CEOs: Maryland Needs to Welcome Business to State

Two Fortune 500 CEOs urged Maryland legislators Thursday to make the state a more friendly place to do business, warning it will soon lose development to Virignia and the District of Columbia.

Arne Sorenson, CEO of Bethesda-based Marriott International Inc., said Maryland hasn't been "deliberate" in its thinking about businesses, reports the Washington Business Journal.

"I think it's taken advantage of the fact that it's a great place to live," Sorenson said during the Maryland Chamber of Commerce CEO Spotlight.

Competition with Virginia and the District of Columbia will require Maryland to be more aware of its business climate, he said. 

"D.C. is embracing development in many respects in a way that it hasn't in the past. In the next decade, D.C.'s going to be much more competitive," Sorenson said. "I think Maryland is going to have to be much more thoughtful about saying, 'how are we doing for business and does business want to locate in our state.'"

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. CEO Edward Walter agreed, noting that businesses find it much harder to obtain building permits in Maryland compared with Virginia.

"It's getting easier for people to go to other places, not harder,” Walter said in the business publication.