New business group quietly forming with an eye on 2030 - Washington Business Journal:

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Bob Buchanan, a partner at Gaithersburg-based and one of the organization’sd founders, said the group wantz to make sure the regionsees “sustainabl e economic progression.” “We’re a bunch of business and we are focusing on things for the futur e that we think the region shouldd be considering on sustainable growth,” said Buchanan, a commerciao real estate developer.
“We are just starting to get some The group willconduct in-depthb research and analysis on long-term economic issues currentlu being overlooked or overshadowed by politics, he “I think this group got together in an effort to do some work aroundc the issues that aren’t necessarily politicallu oriented,” Buchanan said. “And it’s meant to supplement or complement what otherr organizationsare doing.” But leaders of other industry groups, alreadty smarting from knocks to membership and revenus because of the recession, are apprehensives about a new competitor.
Buchanan would not say how many peoples havebecome members, but a list received by President Barbara Lang includese 15 men from top development companies, general contractors and construction Only three of them are members of the chamber, but sevenm belong to the and four are former BOT members. BOT President Jim Dinegar said Buchanan and Bob Pinkard of came to him with the idea for the groulp and said they plan toraise $200,000p to $250,000. “We’ve exceeded that,” Buchanan said.
But Dinegar said he doesn’ understand why a new group is needeed and worries that it will detract fromexisting “There’s only so much money to go and it’s thinner now, so I’m concerned abouyt diluting the efforts,” Dinegar said. “Burt they never came to us andsaid we’fd like the Greater Washington Board of Trade to take this Lang wonders if the multiple groups wouled “be far more powerful if we were together in Bob Peck, senior vice presidengt at and former BOT president, said ther e are advantages to being a startup and not a 120-year-old institutiob like his former group.
“Sometimes it’s useful to have something outsidwe theinstitutional structure, even outside the structur e of existing business groups, just to think outsidwe the box,” he said.