Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, making her final address to Baltimore's chamber of commerce on Thursday, said the city had gained jobs, development and affordable housing and reduced blight since she took office.
Rawlings-Blake spoke at the chamber's annual breakfast, held at the Horsehoe Casino Baltimore. She said her administration has pushed for "a Baltimore where every community can thrive, and hopefully thrive in peace, where every citizen has faith in their government, where every person has access to a job in a business that can grow, where every neighborhood is clean and without blight. These are the things that we aspire to have in our city and the things on which we will make progress with your help," she told the group of business leaders.
"I always smile when I tell people that there are more cranes in Baltimore than we've seen in over a decade," she said. "Sometimes I have to remind people, 'am I the only person seeing this stuff happening?'"
A new mayor will take office in December. Rawlings-Blake, who became mayor in 2010, did not seek re-election.
Rawlings-Blake also spoke about the growth of small women-or-minority-owned businesses, which she said has been a focus of her administration. She said a micro-loan program has "triggered $2.7 million in capital investment" and created and retained almost 300 jobs. More than half of loans went to minority or women-owned business, she said.
She said neighborhoods all over the city, including Park Heights, Remington, Station North, Barclay and Oliver have seen "tremendous progress" in revitalization, thanks in part to the Vacants to Value program. The city has rehabilitated or demolished thousands of vacant houses under the program.
Rawlings-Blake also said 20,000 new jobs have been created in the city under her administration. She specifically cited the casino's 2,300 jobs, plus those created by Pandora, the Maryland Auto Insurance Fund, Amazon and Under Armour
"There's no doubt we are growing a city with an incredibly bright future," she said. There is still a lot more work to be done."
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