States with robust innovation economies have assets in common: a corps of research-intensive universities, a highly educated workforce and a government supportive of their science and technology industries. Maryland has all of these things. What the state needs to strengthen is its entrepreneurial culture, so that it becomes a top destination for scientists serious about ushering their ideas out of the lab and into the marketplace.
As Gov. Larry Hogan and the General Assembly make tough choices about how to invigorate Maryland's economy, it's imperative they focus on the state's enormous innovative capacity and the institutions working to capitalize on it. Maryland's research universities, supported by state investments, are key to building this culture of entrepreneurship.
