Howard County Hosts a First for GBC, and the Region Signs On to What’s Next

On Thursday, October 8, around 500 business, government, nonprofit, and civic leaders gathered at Merriweather Post Pavilion for the Greater Baltimore Committee’s 2026 Annual Meeting. It was the first time in GBC’s history that the Annual Meeting came to Howard County.

Merriweather was a deliberate choice. GBC selected the venue in part to highlight the economic value of the region’s cultural industries, and few places make that case better. For decades it has drawn people from every corner of Maryland and beyond, supporting jobs, local businesses, and the kind of quality of life that helps companies attract talent.

A new agreement for how the region competes

The centerpiece of the evening was the signing of the Regional Economic Development Memorandum of Understanding. Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, and Howard counties signed on alongside GBC, joined by newly added Queen Anne’s County, which extends the partnership across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore. HCEDA CEO Jennifer Jones signed on behalf of Howard County.

The MOU puts in writing how GBC and the participating jurisdictions will work together in three areas:

• Regional marketing and business promotion, including the Bold Moves regional brand and representing the region at national and international investment forums
• A shared business investment pipeline, with coordinated outreach and lead sharing among partners
• Economic and market intelligence, including GBC’s Economic Investment Scorecard and UpSurge Baltimore’s startup and venture data

For Howard County companies, that regional capacity translates into real advantages: more investment prospects routed to local sites, a bigger stage to tell their stories, and better access to the data and investor networks that help them grow.

For Howard County as a whole, the MOU builds on years of regional work. Under County Executive Calvin Ball and HCEDA, the county played an active role as partners came together through GBC to pursue the region’s federal Tech Hub designation and develop a unified regional brand. As Ball put it ahead of the meeting, “our economic future is connected to the strength of the broader region.” Working as one, winning as one.

New leadership at GBC

The evening also marked a leadership transition at GBC. Janet Currie, president of Greater Maryland at Bank of America, steps in as Chair of the GBC Board of Directors, succeeding Dr. Mohan Suntha of the University of Maryland Medical System. Her private-sector, regional perspective comes at the right moment for the work ahead.

What comes next

Signing the MOU is the starting line. The real test is turning it into day-to-day practice: sharing intelligence, coordinating on major prospects, attracting employers together, and building stronger pipelines of talent and innovation across county lines.

HCEDA is ready for that work. Thank you to Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Greater Baltimore Committee, Merriweather Post Pavilion, our fellow jurisdictions, and everyone who made October 8 a night worth remembering.