Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson announced today at TEDCO’s 2026 Entrepreneur Expo in Baltimore that Senator Brian Feldman will serve as the Senate’s Economic Development Chief. In the new role, Feldman will act as a liaison to the administration, the House of Delegates, and the private sector as Maryland heads into a challenging budget year.
“We know that the budget challenge that we’re going to be facing this year is going to be, to some degree, unprecedented,” Ferguson said. “We also know that in order to move through this in the long term, we must grow.”
Ferguson pointed to Feldman’s experience inside and outside the private sector navigating the challenges small and growing businesses face. “He represents Montgomery County, where we see the biotech corridor and the 270 corridor explode with growth,” Ferguson said. “We need that to happen across the entire state.” Feldman will help lead and guide the Senate’s agenda in the upcoming session.
Recapping Maryland’s Economic Development Agenda
Ferguson also highlighted a workforce expansion and economic development agenda that passed unanimously last session, built with the Maryland Department of Commerce, TEDCO, and the House of Delegates. Key investments include:
- Maryland Growth Initiative: a new TEDCO program accepting applications for the first time this fall. It will provide targeted technical assistance and post-seed and Series A funding to help promising Maryland companies bridge the early-stage “valley of death” funding gap, and curate a list of homegrown companies primed to attract private capital.
- Maryland Advanced Manufacturing Grant Program: a new $2 million program, taking applications this winter, that provides capital grants to small and early-stage Maryland companies in advanced manufacturing.
- A review of Maryland’s economy: work with the Comptroller’s Office to assess recent economic trends and challenges, and to focus on the areas where Maryland holds strong competitive advantages.
- Main Street support: a new program to help small businesses grow in vacant main street corridors.
- A study by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation on how the state can invest purposefully.
One Front Door for New Businesses
Ferguson also described new budget funding for a technology solution, including AI tools, to simplify starting a business in Maryland. Today, new companies visit six state websites and three separate state portals and can spend more than 12 hours on basic startup steps, he said. The goal is to bring that process into a single place.
“We know that it has not always been easy, and we have created, in some cases, too much bureaucratic red tape,” Ferguson said.
Bringing the I-270 Momentum Statewide
Feldman’s appointment puts a Montgomery County legislator at the center of the Senate’s economic development agenda. The county is home to the state’s fast-growing biotech and I-270 corridors.
“He represents Montgomery County, where we see the biotech corridor and the 270 corridor explode with growth,” Ferguson said. “We need that to happen across the entire state.”
Ferguson framed the role around carrying that momentum beyond the corridor, so the kind of growth seen in Montgomery County’s life sciences sector can happen across Maryland.
