Mickey Matthews hears it from the executive-level talent he tries to recruit for local companies. He hears it from the media. He even hears it from comedian Chris Rock.
“I?m watching this show, and Chris Rock is telling a story about the war in Iraq and how it?s not that dangerous because ?you couldn?t take over Baltimore in two weeks,? ” said Matthews, Baltimore-based North American vice president of executive search firm Stanton Chase International. “Clearly, there?s a poor perception from a safety, security, education and a business perspective. People dwell on the bad news.”
Local firms that recruit for executive-level positions said that poor perception is covering up the Baltimore metro area?s positive trends and attributes, and making it harder for them to convince top-flight talent to come to Charm City.
“The impression from outside Baltimore, is very, I don?t want to say negative, but inaccurate,” said Julie Mercer of Columbia Consulting Group, based in Columbia. “There?s this image that Baltimore is still some tired old industrial town. It really takes serious selling skills on our part, and for [a company?s] internal recruiters, to get them to come here. But once they?re here, they won?t leave.”
But the Baltimore-Washington area isn?t a tough sell for top managers in all sectors, said Tim McNamara, managing director of Boyden Global Executive Search?s Baltimore office.
Nonprofits and other government-related businesses may be attracted, but Baltimore offers fewer options for financial professionals than the nation?s biggest cities.
“If you go to JP Morgan in New York and things don?t work out, you have dozens of other options, you can literally walk right around the block. Here ?you may have to leave Dodge.”
A candidate?s desire to stay near the nation?s economic centers, or to not uproot his or her family, are often tougher challenges for recruiters than selling Baltimore, said Beth Norton, vice president of corporate recruiting for T. Rowe Price.
“It?s not so much about the specifics of Baltimore, it?s that they?re tied to New York because of Wall Street,” Norton said. “That?s who we recruit. It?s more that they?re tied to the areas that they live in, than they wouldn’t consider T. Rowe Price.”
Norton said her company instead often hears complaints about Baltimore from the younger entry- and mid-level set, who she said are more concerned with how cool a city is and more likely to view facts they find narrowly.
Once recruiters have their foot in the door, a few tours of the city and some accurate information usually let the city sell itself.
“Bringing in a guy from Wall Street? Tough as nails,” Matthews said. “But you overcome it. It?s almost like going to a movie; if their expectations are so low, you can blow them out of the water. We get them here, and they love it.”
