Investment Summit Theme: Equity and Collaboration
Leaders from local government, economic development, higher education and investment institutions spent much of the Baltimore Regional Investment Summit praising collaboration and promoting equitable growth.
Five days after the summit, we learned that Baltimore would not receive its Phase 2 EDA Tech Hub funding, and the same themes were common in reactions to the news.
Still, the gathering, organized by the Greater Baltimore Committee, which leads the Tech Hub Consortium, made an impression on attendees like Pixilated co-founder Patrick Reif.
“One thing is certain: we need stakeholders and leadership from all sectors to realize Baltimore and the surrounding metropolitan area to reach its full potential,” Reif wrote.
➡️ You can learn more about the numbers and philosophy behind the region’s investments in Reiff’s report.
AI, text-to-speech and other assistive technologies
Few people have deeper insights into technology and entrepreneurship for disabled innovators than Diego Mariscal. As president of 2Gether-International, Mariscal has spent over a decade developing accelerators and related programs to help disabled founders reach their peak performance and break through any prejudices that may be attached to them.
Mariscal compiled a list of tech platforms that can help people with disabilities succeed at work and in life, ranging from the largest generative AI companies to software companies that have completed 2GI’s accelerator.
“The horizon is full of possibility,” Mariscal writes, “not just of greater inclusivity, but of leadership and greater ingenuity.”
➡️ Check out Mariscal’s guest post on 5 assistive technology tools
News Incubator: What else do you need to know today?
• A new report on the state of youth entrepreneurship in Baltimore was produced by the EXCEL Project from Coppin State University and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The project is expanding into a series of events, the first of which took place Wednesday on the Baltimore Peninsula, with MaryAnne Gilmartin of MAG Partners speaking to Pinky Cole of Slutty Vegan. [Coppin State]
• This week, Maryland reached out to the North, with Governor Wes Moore meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss business cooperation between the state and Canada. [Baltimore Sun]
• The governor, currently at the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, wrote about planned budget cuts. The roughly $150 million cuts will affect community redevelopment programs, the public health budget and many other state-funded projects. [Baltimore Sun/Baltimore Banner]
• The director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is set to retire in July 2025 after 15 years on the job. [Johns Hopkins]
• Highlandtown-based supply chain data company Barcoding Inc., one of the city’s largest technology companies, has acquired Florida-based DecisionPoint Systems in an all-cash deal. [Technical.ly / Biz Journal]
🗓️ Calendar
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