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Q&A: JONATHAN SACHS, DIRECTOR, BALTIMORE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENTJonathan Sachs serves as director of Baltimore County%u2019s Department of Economic & Workforce Development (DEWD) and was appointed by the County Executive to the role in April of 2024. Previously, Sachs had a successful career as a healthcare executive. He served as CEO of a patient experience startup, vice president and chief experience officer (CXO) for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and as vice president of experience transformation at Adventist HealthCare. He lives in Pikesville.Here, Sachs discusses the DEWD%u2019s upcoming strategic initiatives and how businesses can stay in the loop. LET%u2019S TALK ABOUT YOUR VISION FOR BALTIMORE COUNTY. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAIN GOALS YOU%u2019RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE FOR BUSINESSES?The No. 1 overall goal for the Department of Economic & Workforce Development is to grow the tax base in Baltimore County. That%u2019s what we%u2019re focused on. We do that through a combination of different strategies. The primary strategy is business expansion and retention in the county: helping people grow and expand their businesses, helping entrepreneurs start their business so they can hire people here and serve more clients here. And then business attraction is another strategy: bringing businesses from outside Baltimore County to locate here as well and expand the tax base as much as possible. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR INCENTIVES AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS YOUR DEPARTMENT OFFERS THAT YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? We have the small business activation team, SBAT, that helps folks who are looking to start a business. They will point them in the right direction, make sure they%u2019re incorporated properly, help them with paperwork and logistics. We also offer low-interest loans for businesses. We just launched a new incentive called GROW, which is designed to help businesses newly locating in Baltimore County. We give them $8 per square foot up to $80,000 for a new business space. There are a number of other grant programs we offer, and they%u2019re all listed on our website for businesses to be able to access. (Find them at baltimorecountymd.gov/departments/economic-and-workforcedevelopment/business/financing-and-tax-credits.)ARE THERE ANY UPCOMING INITIATIVES THAT YOU%u2019D LIKE BUSINESSES TO KNOW ABOUT? We recently reformed the economic development advisory board, which is chaired by the president and CEO of LifeBridge Health and a retired managing partner of the DLA Piper law firm. We have business leaders from across the county who are present at that table and helping us think about how to create a strategy for economic growth in Baltimore County. The strategy will be rooted around our six target industries:%u25a0 Transportation/logistics/wholesale trade%u25a0 Healthcare and life sciences%u25a0 Information and cybersecurity%u25a0 Aviation and defense%u25a0 Manufacturing%u25a0 Financial services, professional services and real estateWe%u2019re really focused on those specific sectors and developing a broader strategy around them. That should be finished by the first quarter of next year. It%u2019ll go to the county executive and council first, but there will be a lot of work done in helping socialize a finalized document with the private sector as well. Businesses that would like updates can email us at businesshelp@baltimorecountymd.gov. 18