Every day, Maryland businesses make decisions that touch thousands of lives. Hiring a new employee means a paycheck for a Maryland family. Investing in equipment supports other businesses. Planning for growth creates opportunities — and comes with real responsibility.
At the same time, these everyday decisions are made under real constraints: rising costs, complex regulations and constant uncertainty.
Navigating these challenges is part of running a business anywhere, yet Maryland employers face a particularly tough landscape — and they still show up. They keep people working, serve customers and invest in their communities even as the cost of doing so climbs higher each year. Their efforts strengthen neighborhoods, sustain local economies and help Maryland thrive.
Here’s the problem: While businesses are working harder, the state keeps making it harder.
New fees, taxes and regulatory requirements show up in concrete ways — in hiring decisions, wage growth, prices and long-term planning. Employers face tough questions: Can we expand? Can we raise pay? Can we stay competitive? Or should we delay investment or look to states where costs are more predictable?
When Maryland layers on costs without tracking how they accumulate — a new mandate here, another fee there, higher taxes somewhere else — the real impact lands far beyond balance sheets. It shows up in the job that doesn’t get created, the raise that gets delayed, the store that stays closed on Sunday to save on labor costs, the factory expansion that goes to Virginia instead.
When businesses struggle, job creation slows. Wage growth stalls. Prices rise. Opportunities narrow. Those pressures affect workers, families and communities statewide. Maryland risks losing not just companies, but talent, innovation and the next generation of opportunity.
This is why business voices matter.
Advocacy isn’t about mastering policy jargon or tracking every bill. It’s about sharing real experiences and real consequences. A brief email. A phone call. A conversation at a community event. Those moments help policymakers understand how decisions made in Annapolis affect daily life — from employment opportunities to household budgets.
Lawmakers are listening, especially now. They want to understand how policy choices affect their constituents. But if they don’t hear from those living with the consequences — employers, workers, residents — decisions will reflect only the voices that speak up.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce has worked for decades to ensure business concerns are part of that conversation. But no organization can replace the value of firsthand experience.
When business leaders share their stories — how rising costs influence hiring, how mandates affect workplaces, how uncertainty shapes investment — policymakers gain context that data alone cannot provide. They see how decisions affect real people, real communities, and the businesses that anchor local economies.
The next 90 days will shape Maryland’s economic direction for years to come.
The proposals under consideration will determine whether businesses invest and create jobs, whether opportunity grows or stagnates, whether residents stay or look elsewhere, and how Maryland stacks up against Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
This is a defining moment.
Maryland has the talent, infrastructure and innovative capacity to compete and grow. But realizing that potential depends on whether policy decisions strengthen or strain the employers and workers who drive our economy.
When business leaders engage, policy improves. Lawmakers gain a clearer understanding of how Annapolis decisions affect jobs, wages, prices and local investment. That perspective leads to better outcomes and fewer unintended consequences.
When those voices are absent, costs rise quietly. Growth slows. Opportunities drift away — often without notice until the impact is felt statewide.
The path forward requires engagement from those closest to the impact.
This legislative session is a chance for Maryland’s business community to help shape a more competitive, predictable future — one that supports workers, families and communities across the state.
The businesses that employ Marylanders, serve our neighborhoods and invest in our future deserve policies that recognize their contribution and make success easier, not harder. They deserve a break — and they deserve to be heard.
Stay engaged. Speak up. Show up.
We hope to see you in Annapolis.
Mary D. Kane is president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.