Thoughts on a Better Future for Maryland by David Reel 

Recently, Governor Wes Moore addressed a group of regional business leaders at a Greater Washington Board of Trade event at National Harbor.

Moore noted that historically, Maryland’s economy has depended on higher education, federal government spending, federal government jobs, and health care. Going forward, he stated Maryland needs greater diversity from and less reliance on these three economic drivers.

He also challenged the business leaders by saying, “If you’re not going to take big bets, then, frankly, get out of the seat and let someone else sit in it.”

That is also a timely challenge for a governor and legislature in a state with a less than sterling track record on taking big bets on steps to improve the state’s business climate.

In a 2025 Top States for Business rankings report from CNBC, Maryland ranks 32nd overall in a one-spot decline from last year and part of a 10-place drop over just two years ago.

Maryland’s 32nd-place ranking is not just lower than #1-ranked North Carolina, #2-ranked Texas, and #3-ranked Florida. Maryland is also ranked lower than California (#22) and New York (#23). Closer to home, Virginia ranks #4, Pennsylvania ranks # 17, and Delaware ranks #29, even though there are regular reports on an increasing number of large corporations leaving the state.

To help convert that vision into reality, here are four key messaging strategies for Governor Moore and all who support converting his economic vision for Maryland into reality.

•    Develop and distribute memorable SMART goals on economic growth and economic diversification. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Assigned for Accountability, Realistic, and Time Sensitive. Peter Drucker has written, what gets measured gets done. Drucker has also written, “Not-for-profit organizations [governments at all levels included] need management even more than business. Good intentions are no substitute for organization and leadership, for accountability, performance, and results.”

•    Create and maintain a sense of urgency. John Kotter has written a true sense of urgency is when one acknowledges action on critical issues is needed now, not eventually, not when it fits easily into a schedule. Now means making real progress every single day. Urgent behavior is not driven by a belief that all is well or that everything is a mess, but instead the world contains great opportunities and great hazards.”

•    Communicate a better future. Frank Luntz has written, “It’s not what you write or say, it is what people read or hear. You can have the best message in the world, but the person on the receiving end will always understand it through the prism of their own emotions, preconceptions, prejudices, and preexisting beliefs. Get your audience to visualize… imagine. Only when people can see a better future will they consider a change.”

•    Repeat your vision and your goals early and often. Adam Grant has written, “It’s better to overcommunicate and sound redundant than to undercommunicate and seem unclear and uncaring. Repeating yourself is vital to effective communication. In an analysis of thousands of 360 feedback assessments, leaders were over nine times more likely to be criticized for undercommunicating than overcommunicating. In an experiment, people who undercommunicated were judged as unqualified to lead because they lacked empathy. When you hesitate to repeat your ideas, you don’t just fail to get your point across—you also come across as if you don’t care.”

Maryland is at a crossroads facing a projected a $1.4 billion state budget revenue shortfall in the next fiscal year and a new estimate on the cost to rebuild the Key Bridge has gone from $1.7 billion to between $4.3 and $5.2 billion.

Maryland has also not yet addressed full funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The Blueprint, also known as the Kirwan Plan, is a 10-year education “reform” initiative. Kirwan needs new state and local funding for the state’s public school to offer universal pre-K, improve teaching and make sure students are ready for college or careers. Some estimates are that fully implementing Kirwan will require more than $4 billion from the state by 2029.

Despite that projection, there has not been and is not any sense of urgency on decisions on where this new funding will come from. Last year, State Senate President Bill Ferguson said, “Several years from now we’re going to have to have a much more direct conversation about the long-term costs but we’re not there yet.” This year, State Senator Guy Guzzone, Chair of the State Senate Budget and Taxation Finance Committee, said, “I think we know the reality that we’re facing. And I think there’s gonna be a lot of discussion about that. I just don’t know that there’s an immediate answer.”

The best immediate answer is to reduce overall state spending and to revise Kirwan to include reducing or eliminating new spending mandates for local school districts.

The only other options available to the governor and general assembly are increasing the number of taxpayers, cutting services, higher tax rates, new taxes, higher fees, new fees, more draws from the “rainy day” fund, and issuing bonds, hoping for a good credit rating.

No wonder: in recent surveys conducted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 49% of Maryland respondents believe the state is on the wrong track, and 53% have considered moving to another state.

Now more than ever, Maryland residents deserve less talk and more action on Maryland’s economic future to help ensure they are not just staying here but are also thriving here.

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant. He is also a consultant for profit organizations on governance, leadership, and management matters. He lives in Easton.