NEWS
By Edward Gunts | ed.gunts@baltsun.com | February 28, 2010
A trio of annual Baltimore events - Artscape, the book festival and the New Year's celebration at the Inner Harbor - generated an estimated $36 million in economic benefits during the past year, according to the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. The estimate, to be released Monday, is part of a more sophisticated effort to attract additional corporate sponsors and justify continued public subsidies for the events. "The impact [of the three events], regionally, is huge," said Bill Gilmore, executive director of BOPA, a private, nonprofit organization that works exclusively for the city.
BUSINESS
By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun | November 4, 2012
General Motors' manufacturing plant in White Marsh lost about a day and a half to Cyclone Sandy. But it sustained no damage, missed no shipping deadlines and expected to quickly make up for lost time. Though that's just about the best-case scenario, it's not rare in the region. Despite the disruption of widespread shutdowns Monday and Tuesday, the Baltimore area missed the worst of Sandy's wallop. The overall economic impact should be modest as a result, economists say, even if for some businesses and residents it was anything but. "Economically, it doesn't mean much for the Baltimore area," said Richard Clinch, director of economic research for the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute.
NEWS
By Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun | September 4, 2012
Baltimore residents might never know how much money the city's second Grand Prix race generated or how it affected local hotels, restaurants and other businesses. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday that the city would not commission an economic impact study of this year's Labor Day weekend event, as it did last year for the inaugural racing festival. City and racing officials also said they might not publicly reveal the number of spectators; last year 160,000 people attended over the three days.
ENTERTAINMENT
By David Zurawik and The Baltimore Sun | April 29, 2013
Gov. Martin O'Malley Monday announced something that had been widely known in Baltimore at least for the last two weeks: That the Netflix series "House of Cards" was back in town to film its second season. The White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington Saturday night opened with a spoof featuring Kevin Spacey that was filmed on the "House of Cards" set. And crew members have been working for the last two weeks inside the Baltimore Sun building on Calvert Street rebuilding the "House of Cards" newsroom set. But principal photography on the the second season officially started today, according to the Maryland Film Office.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun | June 8, 2012
Arts and culture activity in the city had a $388.2 million total economic impact in 2010, according to a study released Friday by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. A previous version of the study, conducted every five years, found a $270 million impact in 2005. The study, Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, was conducted by the nonprofit Americans for the Arts. For 2010, it identifies about $266 million in total direct expenditures by nonprofit arts and culture organizations, and about $122 million in total direct expenditures by their audiences.
BUSINESS
By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun | November 4, 2011
City officials are calling the Baltimore Grand Prix an economic success, but a new study conducted for the city's tourism arm suggests that it funneled far less money to local businesses than race organizers predicted. The report for Visit Baltimore, released Friday, estimates that spectators from outside the Baltimore region, non-local vendors and race promoters spent almost $28 million in and near the city during the Labor Day weekend event. Baltimore Racing Development, the financially beleaguered race organizer, issued its own report last year that projected about $70 million in race-fueled spending.