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Rewind and Fast Forward: EAGB 2019 Year in Review

Rewind to February, 2019:  Region On Point introduced the new leadership team for the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and a pledge to refocus the EAGB’s work in order to carry out its mission - a mission that has not changed since EAGB’s creation 22 years ago:  to support the continued growth of the Greater Baltimore Region through the aggressive marketing of the Region’s economic assets and opportunities. And while our “geography” covers Baltimore City and Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Howard, and Anne Arundel Counties, the strength of the entire Region as an economic ecosystem defies focusing on the boundary lines between these jurisdictions.  

Learn more about Our Region https://www.greaterbaltimore.org/our-region .

Fast forward to December, 2019:  EAGB’s focus on the Region as an ecosystem and the industries that support the ecosystem has defined our 2019/2020 goals and the activities that advance these goals. The past ten months have been all about focus: 

  • Focus on the strategic growth industry sectors that drive Greater Baltimore’s economy: Cybersecurity, IT, Healthcare , Life Sciences, Logistics, Manufacturing, and Agriculture.  We are also tracking the State’s increasing commitment to renewable energy and how that commitment might be a catalyst for innovation and job creation.
  • Focus on strengthening partnerships with local and state government, economic development organizations, private industry stakeholders, and institutions to advance our mutual goals for growing the Region’s economy. The economic development initiatives and programs that support each jurisdiction are important components of EAGB’s data analysis and associated marketing programs and materials.
  • Focus on expanding the positive messaging of the Region’s economic news and accomplishments across multiple channels, including social media, website, newsletters, data research and dissemination. We have endeavored to communicate the Region’s economic strengths TO the Region. This intra-regional focus will assist EAGB and our partners in amplifying the voices of businesses, workers, institutions, and organizations within the Region in order to exponentially expand our marketing efforts.
  • Focus on analytics and accountability as a constant check-in to ensure we are making progress and that we are reaching our target audiences within and outside of the Region.

We also realized very early in the year that we needed to compile current, accurate, sourced and relevant data in order to create a compelling narrative about each of our strategic growth industry sectors - a narrative that could attract new business, investment and talent to Greater Baltimore.  Our industry profiles shine a light on not only the data relative to the industry but also to the story about the ecosystem that supports and catalyzes the growth of each industry.  

With clarity of mission and goals, accurate data, and consensus among our board, local economic development officers, and other partners and stakeholders as to our focus areas, the development and implementation of EAGB’s marketing platform progressed quickly. While our toolbox will be updated and improved on an ongoing basis, the toolbox includes the following items created and/or refreshed in 2019:

  • Industry profiles focused on growth industries that will be updated on a regular basis
  • Improved website with updated, sourced and relevant data and information 
  • Monthly newsletter Region On Point 
  • Events with local economic developers to highlight industry growth
  • A Marketing and Communications Sub-Committee (MCSC) comprised of public, non-profit, and industry marketing professionals with a shared goal of disseminating positive Greater Baltimore information and stories locally, regionally and nationally.
  • Partnerships with media to distribute information over a wider geographic region, highlight specific industries AND assets of the Region and each jurisdiction, and drive readers to EAGB’s website to learn more.
  • EAGB social media channels with growing followers of the Region’s positive business-focused news stories that EAGB posts and reposts: 

With effective tools in our arsenal and strong collaborations and partnerships forged over the past months to increase EAGB’s reach and effectiveness, we are now directing our marketing programs outside the Greater Baltimore Region. Our out-of-region initiative will be targeted to other cities/regions based on alignment with industry sector with the goal of attracting businesses, talent and capital to support those industries.  We will also connect with trade and professional organizations and investors across the country to reach a broader audience for communicating our message.

We are poised to march into 2020 with an agenda that will always strive for “bigger, better, more effective” strategies that will truly elevate Greater Baltimore as the location of choice for businesses, talent and investors. 

Wishing all of you a Happy Holiday and a wonderful New Year!

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