CEO's You Should Know x Greater Baltimore Committee

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
H I am John Denkle, founder and CEO of Dnkle
Business Development and former president and publisher of the Baltimore
Business Journal. This is iHeartRadio CEOs you should know, and
I'm here today with Mark Thomas, CEO of the Greater
Baltimore Committee. Welcome Mark, and thanks for being here.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
No excited to be fun.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I really appreciate you to taking the time and
I'm going to try to There's so much to talk
about and I'm going to try to stay focused that
I was really looking forward to talking with you. I
thought we'd start by just getting to know the organization
a little more so for those who aren't familiar, could
you tell us about the GBC.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, So the GBC was found that seventy years ago.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's really composed of private sector, academic and civic leaders
who are committed to the long term success of Baltimore's economy, region,
and quality of life issues. You can imagine lots changed
over the seventy years, but today we've really morphed into
an economic development into te us looking at what industries

(01:08):
we need to thrive and compete on a global stage.
What are issues around infrastructure and transportation and housing where
our voice can really make a difference. And then how
do we bring people together to collaborate on issues that
are opportunistic or game changers for us long term?

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Got it?

Speaker 2 (01:26):
And what would you say your mission is?

Speaker 3 (01:28):
The mission is at the core to ensure that Baltimore
thrives in a global economy.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Excellent. And just to kind of get into some of
the programming some of the things you guys are doing,
could you can you talk about your key priorities this year?
I mean, what new initiatives are you working on. I
know you've got probably a lot on your play, but
if you could talk a little to our audience about
sending some of those key initiatives key priorities for you.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
So two years ago we released a multi year plan
that mapped out twelve initiatives that were broken into three
very specific opportunity areas. One is strengthening our economic opportunity.
And so we've since released the tenure Plan and we're
focused on delivering key things in that plan. Now, we

(02:13):
released the plan to do a regional brand and so
back in March, we released what we call Bold Moves,
which is a way in which we can universally talk
about the Baltimore economy across the entire region. We're pursuing
funding for the Federal Tech Program, which is part of
the Chips Act. That's a bipartisan bill. So there's a

(02:36):
portfolio of work that's all around strengthening our economy. The
second group our issues around transportation and infrastructure. Baltimore's the
largest East Coast city without a Regional Transit Voice or INTA,
so we bring private sector leaders to the table to

(02:59):
ensure that we're seeing investments we want to see. And
then that last bucket are things around collective impact, vacant housing,
public safety, local hiring and procurement, and across our three
hundred partners, people are working in concert to advance all
of those different areas.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
How do you prioritize I mean, from retention of businesses
to the Baltimore region, to you know, getting new businesses
to come in and look at our region, to energy, infrastructure, transportation, infrastructure, housing,
I mean, how do you prioritize all that? Are those
things you're kind of working in conjunction, all at the
same time in some fashion, well some.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
They are all long term opportunities.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
The Economic all work is really the core heartbeat of
the mission of the organization, and when I came on board,
we merged with the group called the Economic Alliance the
Greater Baltimore, and they were set up to market and
amplify the mess around our economy. And so I've had
to reset all of that work this year, and the

(04:05):
brand is really the foundation for that. The goal is
in the next few years, people on a weekly basis
CGBC amplifying our economy, touting companies that are investing here,
whether they're a startup or major organization, bringing investors to
our market to understand why they should be investing here.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
So it should.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Feel real time in a way that it hasn't over
the last few decades. The other issues are really opportunistic
as far as the's timing. There's just a lot of
alignment around how we address our long standing vacant house issue,
for example, and so we've taken that from being maybe

(04:49):
something that we would have touched a few years from
now to being prioritized in this moment as a country
grapples with housing issues everything else. Assume there's progress, but
it may not be as central as a focus for
the work that we do real.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Time, got it?

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, And you mentioned the Economical Life. I was on
the board there for ten years, and I was glad
to see that the two organizations merged and the new
announcement with Upsurge Baltimore joining you know, the family. And
I think that's such an important, uh move for Baltimore
because at the time, there were so many organizations out there,

(05:30):
I think, trying to do the same thing or try
to plant their flag. And it's it's just if you
look at when I was on the Economical Life and
looking at like say Austin who like they they kind
of converged all of those organizations together into one, you know, unit,
and it just so every all these resources were going

(05:52):
towards the same mission. And I was so happy to
kind of see the Economic Alliance merge and now Upsurge.
Is that something that you can continue to plan on
doing if it makes sense?

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
One is just we're competing at such a fierce level
that having multiple fragmented entities is really just not a
better practice. Twenty Newer just announced a similar merger where
they're combining three.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Entities into one.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Oh well, yeah, and so you see that as a
market practice when people feel like, look, we should be
making more progress. And the models that the overarching international
investment community looks to as leaders are originally not entities
that have a lot of fragmented years.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really interesting. Glad to see that
is happening because I think that in itself will help
Baltimore move forward in the whole region. So I think
that's that's great. So you appreciate all your work on that,
And I know that's not an easy thing to do.
How does the Greater Bomber coming kind of build relationships
with the business community, the government, education communities to kind

(07:01):
of help the region move forward? I know that's you know,
part of your role is to get those communities together
talking to you know, move forward together. How are you
doing that? And you know, in your eyes, how's that
going well?

Speaker 1 (07:18):
So overall us, I feel it's going well.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
If anything, we've had to reintroduce what the organization can
be to even our existing investors and partners. And you know,
I was any time to go with the merger people
and have a new leader after two decades, people want
to understand how do they align with the vision that
I was bringing, and so the first two years a

(07:42):
lot of just getting to know people.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
And where they want to invest was critical.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
And on the elected official outreach, they had a historic
view of BBCC that was very focused on lobbying in
the previous decades, and that's just a different pivot that
I wanted to pursue where it's much more about collaborating
and then lobbying where necessary to support the agenda that

(08:08):
we've set for the economy.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, and so it's created, i think a good balance
where people feel they can bring ideas and they can
look to us to provide leadership that were uniquely positioned
to provide on where private sectic growth is and investment.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
That's great, thank you. Yeah, And it does seem you know,
this region is so it has such an ability for growth,
you know, with being some major highways, the poor airport,
all these great assets. What are the kind of the
biggest development opportunities do you see in the city or
even kind of the Baltimore metro area at large that

(08:44):
would help us kind of move forward. You know, you
had Trade Point Atlantic you know many years ago that
you know kind of made an impact on the area.
Are there anything in your eyes, what's happening out there?
What do you see as a big development that's happening
that our audience would be interested in learning about.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, so I would include trade point among that. Listen. Yeah,
And so that.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
Fits into one of our three opportunity areas that we've
outlined in our tenure plan. And we believe that the
manufacturing and industrial economy has a lot of potential based
on a lot of the assets you just followed out right,
and the Keeper is being critical infrastructure for that, and
so we wonder everything we can to support and help
facilitate that growth. The other big area that we see

(09:30):
and opportunity is align with tech and innovation. We're in
the arms race for who's going to lead on AI
between the United States and other countries, and the Baltimore
region is uniquely positioned where AI and healthcare intersect to
be at the cutting edge. But overall, tech and startups

(09:50):
in general should really have our market on their short
list for all the reasons that view markets with strong talent,
strong institutions, the strong ecosystem.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
The last big opportunity area that we've identified is around
creating culture. Obviously, the sports teams are one of our anchors.
But the investment that you've seen at CFC Bank Arena,
which is kind of one of the more successful venues
in the country, it really speaks to the market opportunity
for culture and so we we we see that as

(10:25):
a case for more investments that can really tap into
Baltimore as a cultural destination.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that all happen. That
that entertainment district, the you know, the convention Center, you
know Howard Street, that whole area connecting and connecting together's
pockets and there's some really really interesting development going on
now and I think CFG Bank Arena really kind of
took the took the lead there and so yeah, really

(10:56):
looking forward to seeing that area you know boom again.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, No, it definitely.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
And there is a vision called Downtown Rise where we
are now is in the process of having it approved
through the city and then determining who can advance all
the coordination needed to execute such a vision.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Awesome, awesome, very cool. Appreciate you sharing that. So how
is the How's the GBC funded.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
So primarily through our private sector partners and so they
each pay a partnership contribution for the collective action that
we pursue. We do receive public funding that is directly
in support of the regional marketing and that is an

(11:47):
inheritance from the Economic Alliance.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
Gotcha, and how can the business community best support the
greater of allder Mark Committee.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
One as a partner, actually need their critical thinking, their
contribution to the way that we then position the market
for all the different areas of outlined and just their employees.
If anything, we need to build more civic awareness around

(12:17):
the progress that we are making on our economy and
some of our infrench challenges. And so I do look
to our partners too for that reciprocity where it's like
I need their minds, but also let's bring the overarching
message to your employees so they feel better about them
being a part of Baltimore in the region and what

(12:39):
we actually offer as a place.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
That's great. That's great. Thank you. And I know you
guys do events and have done events for a long time,
getting together thought leadership and you know CEOs and business
owners and executives from around the region to do really
really good events. If you have anything coming up that
would be good to mention and you know, what's your

(13:02):
kind of philosophy? On doing these types of events.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, so we've really structured any of our engagement around
the work. One thing that when I came, I surveyed
our partners and then they wanted more economic development focusing.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, and so we.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
Created our investment summit. We created event called Pulse Check
that then quantified how much investment was happening in the region.
But our next big milestone event is our seventy anniversary
and if anything, yeah, it's in September, on September twelve, if.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Anything, excellent.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
What I wanted is in the last two years, it's
been so much messaging around the GBC being this change agent,
new and new leadership. But I do stand on the
shoulders of a pretty ballific legacy of an institution that
is really entertwined into every major milestone in Baltimore history.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
And we want to celebrate that.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
So awesome. Yes, Yeah, So what's all experience is like
a living museum.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
Of our history, that is Baltimore's history, and a que
toward the future.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
That's congratulations on the seventieth anniverse. I didn't realize that
was coming up. That's fantastic And and you you know,
you've been the CEO and after two and a half years,
and just by the way, on the events side, I've
noticed that you also, the events seem to be more deliberate,
more focused, you know, Meaty, I come, seems kind of

(14:39):
a weird thing to say, but I have noticed a
change in the event they see them again, seem more
focused more you know, just uh more concentrated, I guess.
But so so congratulations on that. I think that was
a good That seems like a good move too. So
I wanted to ask, you know, in your few and

(15:01):
a half years there, looking back, you know, what would
you say have been some of your key successes since
you started?

Speaker 3 (15:09):
Well, the one, galvanizing people is no small thing, and
we've pulled off galvanizing the region for one application and
become a tech hub. We've done this similar workaround getting
philanthropic and business leaders to call us to support communities

(15:29):
after the keepers collapsed, the brand, our tenure plan, all
of those were major efforts where we took hundreds of
our partners and in their perspectives and created a unified.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Path forward.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
And to me, that is CBC at its best, and
it's the kind of a person I'm really trying to
embed in our entire organization so that we can do
that across tech, across innovation, across.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
Vacant housing and other areas that we'll touch.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
But to me, really providing that case study sequence so
people can see that we can be that place where
things can get done in concert with each other.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Awesome.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
I appreciate you sharing that mark. All right, I'm gonna
switch twitch gears a little bit. I like to talk
about leadership on the show and thought ask you, you know,
how would you describe your leadership style?

Speaker 3 (16:26):
So I think I'm a so my background is creative,
so I feel myself is more of a product focused CEO.
I really want to make sure the end product that
we produce is reflective of a lot of different talents
that have come together, and that means I'm super hands on.
I want to understand how we're bringing minds together within

(16:50):
my own organization to make things happen. And even if
I have a vision, trying to line the vision of
my I would say my employe and our peers and
our partners so that things can be a collective voice. Overall,
I get called a visionary leader a lot mm hmm.

(17:12):
And there's good and bad with that, but I do
like to well, it's sometimes you can have vision and
not know how to actually build the infrastructure to execute
that vision. Right. I've done as much as I think
you can do through training and my own experience to
try to live up too visions that I put out.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, that's interesting you say that because I would imagine
in your role in economic development, and that's been your
background across the country in some major markets. But you
have to be a visionary in a way, right, because
weconomy development, like you said, it's a long term play.
And you know, Baltimore is a great city. I love it.
It's it's uh, it's my home. But like it's got

(18:00):
we it's got such opportunity and it's not gonna you know,
it's going to take longer than a couple of years
to fix, you know, So like having that visionary like
yourself to see that come to Frussian but to your point,
also be the person to execute on that and do
the day to day what it's going to take. The
you know is that takes that takes a lot and

(18:22):
and a different really different person. So I can appreciate
you know what you say about that.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
Yeah, And they're also something I find here is there's
such a history of failure that people have a lasting
impact of and ways that aren't cannot be healthy sometimes right, right,
And so when you do have a vision, you first
have to cut through all the noise of oh that

(18:51):
people trive this and failed, or if that outsider has
come in who couldn't succeed, just to get to a
place where you can do.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
The work.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
Right, I go, there's a Yeah, there's a constant state
of proving that things can be done, even if.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
You have a lot of confidence of what the outcomes
can be.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, that's great, that's great. I appreciate you sharing that.
I do want to ask you to you about resilience.
I mean it seems to be the kind of the
buzzword these days. What does that mean to you and
how do you demonstrate that leading your team?

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Well, in some way to me, I look at it
through the community we're serving Baltimore, like it's had to
be resilient with all the shocks that we've had.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
And so yeah, some my two and a half years,
like when the keeper is to.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
The mass shootings to then saying like tremendous progress and crime,
like you have all these moments where you can really
be discouraged, but you have to work through those moments
popular peers murder like those were really shocking moments that
require more than technical leadership. And in some way, economic

(20:06):
development leadership has become a task of galvanizing and showing
resilience and building momentum despite all the uncertainty that it is.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
A continuum of the world that we're in.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
So I feel like I've had to fine tune that
skill just as much as I have in understanding how
to do a site development project.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Right right, Yeah, well, yeah, I think I mean kind
of Baltimore probably epitomizes the term resilience because it's had
to be for so many years. But I think, yeah,
keep keeping that attitude in mind as we move forward.
And like you said, we tend to kind of want
to beat ourselves up a little bit about the past,

(20:50):
but we've got such opportunity. It's it's amazing the opportunity,
and I look forward to seeing that come to fruition someday. Yeah,
what would you think it's excited about the Greater Bottomer
Committee the future of it.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Well, in some way, I feel like we've gotten our
swag back is that now three entities under one roof
really gives us just a lot of talent and a
lot of capacity.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
And for the country who's following Baltimore. You also need
a point.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
Of contact and who's actually leading.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
The private sector work Like government is great, but that's
just one piece. I mean, you think about New York City,
like you don't only just think about who's in the
mayor seat. You think about fashion and Broadway and finance,
all these areas In Baltimore, like, it's not clear who's
been driving that work board. And so we can especially

(21:52):
with our profile, just my own work in the.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Field and what we're building a team.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
To be structured around is we can elevate Baltimore and
ensure that people see.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
It for what it is beyond how they've been perceived it.
But it should be.

Speaker 3 (22:10):
Agree that to me is exciting for what we can
do with the GBC.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, I agree, Yeah, that is very exciting. On the
other hand, what keeps you up at night.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
Just the issues that the state is facing around.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
Population challenges, the loss of federal funding, some of our
rankings around our business competitiveness that we need to address
head on. So there's a lot of work that we
need to do to ensure that we're not putting the
state at a disadvantage for future investment.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Kids. Only then can we truly see the.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Growth of we see got it got Thank you. I
appreciate you sharing that well the kind of wrap things up?
Is there anything else you like? Our listeners said about
you and the Greater All to Mark Committee?

Speaker 3 (23:09):
What I would say follow our work is we're pretty
inclusive as far as people having an ability to follow, engage, support, advice,
get to know other business leaders and organizations who are
committed to better Baltimore and a more unified region. And

(23:33):
so the GBC is a place that is of the
community we serve and that message is what I can't
amplify enough.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Excellent and tell us how to find more information about
the Greater Bald to Mark Committee.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yes, we're on all the social platforms, but GBC dot
org our LinkedIn is.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
Probably the most popular.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
But that's where we amplify our engagement opportunity and the
research that we're pursuing and the initiatives that we're undertaking.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Mark, I really appreciate
you taking some time to talk with us this morning.
It was great to talk with you and look forward
to seeing what happens with the GBC and continuing to
grow the Baltimore region. So thanks again for your time
and good talking with you.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
We'll talk, so thank you. This has been iHeartMedia CEOs
you should know