EAGB got funding to list Baltimore’s innovation hot spots

The Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore is set to develop a plan focused on growing jobs in the region through innovation districts.
EAGB received a $233,500 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the effort. It will allow the organization to take inventory and map incubators and other areas of clustering that already exist in the city, as well as in Baltimore County. The roadmap would have several layers, bringing in demographics and other features.
As defined by the Brookings Institution, innovation districts involve clustering anchor institutions or big companies in dense areas with startups and incubators. Areas with amenities for work and play are also a plus. That sort of planning is taking place with Innovation Village in Central West Baltimore. Universities have been catalysts in other cities like Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins’ East Baltimore Development, Inc. and the University of Maryland BioPark point to higher education institutions’ role here, as well.
EAGB’s interest stems from both an economic development perspective and the organization’s ties to corporations in the area, said the organization’s president, Shannon Landwehr. The roadmap could also help develop a cohesive message to tell others what is happening in the area.
“We see this as a really great opportunity for us because it’s largely happening on its own. We want to use this project as a way to support that,” she said.
Technical.ly has taken a hack at mapping Baltimore’s innovation clusters. Here’s a map from last year’s Baltimore Innovation Week. And here’s a map of the downtown cluster from Baltimore Innovation Week 2016 presented by 14 West: