Larry Hogan: I'm doing a lot of listening, not talking

Governor-elect Larry Hogan watched a 3D printer work, talked to entrepreneurs and took a few questions in a stop at the Maryland Technology Development Corp.'s annual Entrepreneur Expo Wednesday — but he still didn't talk policy.

Hogan reiterated his stance that he wants to put together a transition team and group of advisers before coming out with any specific proposals. So political and business junkies will have to hang on until January to see how his campaign themes of lower taxes and streamlined government translate to Annapolis.

"I'm doing a lot of listening," said Hogan, who will become the state's third Republican governor since the 1960s. "I'm not doing a lot of talking, because we really want to put together the smartest people we can find from the state."

Hogan visited the expo at a Linthicum Heights hotel just a few hours after announcing new members of his growing transition team. DLA Piper partner Carville Collins will be general counsel, while Baltimore native and former lawmaker Robert Neall will head the budget and tax team.

Collins was on former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s transition team in 2002. Neall is a former lawmaker and Anne Arundel County Executive. He's been both a Democrat and a Republican and is considered shrewd on fiscal issues.

The Hogan camp is looking to recruit the best talent regardless of party affiliation, the future governor said. That included Neall.

"I've known him for decades, and he's regarded by people on both sides of the aisle as the smartest fiscal mind in the state," Hogan said. "He knows budget and tax issues inside and out."

The stop at a TEDCO event comes as Hogan continues to emphasize economic issues. He wanted to talk to entrepreneurs and other business leaders, he said.