Wes Moore

So I spend a lot of time talking with CEOs because that's also part of my job, and it's also my background.

And so when I'm talking, I'm saying, like, what are the things that you're most interested in and you're focused on?

And they'll talk about tax climate.

But in many ways, tax climate for a lot of these states, it's the same when I was doing banking.

And I'm really thankful for the time that I had to do banking.

But you realize that whether it was Goldman or Morgan Stanley or Citi offering something, we're talking bips of difference on the deal.

A company didn't choose to go to Goldman or Morgan Stanley because one was offering a better deal because generally all the deals were in a similar type of bandwidth in terms of the offering.

It's a meaningful difference.

And that's the thing, right?

It's like, and I think part of the thing that we all have to do as chief executives is you have to be able to make an argument.

to business leaders and small business leaders, large corporations say like, what is staying here worth it to you for?

And it's also, what are the things that you care about?

Right?

And so part of it is going to be, absolutely, if you... Taxes, regulation, talent.

Yes.

Quality of life.

Quality of life.

Where do I want my kids to be able to grow up?

Where do I want them going to school?

But we have to also be able to move with a sense of urgency on economic diversification and attractiveness when it comes to businesses.