Baltimore Development Head M.J. "Jay" Brodie Announces Retirement From BDC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Monday, January 3, 2010

Ryan O’Doherty

(410)818-4269

ryan.odoherty@baltimorecity.gov 

Mayor Rawlings-Blake announces professional search process for new BDC President.

BALTIMORE, MD (February 24, 2012)—Today, Mr. M.J. “Jay” Brodie, President of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), the City’s economic development agency, announced his retirement after a long and successful 16-year career leading the BDC under four mayors. During his career at the BDC, Mr. Brodie oversaw the creation of numerous successful economic development efforts that have helped create thousands of jobs, attract and retain hundreds of businesses, and strengthen minority business opportunities in Baltimore.

 Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake thanked Mr. Brodie for his service and announced a professional search process for his replacement. Mayor Rawlings-Blake has worked closely with Mr. Brodie since she served on the City Council.

“Jay has been a true champion for Baltimore’s businesses—both large and small—and has left a permanent, positive legacy as a major contributor to our city’s ongoing renaissance. From the shores of our harbor and downtown, to our neighborhood main streets, there are countless examples of contributions that Jay has made to improve Baltimore,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said. “Jay pursued his work with the utmost integrity and worked hard every day to make Baltimore a great place to live and work.”

“Working to attract and retain businesses and residents for Baltimore has been the most rewarding and exciting job of a lifetime,” Mr. Brodie said. “I love Baltimore with all my heart, and it’s been a great honor to serve the people and businesses of this great city under four consecutive administrations at the BDC. I want to thank Mayor Rawlings-Blake, Comptroller Pratt, President Young, all the members of the City Council, and the BDC board members and staff for their strong support over many years, enabling the accomplishment of many important economic development efforts and projects.”

Mr. Brodie will remain President of the BDC until the professional search process is complete. Thereafter, Mr. Brodie will continue serving the City in an advisory role to Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Neighborhood Development, pending final employment contract approval.

Under Mr. Brodie's leadership, the BDC's efforts retained or attracted 58,725 jobs in 993 businesses, resulting in a capital investment of $3.2 billion. Mr. Brodie has made a lasting mark on Baltimore’s neighborhoods and skyline, working with the private sector on dozens of major economic development projects, including the completion of twenty new neighborhood grocery stores and the revitalization of Mondawmin Mall, Clipper Mill, and Belvedere Square.  Mr. Brodie oversaw the creation of the Baltimore Main Streets program and helped expand Baltimore’s Emerging Technology Center program to Canton and Waverly.

Mr. Brodie began his career at the BDC under former Mayor Kurt Schmoke in 1996. Prior to joining the BDC, Mr. Brodie was Senior Vice President of RTKL Associates, Inc., an international architecture and planning firm, and served as Director of the firm’s Washington, DC office. Before joining RTKL, Mr. Brodie had a three-decade career leading major redevelopment in Baltimore and Washington, DC.

From 1984 to 1993, Mr. Brodie served as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC), a federal corporation established by Congress to revitalize a 21-block, 110-acre area between the White House and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Mr. Brodie worked closely with federal leaders, including the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and oversaw the near completion of the nation's most prestigious urban redevelopment project using $150 million of public funds to attract $1.5 billion in private investment.

In 1994, Mr. Brodie received the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from the American Institute of Architects for his contributions to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. revitalization efforts.

From 1969-1984, Mr. Brodie served as deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development, where he helped shape the character and image of the Inner Harbor and surrounding areas, which have received international acclaim.

Mr. Brodie is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a member of the American Planning Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A native and resident of Baltimore, Mr. Brodie earned a master of architecture degree from Rice University (1960) and a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Virginia (1958).

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