The City of Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. During the 19th century, Cumberland was a key road, railroad and canal junction and at one time was the second-largest city in Maryland, after the port city of Baltimore. With the restructuring of heavy industry in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states following World War II, the city lost many jobs. As a result, its population has declined by nearly half, from 39,483 in the 1940 census to fewer than 22,000 today.

 

To the City’s credit, notable increases in employment occurred in the finance/insurance, professional/scientific/technical services, and health care sectors in the last decade. However, significant increases occurred in relatively low-income service sector jobs coupled with a continued decline in manufacturing jobs. Through a Strategic Economic Development Plan (SEDP), the City sought to initiate more comprehensive, proactive economic development efforts, and therefore improve its fiscal, market and economic health.

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RKG was hired to evaluate existing market and economic conditions and interview community stakeholders.  In addition, in collaboration with the project steering committee, RKG identified opportunity sites that could provide a focus for future economic development efforts within the City. Ultimately, these efforts culminated in a Strategic Economic Development Plan that addressed organizational, market and economic challenges in order to establish a foundation for future, more in-depth development processes.

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The plan was adopted by the City, which has implemented a number of the plan's recommendations. Most notably, the Office of Economic Development has established a public-private funded Economic Development Commission.