Maryland’s Future Is Ours To Build. Let’s Build It Together.
A place where you can raise a family. Build a career. Grow a business. Buy a home. Create jobs. Put down roots. A Maryland where people can afford to stay — and have every reason to. That's the Maryland we all want.
Stay informed. Understand what it means. Speak up when it matters.
We Agree on More Than We Think.
Ask a parent, a business owner, a teacher, a mayor or a legislator what they want for Maryland, and the answers look remarkably similar:
- A Maryland that's affordable.
- One full of good jobs and opportunity.
- Home to thriving businesses and communities.
- A place where our children can build their futures.
We won't always agree on how to get there. But we can start with what we share: we want Maryland to thrive.
Right now, too much is making that harder.
Maryland has become one of the most expensive places in America to live.
7th Most Expensive in the Country.
Families feel it: housing, groceries, electricity, child care and insurance — the things that make even a good income feel stretched.
And businesses feel it too: energy, insurance, rent, wages, taxes and the cost of nearly everything it takes to keep the doors open. Picture the restaurant down the street. As its costs climb — rent, energy, insurance, a new fee — and the owner still has to make the math work. So something gives:
- Charge a little more.
- Hire one fewer person.
- Put off a raise or a renovation.
- Skip that second location — and the jobs that would be generated with it.
That's where a business cost stops being just about a business. It becomes your higher dinner bill, someone else's job that never gets created, a paycheck with less room to grow, or another empty storefront.
The Affordability of Living Here & Doing Business Here Are Connected.
And you can feel which way things are heading.
- The moving truck in a neighbor's driveway.
- Friends comparing notes on where their paychecks could go a little further.
- A recent graduate who took the job somewhere else — because it wasn't here.
- A storefront on Main Street that's still empty.
None of it means Maryland doesn't have great jobs, great businesses and people building good lives here. We do.
But too often, the next opportunity — a better job, a first home someone can afford, the business they've dreamed of starting — is landing in another state. And more people are following those out than moving.
The things we count on Maryland for — schools, safe communities, roads and transit, health care — all run on a working economy. When it grows, so does what we can afford. When it stalls, the bill falls back on the people still here.
That’s the Cycle We Have To Break.
This isn't about choosing businesses over people. It's exactly the opposite — we need each other to succeed.
- Families need good jobs and paychecks that go further.
- Workers need employers who create opportunities.
- Businesses need workers and customers who can afford what they sell.
- Communities need jobs, investment and thriving Main Street commerce.
- Policymakers need a growing economy to fund the priorities Marylanders care about.
We're not competing with one another. We're depending on one another for a better path forward.
The Road Ahead.
So Maryland has real choices to make.
- How do we make Maryland more affordable for the people who live here?
- How do we create more jobs and chances to get ahead?
- How do we help businesses start here, grow here, and most importantly — stay here?
- How do we pay for our priorities without asking the same people for more?
We won't agree on every answer. But these are questions worth working through — together.
Why We Built Accelerate Maryland.
This is a place to understand what's happening, how it connects to your life, and what you can do about it. Here's where to start:
- Join Accelerate Maryland — get the facts in plain English, and know when your voice can make a difference.
- Share your story — tell us what building a life or a business in Maryland looks like for you.
- Watch the stories — see Marylanders living these decisions, and working on what comes next.
- See the data — dig into what's driving Maryland's costs, from the Maryland Competitiveness Institute.
You don't have to follow every bill, understand every line of the budget or own a business. And we don't have to agree on everything.
You Just Have To Have a Stake in Maryland’s Future.
And if you live here, work here, employ people here or serve a community here — you do.
Stay informed. Understand what it means. Speak up when it matters.
Stronger businesses. Stronger communities.
Stronger Maryland. Let's build it together.