Maryland Needs To Think 'Bold And Imaginative' To Grow Manufacturing, Advocate Says

Maryland officials need to “think big, bold and imaginative” to keep the state from getting another poor grade for its manufacturing industry, says a leading advocate for manufacturing in Maryland.

The comments come a day after the state received a “D” for the health of its manufacturing industry in a report by Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research. That grade should spur “a substantive initiative that changes the paradigm,” said Mike Galiazzo, president of the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland.

The report, issued Monday, elicited a bristling reaction from a spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O’Malley. In an email, Takirra Winfield blasted the report as “a one-sided portrait of Maryland’s growing and strengthening innovation economy.” The report flies in the face of other studies, such as ones from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Milken Institute, that give Maryland high marks for the performance of its economy and for research and development, respectively, she said.
More