Premier Baltimore economic boosters combine to strengthen innovation ecosystem

A major regional economic development organization is making the tech and startup world an even bigger priority by bringing one of that scene’s biggest entities under its umbrella. 

The tech ecosystem nonprofit UpSurge Baltimore will now operate within the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), both organizations announced Thursday. 

Kory Bailey, the CEO at UpSurge, told Technical.ly this process is a “natural evolution” of the work done by both organizations. UpSurge and GBC leadership extensively worked together on the regional consortium for an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hub bid. Baltimore nabbed that classification in 2023, but lost out on the initial round of funding in 2024. 

The GBC works with 400 corporations and institutions of all sizes, with the goal of broadly advancing economic development throughout the region. UpSurge works with startup founders and tech leaders to boost entrepreneurship through various initiatives, such as the new grant program for Maryland college founders announced in October. 

“In order for us to build a thriving tech ecosystem, we have to have engagement and involvement from startups and from big corporations,” Bailey said. “We have to be able to get them in rooms — navigating the opportunities for growth of the economy, and the innovation economy is a big part of that.”

This isn’t GBC’s first experience with another organization operating under its banner: Its current structure resulted from a merger with the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore in 2022. 

How the integration will proceed

This move also comes as the GBC shifts its nonprofit status from a 501(c)(4) to a 501(c)(3), per Mark Anthony Thomas, the president and CEO of the organization.   

Nonprofits with a 501(c)(4) are eligible to engage in more political activity, including lobbying and endorsing candidates. Thomas said he’s moving GBC away from that, intending to instead rely on existing partners for policy and political efforts.

“You see the regional organizations across the country,” Thomas told Technical.ly, “they play a role with policy, but they’re shaping vision and creating the leverage of their own partners to make things happen. That’s what we compete against.”

Plus, donations to a nonprofit organization with a 501(c)(3) classification are tax-deductible, while those with a 501(c)(4) are not.

While many of the combination’s specific components have yet to be hammered out, programming out of UpSurge will continue as is for now, per Bailey. 

UpSurge will maintain a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit status as it carries out funding commitments. That includes programs using public funding, like the student grant program, he said. 

UpSurge transitioned from a public benefit corporation to a 501(c)(3) in 2022, plus an LLC for managing the portfolio of companies that have come through its Equitech accelerator with Techstars. 

Bailey will also maintain his role as UpSurge’s CEO and be added to Thomas’ executive team. Neither organization plans to lay off workers. 

Leaders hope to set an example

This transition is part of the GBC’s 10-year strategic plan announced earlier this year, which focuses on diversity in entrepreneurship, as well as scaling industries like life sciences and manufacturing. 

The move also aims for more efficiency, said Maddy Stokes, UpSurge’s chief operating officer. That means financial efficiency, like streamlining back-office work, but also helping the organizations learn from each other and offer more resources. 

“It’s about actually being able to have the impact that we want,” Stokes told Technical.ly. “Which is driving and influencing how we invest in economic development and how we attract attention in a way that’s going to shift the brand for Baltimore that better reflects what we know about Baltimore today — but that folks around the country, even in the city and the region, don’t know about.”

Stokes also hopes this change will set an example for the rest of the state. The city has more than 5,000 nonprofits, and that can prevent scaling, she said. 

UpSurge has already been doing that collaborative work, like with Techstars, TEDCO and the GBC, Stokes explained. But this formal integration will help, especially with building partnerships outside of the combination. 

GBC’s Thomas also hopes this move will strengthen the region’s Tech Hubs bid. That money for the next phase of funding is tied up in appropriations in Congress, but EDA officials expressed hope the program will continue under the upcoming Trump administration.  

“We think this alignment will further strengthen our application,” Thomas said, “and give us a greater competitive edge against the other markets that we’re competing against.”