According to a new report from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Maryland’s decline from 22nd to 31st in CNBC’s 2024 Top States for Business rankings highlights a growing concern for the state’s ability to attract and retain businesses.

Along with a 32nd place finish in U.S. News’ Business Environment rankings, these trends underscore the urgent need for improvements across several areas, with infrastructure shortcomings taking center stage.

Infrastructure Deficiencies Lead to Economic Decline

CNBC’s 2024 rankings emphasized infrastructure, including roads, bridges, ports, airports, utilities, and development sites. Maryland’s infrastructure ranking plummeted by 22 spots from 15th to 37th.

Local governments face increasing challenges maintaining deteriorating roads and bridges, which businesses rely on for daily operations. The Chamber stresses that without urgent investments in infrastructure, businesses cannot thrive, supply chains will falter, and economic progress will stall.

In Maryland, local governments have no authority to levy their own transportation revenues – counties and municipalities depend entirely on a share of state-levied revenues to support safety and maintenance work on local roads and bridges across the state.

For decades, the State supported a balanced approach to maintaining its transportation infrastructure. The bulk of transportation revenues — mainly motor fuel and vehicle titling taxes — have been split between the State (for its consolidated Transportation Trust Fund, serving multiple modes) and local governments (who own and maintain roughly five of every six road miles across the state).

The State faced a mid-year budget crisis during the “Great Recession” in 2009. In turn, the Board of Public Works adopted a 90% reduction of the local distributions of these Highway User Revenues and a roughly 40% reduction to Baltimore City’s allocation (the largest by far to any jurisdiction).

Since then, the state has fully or primarily restored many recession-driven cutbacks. However, Highway User Revenues still lag far behind historic levels, even after the State enacted a substantial transportation revenue increase.

The State’s fiscal 2025 budget remains far short of Maryland’s proper and historic funding levels, even on a simple dollar-to-dollar basis. Accounting for road maintenance and materials costs would expand this gap even further.

Restoring and expanding local transportation funding is critical to ensuring the state has the infrastructure to support long-term economic growth.

High Costs Stifle Business Expansion

The Maryland Chamber also notes that Maryland ranks 47th in cost of doing business, one of the highest in the nation. This high-cost environment and infrastructure deficiencies make it increasingly difficult for companies to operate and expand in the state, according to the Chamber.

The Maryland Chamber advocates for reforms to the state’s tax structure to reduce the burden on businesses and make Maryland more competitive with neighboring states like Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Stagnant Workforce Development Remains a Barrier

The Chamber points to Maryland’s stagnant workforce development, ranked 28th, as another factor holding back its competitiveness.

With only 33 available workers for every 100 open positions, businesses struggle to find the needed talent. The Maryland Chamber advocates for stronger workforce development programs that align with industry needs, including education initiatives and incentives to attract workers to Maryland.

Competing with Neighboring States

Maryland’s struggles are exacerbated by fierce competition from neighboring states.

The Maryland Chamber highlights that Virginia, ranked 1st overall in business competitiveness, boasts a stronger infrastructure and a more business-friendly environment. Pennsylvania, ranked 17th, also outperforms Maryland. According to the Chamber, Maryland must take bold steps to improve its business climate to remain competitive.

What’s Next?

According to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the state must immediately address its declining business competitiveness.

The Chamber prioritizes infrastructure improvements, including bolstering funding for local roads, bridges, and transit systems. Additionally, it advocates for tax policy reforms and stronger workforce development initiatives to attract investment and promote sustained growth.

The Chamber emphasizes that swift action is essential to creating a more business-friendly environment and ensuring a competitive, resilient economy for Maryland’s future.

Visit the Maryland Chamber of Commerce website for more information.

For the first time as a head coach, David Braun has dropped consecutive losses at Northwestern. Braun hadn’t lost back-to-back games since his time as Northern Iowa’s outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator in 2018. 

But as Braun sat down for his Monday press conference in Walter Athletics Center, the somber reality of the Wildcats’ (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) recent form seemed to sink in. Still, he saw signs of hope following defeats to Washington and then-No. 23 Indiana.

“The way we’re looking at it right now, we’re sitting at 2-3 (and) can’t do anything to change where that record is at,” Braun said. “This football team is very confident that we have more within us. The challenge in front of us is to go be our best on the road.”

With a short week of preparation, NU will take on Maryland in College Park Friday night. The Terrapins (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) are also vying for their first conference win this season. Maryland fell 42-28 to Indiana on Sept. 28 before having a Week 6 bye ahead of its primetime clash with the ’Cats.

NU possesses a 3-1 all-time advantage in the series against the Terrapins, with journeyman quarterback Brendan Sullivan leading the ’Cats to a 33-27 home victory on Halloween’s doorstep last fall.

Now, with NU looking to avoid the trepidation of a three-game skid, here are some key storylines ahead of the showdown in SECU Stadium. 

Porter, Bastone Injury Updates

After missing the loss against Washington with a lower-body injury, graduate student running back Cam Porter returned in a limited role against the Hoosiers Saturday. He rushed the ball on six occasions for 15 yards and a score. But Braun said he expects Porter to regain the lion’s share of touches Friday night.

“Cam was a full participant in practice today,” Braun said. “That’s something you get worried about as a guy that was kind of trending as a game-time decision and then was able to play, but how’s he going to respond, especially on a short week? Full participant was awesome to see.”

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Carmine Bastone, who missed the season’s initial five games with an undisclosed “finicky” injury, was also a full participant in practice Monday, Braun said. 

The walk-on turned scholarship player and captain is set to make his season debut Friday night, giving the ’Cats much-needed experience up front.

“I talked to Cam about it before the game on Saturday; his presence back fully padded was just a positive boost for everyone,” Braun said. “Carmine is a similar story. The guys have been hurt for him that he wasn’t able to be out there with them. … But, all you have to see is Carmine leading our team through warm-ups to feel the juice that’s within this team.”

Braun embraces short week preparation

For the second time this season, NU has a short week of preparation ahead of a Friday night kickoff. The ’Cats previously played Duke in similar circumstances Week 2, falling 26-20 in double overtime. The game marked an apparent end to graduate student quarterback Mike Wright’s short-lived time under center.

NU returned to the practice field Sunday after the Indiana loss, where the team went through film sessions and a night-time walkthrough.

“It’s not fun being around this facility after a loss,” Braun said. “But there’s a lot of people that were just hungry to learn from it (and) turn the page. If you had a chance to be around the facility last night into this morning, this group is doing a great job of transitioning all our focus into Maryland.”

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