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County COVID-19 panel discussion stresses the need to continuously fund nonprofit sector
The Avenue News, 09/03/2020
On August 25, Baltimore County held their sixth COVID-19 panel session, ‘The Evolving Role of Non-Profits and the Federal Government in the COVID-19 Response.’ The webinar focused on how local non-profits and community organizations are stepping up to support the county in the absence of guidance from the federal level. RESI Chief Economist Daraius Irani spoke of the economic difficulties experienced by MD and the U.S. as a whole. Irani began with some big figures, stating that in the U.S., GDP declined by 32% last quarter and that 20 million individuals were unemployed. He went on to forecast that in the next three years, MD will lose around 200,000 jobs and around $25 billion in GDP. To lessen the potential economic impact, Irani posed that it is vital for federal spending to be directed towards unemployed individuals and state and local government funding.
Ghost Town
Baltimore Business Journal, 09/04/2020
The pandemic has halted the typical buzz in Baltimore City. As storefronts empty out and “For Rent” signs appear, the state of city life has never been so unsure. The president of the Downtown Partnership Baltimore, Shelonda Stokes, referred to the desolate city streets as “both a curse and a blank canvas.” RESI Chief Economist Daraius Irani predicted that Baltimore, along with other U.S. cities, will require Federal aid to be able to get back on their feet. Furthermore, Irani stated, now that “people have gotten a taste of work at home” companies are realizing they “don’t have to pay rent. It’s a big savings. So that is probably going to be a big unknown.” The freshly emptied office spaces may never be needed in the same capacity again, leaving room for many possibilities.
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