage:
Mayoral candidates on bicycle transportation
Mayoral candidates on supporting art
Mayoral candidates on the environment
Mayoral candidates on vacant properties
Mayoral candidates on recycling, trash collection and public works
Mayoral candidates on graffiti, dumping and cleanliness
Mayoral candidates on jobs and the economy
Mayoral candidates on large development projects and special tax treatment
Mayoral candidates on squeegee workers and youth recreation
Mayoral candidates on crime and public safety
