Economic Development Coordinator Charise Liggins emphasized her interest in growing small businesses that tell the story of Greenbelt at a January 7 worksession of the city council. Liggins created a graphic showing the interconnectivity of various factors in creating “A
Thriving Community.” The words business, people, housing, environment, arts and culture, education, civic engagement and infrastructure surrounded the City of Greenbelt logo and pointed toward it. Liggins hopes to create a database to keep track of business information and run reports in order to help “connect [businesses] to all that Greenbelt has to offer.” City Manager Nicole Ard hired Liggins November 29. “We think we have the best person for Greenbelt,” Ard said. “She’s bringing a lot of expertise in different areas.”
Ard said this is a new position and that Liggins will establish the city’s first economic development program. Liggins will be an ombudsman for businesses. She hopes to address business needs. For example, “some mom and pop shops need ways to better market themselves [using] social media and digital space.” Other businesses may need financing or funding, she said. A month into the job, she characterized herself as a sponge whose goal is one of absorbing information. Councilmember Leta Mach urged Liggins to keep cooperatively-owned businesses in mind. Marc Kapastin, general counsel at Quantum Companies, owner of Beltway Plaza, told her to be a problem-solver and the “go-to person for the business community.” He invited her to join the Maryland Government Relations Committee of the International Council of Shopping Centers, which lobbies state and county lawmakers. Councilmember Rodney Roberts objected to Liggins’s potential membership in groups like this. “I think we should be careful about what organizations she joins,” he said. “I want her to be an independent employee of the city working for the city.” Councilmember Silke Pope said her presence at meetings of advocacy groups would be important “not so much that she be a member,” but to “get her foot in the door” and build relationships with the business community. Mach agreed with Pope. “There’s a vast difference between being an information gatherer versus an ignorant follower,” she said. Liggins was a contractor for the University of Maryland Extension Service before coming to Greenbelt. She worked in marketing, small business education and economic development in New
York City.
