Last week Maryland Governor Larry Hogan chose the Governor's Business Summit to announce a new comprehensive statewide economic strategy called Excel Maryland, focused on developing new collaborative strategies to accelerate growth in the life sciences and cybersecurity industries.
The steering committee for Excel Maryland includes officials from the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University and the University System of Maryland, along with the Maryland Economic Development Corporation.
The committee is being led by Dr. Susan Windham Bannister, the founding president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, but co-chairs include
Bob Caret, chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) and Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University. Steering committee members are Dr. Bahija Jallal, executive vice president, MedImmune and AstraZeneca; Stephanie Hill, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin; Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi, CEO of Emergent BioSolutions and chair of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board; Tom Geddes, CEO of Plank Industries; Ron Gula, president of Gula Tech Adventures and co-founder of Tenable Network Security; Peter Barris, managing general partner of New Enterprise Associates; Bill Niland, CEO of Harpoon Medical; Larry Letow, president and CEO of Convergence Technology Consulting; Robert Lord, CEO of Protenus; Wendy Perrow, CEO of AsclepiX, Therapeutics; and Paul Silber, founding principal of Blu Venture Investors.
Ex-officio members are Sam Malhotra, chief of staff to Governor Hogan; Secretary of Commerce Mike Gill; Secretary Kelly Schulz, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; Secretary of State John Wobensmith; General Linda Singh, Adjutant General of Maryland; Sen. Robert Neall; John Wasilisin, president and chief operating officer of the Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO); and Bob Brennan, executive director of MEDCO.
Governor Hogan believes "Excel Maryland will help pool the talents of our state agencies, our universities, and our private sector industry experts to help us create an environment in Maryland where more companies can start up here, and never stop growing here."
The initiative will culminate in a report by the end of August, which will serve as a roadmap to securing Maryland's position as the epicenter of cybersecurity and advancing Maryland's leadership position in biohealth and life sciences.
