By Donald C. Fry
June 9, 2021
The following is an except from the original commentary
For the past 67 years, Fortune magazine has compiled a listing of the top publicly held U.S. companies based on revenue, which many have used to gauge a region’s success and prominence in the American business world. If you’ve got a Fortune 500 company in your midst, you’re on the business map.
Unfortunately, the Baltimore region has not had any companies on the Fortune 500 list since Constellation Energy was acquired by Exelon Corp. in 2012. Since then, many in media have questioned whether the absence of Baltimore-area companies on the list seemed to signal that the region was not a significant player in the business world.
But the dry spell is over, and that skepticism should be set aside.
The 2021 Fortune 500 list, which came out June 2, has not one but three Baltimore area companies on it: McCormick & Co. Inc. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., both headquartered in Baltimore County; and T. Rowe Price Group Inc., which is based in the city.
This is cause for well-deserved applause and celebration at the companies themselves and the region on the whole. It signals to corporate America that the Baltimore area possesses the key assets and amenities needed to base and operate a successful, growing company headquarters, namely: a highly skilled and educated workforce, a thriving research university network, attractive affordability, and vital racial and cultural diversity.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
Also see: BBJ: T. Rowe Price, McCormick make Fortune 500 list