Baltimore's new mayor needs to show local business leaders that she appreciates their investment in the city and will work hard to address their concerns, said Donald C. Fry, executive director of the Greater Baltimore Committee, a regional business leadership organization.

"She has to reach out to the business community to let them know she understands the important role business has for the future of the city," Fry said. "She has to show people who have made significant capital investments in the city that she understands them."

As she moves from the City Council to the mayor's office, Fry said, Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake should contact business leaders and learn about their concerns. She also needs to thank them for investing in Baltimore and find out what the city can do to get them to stay and grow in Baltimore, whether that means improving infrastructure or beautifying public spaces, he said.

"Economic development is a competitive business," Fry said. "You continually need to reassure people that their efforts are appreciated and you are not taking them for granted."

HER RECORD

Fry and other business leaders say Rawlings-Blake already knows much about the city's budgetary issues and business relationships from her tenure as City Council president and head of the city's spending body, the Board of Estimates, and that will be helpful in the transition.

As head of the city council, she took the lead in crafting a zoning bill permitting live entertainment in more city nightspots, has supported efforts to build a new downtown arena, sided with Roland Park residents who fought plans to develop part of Baltimore Country Club property and recently introduced legislation that would limit construction of cell phone towers in historic districts. At the same time, Fry said, "there are very different skills involved in being an effective legislator versus being an effective executive."