The Greater Baltimore Committee’s Regional Innovation Office (RIO) has submitted a strengthened Phase 3 EDA Tech Hub proposal—one that places new venture creation, dual-use biomanufacturing, and federal alignment at the center of a strategy to position the Baltimore Region as a national leader in a rapidly emerging technology space.
From the outset, the proposal responds directly to federal priorities around national security, commercialization, and dual-use technology development. It emphasizes the critical role of early-stage and scaling ventures—particularly those at the intersection of commercial and defense applications—in forming a sustainable, high-growth biomanufacturing industry that can serve both private markets and Department of Defense needs.
This strategic orientation was shaped with strategic guidance from Early Charm Ventures, whose work de-risking technologies and scaling companies in Harford County’s defense and commercial ecosystem helped ensure the proposal was firmly grounded in federal demand signals. As Early Charm CEO Ken Malone described it, “Aberdeen Proving Ground and Harford County have established a regional framework for technologies that bridge commercial and defense needs, and investors and commercial enterprises across the region are now carrying it forward.” This proposal reflects that momentum—placing new venture development as a centerpiece of the region’s long-term competitiveness.
A Proposal Built Around What the Federal Government Is Asking For
EDA and federal agencies have consistently emphasized the importance of innovation pipelines capable of delivering dual-use technologies—solutions that can meet defense priorities while creating commercial market value. Baltimore’s Phase 3 submission responds with a sharply aligned strategy that accelerates:
- Company formation and growth in dual-use biomanufacturing
- Commercialization pathways for technologies relevant to national security
- Facility capacity and infrastructure needed to scale production
- A workforce pipeline built around both training and real hiring outcomes
- Regional coordination among public, private, academic, and nonprofit institutions
“In Phase 3, the Baltimore Region put forward a strategy that builds on the strengths that earned our Tech Hub designation and aligns them directly with the administration’s investment priorities,” said Mark Anthony Thomas, President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee. “We clarified how our regional collaborations can deliver on national objectives through critical investments that accelerate growth and advance federal interests.”
By laying out a clear pathway from venture development to scaled production and workforce capacity, the proposal captures exactly the kind of ecosystem-building that the federal government is seeking to invest in.
A Sharpened Strategy Shaped by Phase 2 Feedback
While Phase 2 provided a broad vision for the region’s biomanufacturing potential, Phase 3 reflects a more targeted and actionable approach. Developed in just over six weeks, the proposal narrows its focus to three key components—facility expansion, venture development, and workforce development—resulting in a proposal that is both more ambitious but more feasible.
“Submitting a competitive Phase 3 application in just six weeks required extraordinary collaboration and discipline,” said Lakey Boyd, GBC’s Chief Economic Officer. “This proposal reflects how the RIO is positioning to pursue major federal opportunities, including those expected in 2026.”
With a more focused venture development component, it positions the region to not only support startups, but scale them into companies capable of delivering products that matter to the commercial market and to the DoD; a customer with a large base of operations in Harford County – as well as many other close-by bases in Maryland. This is the cornerstone of building dual-use biomanufacturing into a durable regional industry.
The three core program components include:
Biomanufacturing Facility Expansion — Led by Harford County
Venture Development — Led by Early Charm Ventures
Workforce Development — Led by the Maryland Tech Council with Harford Community College and BioBuzz
Building the Workforce Needed to Power a Dual-Use Economy
The proposal also introduces a more sophisticated workforce strategy—one focused on outcomes rather than activities. Led by the Maryland Tech Council with Harford Community College and BioBuzz, this component brings together employer engagement, job placement pathways, and a hiring-centric model that aligns with both industry and federal expectations.
BioBuzz CEO Chris Frew underscored the importance of this approach:
“We’re grateful for the GBC’s leadership and proud of the collaboration among the core partners in delivering this latest response. What stands out in this proposal is a workforce approach that goes beyond training and shows our approach to delivering tangible job placement and hiring solutions. More filled jobs is the outcome that job seekers, employers and the EDA want to see — and we are confident that this team can deliver that.”
This approach is strengthened by BioBuzz’s new TEDCO-funded MOORE-Bio initiative, which aims to improve pathways into biotech while helping employers hire more efficiently—another signal to federal agencies that the region is building the talent infrastructure needed to support scaled biomanufacturing operations.
Regional Alignment as a Competitive Advantage
Partners across the region emphasized how this proposal represents a new level of cohesion. Harford County—leading the biomanufacturing facility expansion—highlighted the power of shared strategy. “Strengthening the region’s advanced manufacturing capacity has long been a priority for us,” said Karen Holt, Director of the Harford County Office of Economic Development. “Our partnership with GBC and the consortium shows how regional alignment can drive real economic impact.”
By bringing together facility development, venture growth, workforce pipelines, and federal alignment under one integrated strategy, Baltimore enters Phase 3 with a proposal that is not only competitive, but compelling.
As EDA prepares its Stage 1 evaluations in early 2026, the Baltimore Region stands unified behind a strategy rooted in innovation, national relevance, and long-term economic opportunity. The focus on emerging ventures, scalable technologies, and dual-use applications positions the region to deliver solutions the federal government is actively seeking—and to grow a new core industry for Maryland.
With its most focused, collaborative, and aligned proposal yet, the region signals that it is ready not just to participate in the future of dual-use biomanufacturing, but to help lead it.
