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How This Site Works
Learn how the Compass aggregates public data and AI insights to help you locate business opportunities, find funding, and connect with support networks.
Introduction
The Maryland Community Business Compass (the “Compass”) is a neighborhood development platform designed to bridge the gap between community needs and business opportunities across the state. By analyzing data on local access to essential services, such as fresh food and childcare, the Compass identifies neighborhoods where investment can have the greatest impact.
The platform equips entrepreneurs, government agencies, and developers with unique insights to estimate a neighborhood's economic potential for new businesses. Intended as a starting point for your research, this site allows users to locate business opportunities, search for government incentives, and connect with support networks to help build sustainable communities.
No endorsement of any listed businesses/experts
The State of Maryland (the “State”) does not own or endorse any of the third-party businesses or experts listed on this site. Where we have been able to locate contact information on the public web pages of Maryland economic development and business support organizations, this information has been aggregated into the “Connect with Experts” section of the Compass.
Main features of the “Locate the Opportunity” section
The Compass relies on OpenStreetMap for locations of known food retail locations. As OpenStreetMap is crowd-sourced, it may contain inaccurate information. Food retail locations are categorized into “Convenience”, “Specialty foods”, or “Fresh produce” segments with the assistance of generative AI, and may contain mistakes.
A compilation of State public data is used to determine locations of licensed child care providers and display their Maryland EXCELS quality rating. To read more about the Maryland EXCELS program, visit https://marylandexcels.org/.
AI-Powered Summaries
The AI-powered summaries found in the “Locate the Opportunity” section provide easier, summarized access to the contents of community planning documents. “Community Voice” quotes are extracted from publicly available county or municipal comprehensive plans with the assistance of generative AI and offer qualitative information to supplement quantitative data. Users should read these summaries in the context of the original source on which they are based.
- Sustainable Community applications are sourced from Maryland DHCD.
- Comprehensive Plans are sourced from Maryland Department of Planning.
- Baltimore City Community Plans are sourced from the Baltimore City Planning Department.
The State of Maryland provides this feature for convenience and does not endorse or assume responsibility for the content of the summaries.
Main features of “Find Government Funding” section
Grant, loan, and tax-credit information is updated on a periodic basis by the granting entity, and is provided solely as a general resource. Information is originally sourced from the Maryland Department of Planning InfoPortal, and supplemented with information from relevant Maryland State agency websites and county development entities with the assistance of generative AI.
Third-party requirements for grants change regularly. This means, for example, that new grants may become available that are not listed and others may become unavailable. Similarly, deadlines for grant applications and requirements for eligibility may change.
Main features of “Connect with Experts” section
The "Connect with Experts" page contains publicly available contact information provided by individuals and organizations that support entrepreneurs and small businesses. As this information is collected from publicly available third-party websites, it may contain inaccurate information. Users are encouraged to independently verify credentials and qualifications before engaging with providers.
AI Risk Classification & Safety Measures
In accordance with the State of Maryland’s Responsible AI Policy, the Compass is classified as a Limited Risk AI system. This determination was made because the platform utilizes AI solely to improve information accessibility and customer service by summarizing public data, without making autonomous decisions that affect the legal rights, safety, or eligibility of constituents. The data processed by these features is classified as Level 1 (Public) data, consisting of publicly available planning documents and open-source mapping information.
To ensure the accuracy and safety of the information provided, the State has implemented a risk mitigation strategy that combines automated safeguards with human oversight. Because the AI outputs on this site are pre-generated rather than created in real-time, we are able to apply rigorous quality control prior to publication. This includes:
- Human Review: A manual review of AI-generated summaries and extracts where data volume permits, ensuring alignment with original source documents.
- Randomized Audits: For larger datasets where complete manual review is not feasible, we conduct frequent, random quality-control audits to identify and correct potential inaccuracies or hallucinations.
- Transparency & User Verification: We provide direct links to original source documents and clear disclaimers, empowering users to verify AI insights independently.
Corrections and Removal Requests
The Compass aggregates data from various public and third-party sources, including OpenStreetMap for food retail locations, and State agency records for child care providers. We strive to ensure this information is current and accurate.
If you identify an error regarding any listing on this site, whether it is a business, service provider, funding opportunity, or subject matter expert, or if you would like to request that your information be updated or removed, please email compass@maryland.gov.