Government & Business Support

Government & Business Support

Greater Baltimore

• In the top ten of the Center for Digital Government’s 2006 Digital Counties Survey: Anne Arundel County (ranks 8th) for jurisdictions with a population of 500,000 or more; Howard County (ranks 9th) for jurisdictions with population between 250,000 and 499,000.
• Baltimore ranks 37th in Forbes’ “Best Places for Business,” above Bethesda at 39th.

State of Maryland

• Maryland is one of only seven states with a “triple triple” general obligation bond rating, or Triple-A from the three major bond rating houses. In fact, Maryland has the longest running Triple-A rating with a “stable” outlook from Standard & Poor’s, dating back to its initial rating in 1961.
• The State of Maryland has an AAA bond rating through 2008 with Fitch Ratings.
• Maryland holds the following rankings in federal government expenditures when compared with other states:
  • 2nd in per capita procurement of goods and services and 4th in total procurement of goods and services.
  • 5th in per capita total expenditures, which includes procurement, salaries, wages and grants, and 9th in total expenditures ($75.5 billion).
  • 4th in per capita Defense Department expenditures, and 5th in total Defense Department expenditures ($14.6 billion).
  • Baltimore is listed as 6th among major cities in Foreign Direct Investment magazine’s North American Cities of the Future ranking.  Baltimore was ranked 2nd among major cities in the category of business friendliness.
• Maryland ranks 11th in Forbes “Best for Business”, ranking 3rd in labor and 9th in economic climate.