Celebrating 40 Years Of Business In Prince George’s

Former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening and Prince George's Economic Development Corporation President & CEO David Iannucci. PHOTO: ROBERT ROBERTS

Prince George's Economic Development Corporation's 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration At MGM National Harbor

By Kristina Townsend // PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT ROBERTS

In November, Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation (PGCEDC) celebrated its Inaugural 40th Anniversary GALA event. Hosted by NBC 4 News Anchor Molette Green, the event celebrates the business community of Prince George's County. The event took place November 3 at MGM National Harbor.

The 40th Anniversary allowed business leaders and residents to reconnect with founders, network and celebrate four decades of doing business in Prince George’s. Highlights included PGCEDC's economic development resources, major accomplishments, goals, an informative historical retrospective, and more. Guests included Parris Glendening, Former Maryland Governor (1995 - 2003) and Former Prince George’s County Executive (1982 - 1994), David Iannucci, President & CEO of Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation, and Brooke Lierman, Comptroller of the State of Maryland.

“I believe that the Prince George's County Economic Development Corporation has profoundly shaped the economy of Prince George's County over those four decades,” said Iannucci. “We have become the voice for the business community in articulating their needs, their issues, their concerns, and their priorities. We have implemented, to the extent possible, an economic development strategy that has tremendously changed the position of Prince George's County in the Washington metropolitan area.”

“The Economic Development Corporation strongly believes that our diverse, educated skilled workforce is really one of the great assets of Prince George's County,” he continued. “Prince George's County looks like the America of the future, and the businesses and enlightened corporations need to understand that.”

As a keynote speaker of the event, Glendening was asked to give a historic retrospective about the creation of corporations and how they arrived where they are today.

“Let me tell you from my perspective how we got here,” Glendening said. “After my election in 1982 as the county executive, we decided to move in a different direction for several parts of Prince George's County government… Rudy Pyatt, who was the premier business reporter for the Washington Post, he often referred, he noted that Prince George's County was often referred to as the backwater of metropolitan Washington's economic activities.”

Prince George's Economic Development Corporation President & CEO David Iannucci with recently awarded FSC First President & CEO Dawn Medley at the gala. PHOTO: ROBERT ROBERTS

“That is the way we were referred to, not just in The Washington Post, but the media in general,” Glendening continued. “I was very pleased to see recently another Washington Post now-retired reporter, Eugene Meyer, talk about his outrage that former county executive, Wayne Curry, about his outrage about the repeated deflection of Prince George's county in a way that had subtle racism and economic inequity to it as well. Our administration's focus was to build economic development around broad policy needs and not about parcel by parcel zoning or economic incentives.”