Commentary: Why we paused—and why getting BLocal right matters for the Baltimore region

By Mark Anthony Thomas

For decades, the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) has championed efforts that recognized the importance of local economic investment—whether through workforce opportunity, supplier diversity or civic engagement. We hosted the Mayor’s Business Recognition Awards for 50 years to honor companies making civic contributions. We launched Bridging the Gap to highlight minority- and women-owned businesses. And we commissioned Preparing for the Future, which outlined 69 recommendations to help more residents access quality jobs.

These were meaningful efforts that raised awareness and deepened engagement. But over time, it became clear that awareness alone wasn’t enough. We needed efforts that could move capital, expand hiring and transform systems at scale.

Several promising civic initiatives—like BLocal and the Baltimore Integration Partnership—were generating impact but operating outside of the region’s core business-civic leadership infrastructure. This fragmentation limited their scalability and long-term sustainability. We had many players doing good work, but no shared platform to carry it forward across the region.

That’s why, in 2023, as GBC relaunched its multi-year agenda, we made a strategic decision: to pause—not to walk away, but to step forward with greater clarity and purpose. During this pause, we engaged partners to better understand what it would take to build an initiative with real staying power.

We knew we needed a more structured approach—one grounded in sustained leadership, collaborative infrastructure, and measurable outcomes.

To that end, we made a decision: BLocal could become GBC’s signature platform for driving local hiring and procurement—creating a modernized, coordinated and scalable vehicle for investing in Baltimore’s people and businesses. It made sense—for our mission, our history and our role as a regional convener.

Earlier this summer, GBC officially assumed stewardship of BLocal from Johns Hopkins University. Originally launched in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death, BLocal was a groundbreaking commitment by anchor institutions to direct more dollars and job opportunities to local businesses and residents. In just a few years, it helped drive over $1.4 billion in local procurement and opened new pathways for thousands of workers.

That’s real impact. But over time, while the infrastructure behind BLocal faded, the brand retained employer momentum.

GBC’s vision for the next phase integrates four pillars: Hire Local. Buy Local. Invest Local. Live Local. These pillars will form the foundation of a platform through which employers and institutions can contribute meaningfully—each in ways aligned to their strengths.

We’re not starting from scratch. Across the country, other cities offer powerful models for what’s possible when the private sector steps up with intention and coordination:

• In Los Angeles, OneLA has transformed how major institutions approach procurement—connecting small, diverse businesses to real contracts through inclusive certification and matchmaking.
• In Philadelphia, the Chamber’s Diverse Procurement Collaborative has unified dozens of employers around shared goals for expanding opportunity and building more equitable supply chains.
• In Washington, D.C., the Greater Washington Partnership has mobilized companies across sectors to invest in talent development and community wealth-building strategies.
• In Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s ATL Talent initiative aligns employer demand with inclusive workforce development—building pipelines in fast-growing industries like tech and logistics.

These efforts work because they treat local economies as ecosystems—not silos. And when ecosystems thrive, everyone benefits.

But Baltimore’s path must be our own.

With the integration of UpSurge into GBC, we now bring both anchor institutions and the region’s innovation and tech communities to the same table—allowing us to design solutions that bridge legacy systems with the future economy.

Already, we’re preparing to reconvene stakeholders—employers, educators, funders and workforce leaders—to shape what comes next. With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we’re hiring a consultant to conduct a feasibility study that will assess how to make BLocal’s next phase financially and operationally sustainable. That work will begin by focusing on “Hire Local” as a foundational testbed to turn local intention into measurable, region-wide impact.

Let’s be clear: this is difficult work. Rebuilding trust with communities that have seen promises come and go requires humility and consistency. It demands real investment from institutions, even amid competing priorities. And it requires the discipline to transform fragmented efforts into a cohesive movement.

But that’s the work we’re committing to.

Close collaboration with the workforce community will deepen our understanding of talent—arguably the most valuable currency in today’s economy—as we build out our business attraction efforts. A better grasp of who’s ready to work, what skills they have and how to connect them to opportunity will directly improve how we compete for jobs and investment.

And in a world where cities and states compete more aggressively than ever, one area where Baltimore can lead is by creating a business culture that champions local talent and supports homegrown startups and small businesses. That’s not just good economics—it’s a smart, future-ready strategy.

With sharper focus and renewed commitment, GBC is ready to move forward—and we’re inviting the Baltimore region’s business, civic and community leaders to follow our work to learn how they can move with us.