The former leader of Maryland’s economic development effort told those gathered for a United Way Breakfast Tuesday, “We all have to think bigger than the next election.”
Aris Melissaratos, who began work at Johns Hopkins last month after Gov. Martin O?Malley bounced him from the Department of Business and Economic Development, spoke to about 50 members of the Central Maryland Tocqueville Society, representing leaders in philanthropy, at the Center Club in Baltimore.
He said Maryland “probably has completed our transformation from the old manufacturing economy to the knowledge economy.”
“We have the No. 1 workforce in the country,” he said. “We are positioned for leadership in the world economy.” In 2002, Maryland exported $4.2 billion worth of goods and services. By 2006, that was $7.6 billion. We need $30 billion.”
He said the state is poised for a bright future, including BRAC, which he said will add 6,000 new jobs a year beginning in 2010 for 10 years.
Baltimore could be “a national model for rebuilding communities” if leaders “look beyond the glitter of the waterfront,” and work to ensure that economic growth is an “opportunity to fight sprawl, an opportunity to help citizens who have fallen off the track.”
In response to a question about taxes, especially on property in the City, Melissaratos said, “the whole issue is one politicians don?t want to talk about.”
He said that “we can?t let the wealth generators flee the urban areas.”
“We have to take a look at the cost of government. State government needs to be slimmed down.”
One thing Melissaratos said Maryland could do “as quickly as possible” is approve gambling and retain some of the “$700 million that walks out of the state every year.”
Despite our prosperity, “we still have people who need help,” Melissaratos said. “Thank God for the United Way and all the nonprofits here.”
