Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in public last week that the state’s economic momentum has increased by 20 slots since taking office, but a closer look at the data shows uneven growth across the state. said.
On October 29, at St. John’s University in Annapolis, during a conversation with Washington Post deputy editor Bob Woodward, famous for the following report: watergateMoore said the state relies on “educational institutions, the federal government and health care providers,” calling the education, federal government and health care sectors “historic pillars” of Maryland’s economy.
Woodward brought up Moore’s August statement in which the first-year governor said of the state’s economy:sloth” asked the Maryland CEO. “How do you solve that?”
Mr Moore responded by highlighting “problems” with the state’s historic economic pillars.
“The problem is that we haven’t developed a sense of innovation and a sense of entrepreneurial growth,” he says. “It remains too difficult for businesses to grow within the state.”
Maryland has 20 more spots than it had a month before Moore took office.
Along with Woodward, the Democratic governor noted: statistics from Federal funding information for statesThe report, released in September, showed Maryland ranked 27th in the nation for economic momentum this year, including personal income growth, job growth and the state’s population growth. .
Maryland ranks 47th.th Last year, according to the same information statisticsMoore pointed out this fact in his keynote address at the Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference in August.
“This was a move on the employment and personal income front,” said Dustin Chambers, an economics professor at Salisbury University, referring to the September data.
Job growth in Maryland was 1.2% from August 2022 to August 2023, the past seven months or so of Moore’s tenure, which began in mid-January.
Over the same period, Maryland’s personal income increased by 6.1%, outpacing the national average of 5.6% and moving the state from the bottom of the national rankings to near the middle.
Still, the state ranks below the national average, falling behind neighboring states Pennsylvania (21st), Virginia (19th), Delaware (18th) and the District of Columbia (15th). In the latest rankings, West Virginia (42nd) is a dozen spots behind Maryland.
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“We’re not seeing that big of an increase.”
Paul Frey, president and CEO of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, said the state’s revenue growth is uneven across Maryland.
“Rural areas like Washington County and Western Maryland aren’t seeing as significant an increase in prosperity,” Frey said.
He is based on Washington County’s median household income (approximately $67,000) and state median household income (ranked #1 in the nation in 2022) Approximately $108,000According to the US Census.
Frey said “federal government officials” “can see why the state is doing well,” including military installations at Fort Detrick in Frederick and Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County; and the National Institute of Standards. A technology company headquartered in Gaithersburg.
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Wicomico County, on the Eastern Shore, where Salisbury University is located, also has a lower median household income than the state. $63,610.
Chambers, a professor at the university, called diversifying the state’s economy a “challenge.”
“A lot of it has to do with attracting start-up entrepreneurial talent to the state and having them start new businesses here,” he says.
signs of growth
Both Chambers and Frey pointed to on-campus entrepreneurship centers, or in Hagerstown’s case, business incubators at local community colleges, designed to foster economic development. Each person highlighted the latest developments in their city. Latest information on the airport in Salisbury. In Hagerstown, consumer electronics manufacturer Conair is coming to town.
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They highlighted the state’s low unemployment rate of 1.6% in September (the lowest in the nation) as a positive, and continued to open the door to high-tech companies. Chambers said tech hubs like Silicon Valley and Boston aren’t nearby yet.
“Maryland typically doesn’t participate in that conversation, but it could be,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s leadership on the part of the governor to try to stimulate that.”
Chambers asked rhetorically, is it “something that has to happen organically, or are there elements of public policy guiding it?”
Data centers and economic diversification
The governor appears to be preparing to take the latter action on public policy, according to a November statement to the Frederick News-Post.
said Aligned Data Centers, one of the few companies in Frederick involved in starting the data center industry. it will stop working participate in a county project after a decision regarding energy generation The policy was determined by the state’s Public Service Commission, and Moore vowed to push for policies that would help make the predicted situation a reality. 1,700 employees Work in a data center facility.
“Projects that diversify our economy and foster growth are needed in Maryland. We need to support and partner with emerging industries as they seek to move into our communities.” ” Moore said in a statement. frederick news post. “I will work with Congress to meet the needs of the (data) industry and ensure it has a bright future in Maryland.”
Frederick is less than an hour’s drive north of Loudoun County, Virginia on Route 15. Most concentrated data centers In the world. Locations south of the Potomac River house much of the world’s data in the cloud, as well as the infrastructure associated with the transition to a digital economy.
The high-tech warehouse backed by Google, Amazon, and Microsoft has acquired both services. environment Scrutiny and community Despite generating billions of dollars in tax revenue for the communities that allow it, concerns are growing across the country.
Frey argued that the 180 acres of Mount Etna Park in Hagerstown could be developed that way, but the large amounts of water needed to cool such a site and the potential risks of a project in Frederick He cited energy problems that he has had as an obstacle.
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Federal funds information for each state is scheduled to be released in a year-end report in December or January. The report will also include updated information on the state’s population growth.
Maryland’s population decreased by 0.2% from July 2021 to July 2022, a period that included much of the final year of Moore’s predecessor, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. . Maryland ranked in the bottom quartile of states in this category last year.
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter who covers the Maryland General Assembly and state issues. Contact him at dweingarten@gannett.com or @DwightWeingart2 on Twitter.