Check out Ed Gunts' story on Morgan Stanley's move to Thames Street Wharf on the former Allied Signal property on the east side of Baltimore's inner harbor. It's a fairly improbable tale. Morgan Stanley chose Baltimore eight years ago for big brokerage back office, promising to bring hundreds of jobs. Unlike many companies making big pledges to get economic development incentives, Morgan Stanley came through with the jobs. Even more amazingly, they are still here despite the financial meltdown and Morgan Stanley's vicissitudes. The firm has had its problems but has come out of the crisis in much better shape than most of its peers.
Morgan Stanley's presence in Baltimore and move to Thames Street Wharf is a testimony to an often-forgotten Baltimore strength: Its legacy, competence and influence in financial services. Despite the exit of Alex. Brown in the 1990s, Baltimore still punches above its weight in finance. It's a solid No. 3 on the East Coast, behind New York and Boston, with much lower costs. The cluster of talent and local quality of life mean that finance jobs tend to stay here even when the nameplates on the door change. Lots of Alex. Brown talent just moved to other shops. Morgan Stanley's 2009 purchase of Baltimore-based Legg Mason's former brokerage unit (via interim owner Citigroup) gives it even more of a Baltimore focus.
Morgan Stanley knew it could recruit the people it needed in Baltimore. Read the Baltimore Business Journal piece from 2002 to see how Maryland won Morgan Stanley. For those smarting from Maryland's recent failure to win Northrop Grumman's headquarters, it's a good antidote.