09-12-2021 Hall of Fame - Flipbook - Page 20
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Baltimore Sun Media | Sunday, September 12, 2021
BALTIMORE SUN’S 2021
BUSINESS AND CIVIC HALL OF FAME HONOREE
DONALD
C. FRY
W
hen Kim Schatzel arrived from Michigan
to take her post as Towson University’s
president in 2016, one of the first people
she met was Donald C. Fry, the president
and chief executive officer of the Greater
Baltimore Committee. The meeting proved
fortuitous. Not only because he served on
the school’s advisory board but because he
was able to offer her advice, educate her about the political terrain and introduce
her to dozens of prominent figures in the Baltimore area. Her status as newcomer
lasted all of about five minutes. With Don on her speed dial, her phone was a lifeline to anybody who was anybody in the Baltimore region — and especially its
corporate and nonprofit community.
“If I’m looking for advice, I call Don,” Dr. Schatzel insists. “He always makes
time and he’s a problem solver and a difference maker. He’s just deeply connected
to the success of the region and this state.”
Lisa Harris Jones had a similar experience. When she was starting up her
own law firm focused on government relations, lobbying and procurement two
decades ago, she talked to Mr. Fry, a former state legislator who was GBC vice
president at the time.
He suggested she get involved
with his organization, signing the
GBC up as one of her first clients;
that, in turn, helped her land some
of her biggest accounts. Today, she’s
one of the highest earning lobbyists
in Annapolis.
“This is just who he is. He has
a good heart,” she says. “He’s the
definition of a good person. And
he loves Baltimore City, he cares
about Baltimore City, he’s shown
that through the years.”
Who could have predicted that
a 1973 graduate of Bel Air High
School would grow up to play
such a vital role in the Baltimore
region’s most prominent business
and civic leadership group? Well,
maybe there were a few signs in
those formative years. Like an early
interest in history, government and
politics. He was floor manager for a
mock national political convention
in seventh grade. And as a freshman at what now is Frostburg State
BACKGROUND
Born: 66
Hometown: Bel Air
Current residence: Bel Air
Education: Bel Air High School; B.S.
in political science, Frostburg State
College; J.D., University of Baltimore
School of Law
Career highlights: Private law
practice in Harford County; Maryland delegate (1991-1997); Maryland
senator (1997-1998); Greater
Baltimore Committee executive vice
president and general counsel; GBC
president and CEO (2002-present)
Civic and charitable activities:
Chair, United Way Capital Campaign;
Henry A. Rosenberg Sr. Distinguished
Citizen Award (Boy Scouts of
America); chair, Hire One Youth;
chair, Journey Home Gala; board
of directors, United Way of Central
Maryland; member, R. Adams
Cowley Shock Trauma Board
Family: Wife, Bonnie Fry; one son
University (where he was student
government president, naturally),
he wrote an essay setting out a
career goal that he would get his
degree, a law degree and then run
for a seat in the Maryland House of
Delegates by the time his graduating class held their 10th reunion.
He was off by three years, having
been elected to represent Harford
County in 1990.
In the General Assembly, he
proved himself a problem solver.
He served on a number of Appropriations subcommittees in the
House before his appointment to
the state Senate where he served on
the Budget and Taxation Committee. He quickly earned subcommittee chairmanships. He was a quick
study, a smart budget negotiator
and, to use the parlance of legislating, more of a workhorse than a
show horse.
He was, however, not to last as
Harford County turned increasingly Republican. The Democrat
lost his Senate bid in 1998. And as
his general law practice was not his
passion as it once was, it was then
that the Greater Baltimore Committee beckoned.
“A lot of people think the GBC is
just another chamberof commerce,”
says Robert Neall, the former state
health secretary and Anne Arundel
County executive who served in
the state legislature with Don. “It’s
much more than that. They work
on transportation, crime and social
issues. That makes Don one of the
vital pieces of social fabric for the
region. He’s really the prototype of
what The Sun’s Business and Civic
Leaders Hall of Fame is about.”
Eventually taking the handoff
from a fellow Don to run the organization — former Baltimore County
Executive Don Hutchinson who
served as CEO until 2002 — Mr. Fry
discovered new ways GBC could
have impact helping the region
nurture economic growth and job
creation.
He brought together local
economic development directors
and business leaders; the resulting
2010 “Gaining a Competitive Edge”
report is still often quoted as a
thoughtful call for such measures as
a fair tax system that does not target
any single industry, government
that sees the business community
as a partner and creating a reliable
“A lot of people think
the GBC is just another
chamber of commerce.
It’s much more than
that. They work on
transportation, crime
and social issues.
That makes Don one of
the vital pieces of social
fabric for the region.”
— Robert Neall, former state
health secretary and Anne Arundel
County executive
source of funding for transportation
infrastructure.
Today, his focus like many others
connected to Baltimore is to reduce
violent crime, and he supports the
crime prevention strategy Baltimore is now pursuing. He was
disappointed by the cancellation
of the Red Line (a “body blow,” he
says). The east-west light rail line
was a project the GBC strongly
advocated.
But he still sees numerous opportunities for growth taking advantage of Baltimore’s assets like its
convenient location; the region’s
highly education workforce; and its
strengths in technology, construction, business services and health
care. Add to that a willingness in the
business community to work hard
to create a more diverse and equitable work environment, and his forecast is positive.
“No one has all the answers, but
by working together, we can find
solutions to problems,” he says.
“Some of those conversations can
be difficult. We won’t always agree.
But you can have disagreements and
still make your point in a constructive manner.”
Disagreeing without being
disagreeable, that’s the Don Fry
mantra that served him well in
Annapolis and for 20 years at the
Greater Baltimore Committee as
its second longest serving president
in history. For the record, it’s going
to take six more years to break the
record. Don’t bet against it.