Greater Baltimore region designated as federal tech hub

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The Biden administration Monday designated the greater Baltimore region as a federal tech hub through an Economic Development Administration program designed to make regions nationwide globally competitive in emerging technologies.

The five-month application bid organized by the Greater Baltimore Committee convened area tech firms, academic institutions, state and local government entities, economic development organizations and workforce development partners around identifying tech related projects that could benefit from federal funding.

Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System and chair of the GBC Board of Directors, called the designation a pivotal step in the region’s journey toward technological leadership and shared prosperity.

“By harnessing the power of data science and biotechnology, we stand poised to become pioneers in predictive health, with positive impacts on individual patient well-being and community health,” Suntha said.

The EDA will name 31 tech hubs from nearly 400 applications and just under 200 consortia designation requests. The Baltimore region could gain access to a share of $10 billion in investment in the regional bid’s area of focus, which include artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

“The support that this investment will bring to the greater Baltimore region — now nationally recognized as an area of high potential – will help grow a more equitable economy that will expand opportunity, lead to better outcomes for our residents and make us an internationally leading innovation hub,” Gov. Wes Moore said.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said the city has been nurturing a growing tech industry for years and the announcement by the Biden administration will accelerate the work already happening, fuel a new wave of innovation and help attract a new wave of talented residents to the area.

Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. called the announcement a “game changer” for the Baltimore region.

“This designation will help provide the support, resources and opportunities we need to create jobs, grow communities and transform the entire Baltimore region into an innovative hub that create the tools of tomorrow,” he said.

The submitted bid was organized artificial intelligence and biotechnology on the strength of positioning the region as an area that could lead in predictive health technologies, a tech subset that has the potential to improve health outcomes individually and systemically.

The predictive technologies market is expected to be $70 billion globally by 2030 and the GBC estimates the total market opportunity for the Baltimore-focused portion could be $4.2 billion by that time. The growth of this technology in the Baltimore MSA is estimated to create 52,000 jobs during that same time period.

With this designation, GBC and consortium members will move to the second phase of this program, which includes an outline of how they would operationalize the various projects collected in the Baltimore MSA bid. In Phase 2, designated tech hubs will compete for funding for implementation projects to help propel the region into a self-sustaining, globally competitive tech hub.

The designation was made possible by a unified and coordinated effort supported by dozens of businesses and organizations throughout the greater Baltimore region. In shaping the bid, 170 letters of support were provided by AI and biotech industry partners, Gov. Wes Moore and a delegaton of elected officials. The bid included the private sector, higher education, economic development and workforce development.

The consortium members include:

• Morgan State University (HBCU)
• Coppin State University (HBCU)
• Johns Hopkins University
• Loyola University Maryland
• UMMS
• UMB
• UMBC
• Towson University
• Maryland Department of Commerce
• TEDCO
• Baltimore Metropolitan Council
• City of Baltimore
• Upsurge Baltimore
• Fearless
• Conscious Ventures Partners
• Blackbird Labs
• Early Charm Ventures
• Mindgrub
• CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield of Maryland
• Evergreen Advisors
• Fulton Bank
• Bio Buzz
• LaunchPort
• Greater Baltimore Committee
• Baltimore Development Corporation
• Baltimore County Economic Development
• Howard County Economic Development
• Anne Arundel County Economic Development
• Harford County Economic Development
• Carroll County Economic Development
• Queen Anne’s County Economic Development
• Cecil County Economic Development
• Catalyte
• Npower
• Digital Harbor Foundation
• Abell Foundation
• Last Mile Education Fund
• World Trade Center Institute