Case Study: City of Baltimore drives Inner Harbor reinvestment with IMPLAN economic impact analysis

Harboring Tourism Reinvesting in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

The City of Baltimore, through the Waterfront Partnership, faced the challenge of securing funding and public support for the massive reinvestment needed to revitalize its aging Inner Harbor. To make the case for this project, they needed to objectively demonstrate the harbor’s significant economic value to the city and state. They commissioned a consulting firm, which utilized data and input-output modeling software from the vendor IMPLAN to perform an economic impact analysis.

Using IMPLAN's software, the analysis quantified the immense economic impact of the Inner Harbor, revealing it generated $2.3 billion in economic activity, supported 21,000 jobs, and produced $102 million in tax revenue annually. These powerful, IMPLAN-backed findings were instrumental in building the necessary consensus and excitement for the "Inner Harbor 2.0" revitalization plan, which immediately gained substantial media attention and strong public endorsements from city leaders and stakeholders.

City of Baltimore

Donald C. Fry

Chief Executive Officer