BALTIMORE — Just after the Civil War, Isaac Myers led Black dockworkers to purchase the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company in 1866, keeping the company for two decades. The example was one of the factors that led to the swift approval of the 14th Amendment.
Now C. David Bramble is the developer for Baltimore Harborplace, the biggest Black enterprise on the waterfront since Isaac Myers. After spending $83 million to purchase the development, Bramble is implementing a $900 million rebuild.
Bramble’s efforts benefit from the friendliest environment for Black business in the nation, according to the Black Business Affinity Index in ReUNION: State of Black Business, 22d edition released Friday, June 27.
It starts with history. The Douglass-Myers Museum on the waterfront tells the legacy of Myers and fellow dockworker Frederick Douglass to bring about the end of slavery and the birth of labor unionism. Nearby is the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African-American History, devoted to the first African-American to own a billion-dollar company.
The 21st Journal of Black Innovation National Black Business Month is a movement to achieve to promised land that Myers, Douglass, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and Sojourner Truth, all Maryland natives, foresaw. Our10 Plan: the African-American economic strategy set a goal of ten percent of U.S. gross domestic product as a baseline for African-American aggregate income.
Beginning July 30 with a tribute to the martyrs of the New Orleans massacre who se deaths were a catalyst for the 14th Amendment, there will be daily national dialogues through the International Day for Peoples of African Descent on Aug. 31 targeting the industries and opportunities identified in ReUNION. These sessions will lead into the Sanders Summit in September, which Sen. James Sanders, chair of the economic development committee of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, will convene with Pan African bankers from the Americas and Africa during the United Nations General Assembly. For the report and registration, visit blackmoney.com/reunion25
Maryland is a leader in creating the large enterprises which are essential to achieving the goal. One such effort is the Urban Business Innovation Initiative.
“The Urban Business Innovation Initiative (UBII) is designed to provide technical and business assistance to early-stage companies in key urban areas. Assistance to c ompanies is provided by TEDCO’s Venture Growth Advisors, who work in concert with our collaborators to ensure a high level of support for these companies. Each urban region has a dedicated, highly experienced Venture Growth Advisor who evaluates potential clients and provides mentoring as well as connections to support programs offered by TEDCO and our collaborators.”
Gov. Wes Moore is making historic investments in the state’s historically Black colleges and universities with $1 billion in his first two years. He is joined by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-MD; Attorney General Anthony Brown and Speaker Adrienne A. Jones; Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott in a focus on changing the long-standing patterns of economic discrimination.
In Prince George’s, the most affluent majority Black county in the nation, architect Ron Lipford has operated Arel Architects in Temple Hills for 40 years. including projects like Hampton Park retail and mixed use, Sonia Sotomayor School, Shady Glen Fire Station and Seabrook Church among hundreds of completed works.
Baltimore’s Morgan State and Coppin State are aggressively pursuing research and development. Coppin State’s Center for Strategic Entrepreneurship held its 2025 Economic Inclusion Conference for more than 500 Baltimore youth in April. “Our goal is to shift the paradigm in youth and young adult entrepreneurship instrution to one of sustainable opportunity preparedness through learning competence,” said Dr. Ron Williams, CSE founder.
Morgan State became the first HBCU to lead a pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with a installation rooted in African heritage, rhythm and resistance. The university gained 17 patents in the past year, leading all HBCUs in patents granted in 2023.
Bowie State now offers a degree in virtual reality and gaming as part of its technology specialization adjacent to Ft. Meade and the National Security Agency.
University of Maryland President Darryl Pines notes that the College Park campus is ranked eighth for Black undergraduates who later receive doctoral degrees.
Pines said about the university’s artificial intelligence expertise, “We are all in across the entire campus and looking to advance the state’s interests so no one is left behind.”
Dr. Samuel Graham, dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering, is among the Journal of Black Innovation’s 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology.
Kennard’s Wharf at the end of Philpot Street, the very place where Frederick Douglass entered Baltimore as a slave in the 1820s, later became the site of one of the most successful black-owned businesses in Baltimore City, the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company. The company, founded in 1866, employed both black and white workers, serving as a center of the city’s shipbuilding industry.
“For the purpose of carrying on in this state the business of Ship Building and Repairing & the other branches of business or manufacturing necessarily connected therewith”, the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company was formally chartered in 1868, by “highly respected leaders in the social, religious, and political affairs of the black community”, including John W. Locks and Isaac Myers. These men and others obtained a lease through an agent, William Applegarth. Applegarth negotiated terms of a lease with its owner and then assigned the lease to “the John Smith Company” in 1866. The John Smith Company was chartered two years later as the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company. Although the charter included the provision that the company was to exist for forty years, due to a misunderstanding, the lease expired and was not renewed in 1884. The company ceased operations that year.
Maryland state archives
Maryland ranked third in the Black Business Affinity Index with a 72 ranking.
1,284 federal contracts in FY20
In November 2019, Adams took office as Bowie, Maryland’s first black mayor. He is president and CEO of Systems Application & Technologies, Inc. (SA-TECH), a company he founded in 1989. SA-TECH is a professional services firm with origins in the high technology and technical support areas of the defense industry. The Maryland-based firm employs more than 500 people in 20 locations.
Pledging to serve taxpayers and small businesses across the state as an agent of fiscal responsibility, economic justice and social change, Bowie Mayor and acclaimed technology entrepreneur Tim Adams declared his candidacy to become the 34th Comptroller of Maryland.
Adams, 62, would be the first Black Comptroller in state history. He would also become the first paraplegic to ever hold statewide office in Maryland.
“My life has been the embodiment of the very best possibilities of our country and state, and I am running to help provide every child in Maryland with the same opportunities for success and security that I’ve enjoyed,” said Adams. “To do so, we must ensure that our tax dollars are invested wisely, everyone pays their fair share, and our business climate allows our small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete on a level playing field.”
Adams announced his campaign today with a video that was produced and directed by Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, a prominent Democratic media consulting firm based in Washington, DC. The 2:35 piece, titled “Let’s Roll,” recaptures landmark moments in Adams’ personal and professional journey. It features Timothy Adams, Jr., a drama major at New York University, in scenes depicting his father’s earlier years.
In declaring his candidacy, Adams promised to use the power of his office to help change a business and economic climate he has frequently characterized as “adrift.” As one of three votes on Maryland’s Board of Public Works, which approves most state contracts greater than $200,000, he promised to hold agencies accountable for procurement transparency, commitment to open bid competition, and compliance with Maryland’s Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) laws.
“For all of our talk about so-called ‘government transparency,’ Maryland’s procurement system is still weighted in favor of incumbent vendors and those with the best political connections,” Adams said. “This works out perfectly well for a handful of Annapolis insiders, but not for the taxpayers or for those emerging entrepreneurs who can offer better services at lower costs.”
1,502,000 with 67% participation and 6.7% unemployment
Maryland Dept. of Housing and Community Development
investments@tedco.md
Mike Kelleher
Delaware | Maryland
David Baker, State Director
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Governor
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