There is so much more to College Park than the University of Maryland.
Of course, the two are inexorably intertwined, but the city of College Park has evolved from simply a home to the state’s leading public institution of higher learning into a center of high-tech industry, a collection of distinct neighborhoods, and a diversity of business interests. According to Placer.ai. there are roughly 6,700 workers any given workday in the university’s Discovery District alone.
On Nov. 2, the Washington Business Journal gathered business, political and university leaders at The Hotel at The University of Maryland for our final On the Road event of 2023, during which we tackled many of the hot button issues facing College Park, from the town-gown relationship to the Discovery District and the ongoing saga of the now-$9.4 billion Purple Line. The event, held in the hotel’s Top of 7’s penthouse space with views for miles, kicked off with a fireside chat between Washington Business Journal Publisher Alex Orfinger and University of Maryland President Darryll Pines, which led into a panel discussion.
What follows are excerpts from that panel discussion, edited for space and clarity. The panel was moderated by Managing Editor Michael Neibauer.
