While “Team Maryland” was busy backslapping themselves about the 200 new jobs they allegedly “created” at the GM plant in White Marsh, some of us were busy doing the math.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal and “Team Maryland,” GM was enticed to White Marsh with $115.5 million in federal, state, and county grants i.e., taxpayer subsidies. These aren’t tax credits or tax breaks mind you, rather money already taken from taxpayers.

A quick calculation reveals that taxpayers are subsidizing GM $577,500 per job. Jobs that will not come online until 2013!

Furthermore, GM reported only a 3% increase in retail sales of it’s core brands over it’s dismal 2009 performance. Meaning that the demand for the vehicles, for which the White Marsh plant supplies engines, may not support the jobs for which taxpayers are subsidizing.

Spending taxpayer money on corporate welfare, to paraphrase Marta Mossburg, that’s the kind of growth only government could love.

Then again, we already know Maryland Democrats are all about corporate welfare, especially when it benefits them.

Mark Newgent is a Contributing Editor at Red Maryland

Media Contact:
Amy Larimore
Profiles, Inc.
410-243-3790
alarimore@profilespr.com

NEWLY PUBLISHED BUSINESS GUIDE
- AUTHORED BY BALTIMORE PROFESSIONAL -
HELPS BUSINESSES MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

(Baltimore, MD) – Business owners contemplating expansion, entrepreneurs crafting business plans, CEOs reviewing legal agreements, executives looking to strengthen their management skills, and corporate leaders trying to improve their bottom lines have a new tool at their fingertips with the recent release of The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide, a resource that offers pragmatic advice, tips and guidance on founding and managing a business.

Eliot Wagonheim, Baltimore-based attorney and author of The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide, has counseled companies and individuals for the past two decades on legal matters involving banking, general business operations, construction, litigation, employment matters, mergers and acquisitions and real estate.   He has appeared on local television programs, served as a keynote speaker at corporate events, written numerous articles published in newspapers such as The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Business Journal and has authored several financial and business publications including The Art of Getting Paid (1996), Get Your Money: How to Protect Your Business Without Losing Your Customers (2000), and The DebtCollect® Recovery System (2004) and the Pocket Guide series (2007-2010).

“In today’s business climate, where the margin of error is more narrow and unforgiving than ever, decision-makers in business need access to resources that help them make smart, knowledge-based decisions,” said Wagonheim.  “The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is a practical, no-nonsense tool that can help a fledgling company become a thriving one.”

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide guides readers through topics critical to growing a business such as contract language and risk evaluation, banking and credit lines, employment matters, business models, succession planning, smart strategies on marketing and communication, hiring/firing and management.

New business owners will find Wagonheim’s counsel on taking on a partner or investor helpful in his chapter on “Growing a Business” where he stresses that no business owner should consider a partner without first carefully developing a relationship with that person on a non-equity basis.  There are a number of options or “equity alternatives,” which Wagonheim outlines, that can be offered in lieu of transferring an actual stake in the company.  Additionally, terms and conditions of a partnership should be carefully laid out in writing to include a detailed description of responsibilities, governance, termination, exit strategy and post-separation obligations.

The information found in the chapter on employees will help managers looking to improve their turnover rate by examining the hiring process among other topics. An important issue discussed by Wagonheim is discrimination.  One particular point for all employers is the avoidance of questions which can seem harmless, but which can unintentionally land a company in hot water on issues concerning race, gender, age and religious discrimination.

Seasoned professionals will find Wagonheim’s advice on succession planning valuable as the timing, steps and decisions can be detailed and need to be careful considered.  One strong point Wagonheim makes is that an ideal succession plan is put into motion five years out and involves a multitude of considerations including the choice of successor, recruitment timeline, training, compensation and benefits for the successor and more.

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is available for no charge at www.wagonheim.com or by calling 410-584-1110.

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is the third in a series by Wagonheim.  His other publications – The Contractor’s Pocket Guide and The Banker’s Pocket Guide were released over the past several years.

(Continue reading…)

DCRTV

Michael Skarzynski, the chief executive of radio ratings company Arbitron, told a congressional panel last month that he had attended a training session in November, a false statement that led to his resignation from the Columbia MD-based company on Monday. Skarzynski told the House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform on 12/2 that he had personally checked out his company’s controversial new Portable People Meter electronic listener-survey system by attending a training meeting for survey participants in Prince George’s County two weeks earlier. In fact, Skarzynski told people at the company that he had not been at the meeting. In a letter to the House committee on Monday, Arbitron Executive Vice President Alton Adams said Skarzynski acknowledged “a misstatement” and had resigned as a result. The Washington Post has more. Update: On Wednesday, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey is again calling for a “thorough investigation into the PPM methodology.” Radio Online has more…..

Media Contacts:

Ashley Pirro

(410) 902-5054

apirro@mghus.com

Kathleen Shaffer

(410) 902-5053

kshaffer@mghus.com

Nine Maryland Startups Receive Nearly
$675,000 from TEDCO

Blue Torch Medical Technologies, Celek Pharmaceuticals, Chesapeake BioDiscovery Development 1, Columbia Biosystems, CombiMab, FlexEl, Solar Fruits Biofuels, Therataxis, and ZGI Receive Funding to Transfer Technologies from Laboratories to Marketplace

COLUMBIA, Md. (Jan. 13, 2010) – The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that nine Maryland technology companies have received $674,977 total in funding. Blue Torch Medical Technologies, Inc.; Celek Pharmaceuticals, LLC; Chesapeake BioDiscovery Development 1, LLC; Columbia Biosystems, Inc.; CombiMab, Inc.; FlexEl, LLC; Solar Fruits Biofuels, LLC; Therataxis, LLC; and ZGI, Inc., each received approximately $75,000 from TEDCO’s Maryland Technology Transfer and Commercialization Fund (MTTCF). This program is designed to foster greater collaboration between businesses and Maryland universities and federal laboratories in order to bring technology into the marketplace.

“Early stage technology funding is crucial in this economic climate and the future of Maryland’s marketplace relies heavily on the advancement of sustainable innovations,” said Governor O’Malley. “TEDCO’s Maryland Technology Transfer and Commercialization Fund, and the companies that receive funding from the program, are essential in the development of our state’s technology economy.”

“TEDCO is pleased to provide these promising nine companies with funding to facilitate in the development and advancement of their technologies,” said John Wasilisin, acting president and executive director of TEDCO. “With a new year comes new opportunity and Maryland’s economy can benefit greatly from the success of these commercialization strategies. We look forward to following the progress of these awardees and fostering the creation and growth of future technologies in 2010.”

To date, 132 companies have received funding from MTTCF and completed their projects. With an investment of $7.9M these companies have gone on to receive downstream funding from angel and venture investors, federal awards and other resources exceeding $298 million. This is a leverage of the state’s investment through TEDCO of $37.76 to $1.

* Blue Torch Medical Technologies, Inc., located in Rockville, Md., is working with JHU to further develop a Computer-Integrated Diagnostics and Prognostics software system to improve imaging guidance during robotic-assisted surgeries.

* Celek Pharmaceuticals, LLC, located in Gaithersburg, Md., is working with University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) to develop targeted drug candidates with unique mechanisms of action to treat proliferate disorders, including cancer and inflammatory diseases.

* Chesapeake BioDiscovery Development 1, LLC, located in Baltimore, is working with UMB to develop a chronically administered oral anti-cancer agent that exploits interactions between retinoic acid signaling an aromatase inhibition.

* Columbia Biosystems, Inc., located in Baltimore, is working with University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) to develop Molecular Imprinted Polymer (MIPs) for the rapid detection of nosocomial pathogens. This technology may prevent a large number of hospital-acquired infections associated with nosocomial pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

* CombiMab, Inc., located in Chevy Chase, Md., is working with UMB to develop a novel approach to monoclonal antibody therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune indications. These therapeutics are expected to have a higher efficiency and response rate compared to the current generation of antibodies.

* FlexEl, LLC, located in College Park, Md., is working with UMCP to commercialize a thin-film voltage source comprised of both batteries and “super-capacitors,” which offer several breakthrough benefits including; significantly higher charge storage capacity, environmental friendliness, flexible form factor, and remote recharging capability.

* Solar Fruits Biofuels, LLC, located in Salisbury, Md., is working with Salisbury University to develop and commercialize sweet sorghum, a promising crop for producing advanced biofuels. The crop contains a high concentration of sugar that can be converted into fuel ethanol and a significant amount of grain that can be used as animal feed.

* Therataxis, LLC, located in Baltimore, is working with JHU to develop a technology that models drug distribution within the brain to improve drug intervention for primary brain cancers and central nervous system lymphomas.

* ZGI, Inc., located in Stevensville, Md., is working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to further develop several projects, including the on-orbit, high-volume manufacture of undifferentiated cells of plants and animals, the space-based production of embryonic stem cells, the on-orbit protocols, processes and procedures for adapting plants and animals to hostile environments by using the benefits of gene expression in weightlessness, and the production of new varieties and species of plants and animals for extreme environments.

Applications for funding programs are accepted continually and reviewed monthly by the TEDCO funding review team, which includes representatives from TEDCO, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and affiliated venture capital groups. Applicants must submit a proposal, a commercialization plan for the technology to be developed, a scope of work and a budget.

Funding Briefings: TEDCO hosts briefings to teach companies how to use TEDCO’s funding programs to help develop, transfer and commercialize technology from Maryland universities and federal laboratories to the Maryland marketplace. A session will be held at TEDCO’s office in Columbia from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, February 12. The briefing is free, however registration is required. To register, send an email to info@marylandtedco.org and put “Funding Briefing Registration” in the subject line.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), an independent entity, was established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1998 to facilitate the creation of businesses and foster their growth in all regions of the State. TEDCO’s role is to be Maryland’s leading source of funding for seed capital and entrepreneurial business assistance for the development, transfer and commercialization of technology. TEDCO connects emerging technology companies with federal laboratories, research universities, business incubators and specialized technical assistance. For the fifth consecutive year, TEDCO was recognized as the most active seed/early-stage investor in the nation in the August 2008 issue of Entrepreneur magazine and received the national Excellence in Technology-Based Economic Development award from the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) for the Maryland Technology Transfer and Commercialization Fund (MTTCF) program in October 2008. For more information on TEDCO and its programs and resources, visit www.MarylandTEDCO.org.

# # #

By Erich Wagner
Erich@MarylandReporter.com

The Maryland Aviation Administration, which runs BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, left over $2 million in federal funds on the table and spent nearly $8 million in incentive payments to British Airways without ensuring that the payments were properly calculated, according to state auditors.

The auditors’ report, released Friday, highlighted several problems with the way the aviation administration does business and found that employees bought tickets for international flights at unnecessarily high prices.

The aviation agency was denied $2.4 million in federal money because it had not fulfilled the requirements for the Federal Aviation Administration’s noise compatibility program, the report said. The agency sent FAA a plan to comply with the rules, but it still has not been reimbursed for any of the money, some of it spent more than four years ago.

The auditors also questioned the administration’s specifications for purchasing an ambulance, which they said favored one vendor. The specifications mirrored almost identically the language of the manufacturer’s descriptions of the emergency vehicle, leading to only one bid response to the agency’s solicitation.

“On the surface these seem pretty egregious; we can’t let these things happen,” said Sen. James “Ed” DeGrange, D-Anne Arundel, chair of the public safety, transportation and environment budget subcommittee, which reviews the Maryland Aviation Administration’s funding. He had not yet seen the report but said the administration would have to explain itself in budget hearings.

“We certainly will be raising these issues,” DeGrange said.

The report recommended that the administration establish procedures to ensure the propriety of the incentive payments they make to British Airways and that it buy airline tickets in a more cost-effective way. The auditors also asked for an investigation into the purchase of the ambulance, in conjunction with the attorney general’s office.

In its response to the audit, the Maryland Aviation Administration said that it is waiting for FAA approval of their noise compatibility plan, and will be working with the FAA to secure reimbursement as the money becomes available. Additionally, the administration said it had already established adequate measures to ensure the propriety of payments.

Jonathan Dean, a spokesman for the Maryland Aviation Administration, said that the attorney general’s office is already reviewing the purchase of the ambulance in question, and that the administration “has established additional procedures to ensure that procurement specifications are drafted independently.”

Reused from MarylandReporter.com with permission.