Ulman Announces Formation of Howard’s Green Business Council
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced last week that he will work with the Howard County Economic Development Authority and the County’s Office of Environmental Sustainability to establish the region’s first Green Business Council.

“We know that ‘green-collar jobs’ are growing nationwide, and one U.S. study predicts that the 8.5 million current jobs in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries could grow to as many as 40 million by 2030,” said Ulman. “We want to make sure Howard County is in the forefront of that effort and a location where businesses in emerging green technologies can thrive.”

According to Dick Story, chief executive officer of Howard County’s Economic Development Authority, “Our primary goal is to provide a network for all the businesses in Howard County that are involved in the world of green technology. Through this network, we will be able to make business-to-business connections and provide the community with a database of environmental companies.”

The inaugural members of the council are: Brandon Bloodworth, Clean Energy Fuels; Ken Boras, BCS Inc.; Randy Clayton, Autani Corporation; Richard Deutschmann, Chesapeake Solar; Gary Groll, Architectural Support Group; Del Karfonta, Green Connected; Julie & Mike Keough, E-structors; David Pratt, Lorax Partnerships; and Rich Thometz, Efficient Home LLC.

Those interested in applying to serve on the council should submit their résumé to Joshua Feldmark, director of the Office of Environmental Sustainability, George Howard Building, 3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043, no later than Friday, Aug. 1. The Council expects to begin meeting in September.

General Dynamics Unit to Expand Fort Meade’s IT Infrastructure
Fairfax, Va.-based General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a delivery order by the U.S. Army to expand information technology (IT) infrastructure and network capabilities at Fort Meade to support the Maryland base’s growth.

The delivery order has a total potential value of $16.5 million over two years if all options are exercised. The order at Fort Meade is part of the U.S. Army Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems’ Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) program to expand bandwidth and network capabilities to address evolving Army communications requirements. Under the IMOD contract, General Dynamics will deploy a high-speed broadband network backbone to support enhanced base operations.

When the DISA headquarters relocation to Fort Meade is complete in 2011, the U.S. Army estimates that the base population will increase by approximately 4,300 people.

Exeter Buys 600,000-Square-Foot Distribution Facility in Jessup
CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) recently arranged the sale of one of the largest industrial properties in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor: the 612,900-square-foot building located at 7605 Dorsey Run Road in Jessup. The purchase price was $40 million.

CBRE has been selected as exclusive leasing agent on the property by the new owner, Pennsylvania-based Exeter Property Group. The seller was Washington, D.C.-based Baltimore Land Holdings.

“With this acquisition, Exeter is able to serve customers with needs from 40,000 to 400,000 square feet in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor,” said Scott Dougherty, mid-Atlantic region investment officer at Exeter Property Group, noting that, since commencing operations in Maryland in May 2007, Exeter has grown its portfolio to 2 million square feet.

Built in 2006, the property is a tilt-up, 32-foot clear cross-docked industrial distribution facility. It is 30% leased, with Iron Mountain occupying 178,000 square feet.

NGC Signs Lease Agreement with Opus East
Opus East LLC has announced that Northrop Grumman Corp. has signed a 10-year, full-building lease at West*Quest Technology Park in Linthicum. Construction on the five-story, 160,000-square-foot Class A office building is expected to commence during the third quarter of this year.

Opus acquired its 9.5-acre property on West Nursery Road in June 2007 and immediately began design and entitlement efforts for a speculative office project. The building will be designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certification.

“This new office building will enable us to consolidate a variety of existing business activities, which are currently housed in several nearby leased and company-owned facilities, into our Electronic Systems sector headquarters campus, resulting in improved operational efficiencies and effectiveness,” said John Chino, sector deputy and vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. When completed in the third quarter of 2009, the majority of the new office building will be occupied by several hundred current employees of Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Concepts and Technology Division, who are primarily involved in research and development work.

Cummins-Wagner to Acquire SECO
Annapolis Junction-based Cummins-Wagner Co., a distributor of industrial process equipment and HVAC equipment in the mid-Atlantic region, has reached an agreement to acquire the operating assets of Siewert Equipment Co. (SECO).

SECO, of Rochester, N.Y., employs 47 people and operates branch offices in New York State and Florida. The company distributes/manufactures fluid process equipment and provides assembly, aftermarket service and engineered solutions to the market.

The combination of Cummins-Wagner and SECO creates a company with greater scale and resources to meet the growing needs of its customers and vendors. The acquisition is expected to close by October.

“Cummins-Wagner’s values, people, strength in the fluid process equipment market and its depth of resources make it absolutely the right company to leverage our market expertise and resources,” said Mark Siewert, president and owner of SECO.

Ulman Offers County Employees Alternative Work Schedule Plan
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has announced that, effective immediately, he is reigniting the county’s alternative work schedule policy and encouraging supervisors to review alternative work options with their employees. Recognizing that escalating energy costs are having a huge impact on employees’ wallets and their personal lives, Ulman instructed county officials to broaden the scope of this program.

“Many county employees are being hammered by soaring fuel costs, and it’s imperative that we look for solutions to help them, and in this case help the environment as well,” said Ulman. “We have instructed supervisors to look for ways to help employees who want this kind of flexibility; but I have also stressed this program cannot reduce services to county residents — that is job No. 1.”

The following is an overview of the two most common compressed work schedules Howard County is offering:
4/40 – Work four 10-hour days each week
9/80 – Work eight nine-hour days plus one eight-hour day (frees up one day bi-weekly)

A separate option being offered is flex time. County employees that meet the criteria and express an interest can adjust their start and ending work times so they may drive outside heavy commuting periods, reducing both stress and pollution levels.

Mikulski Working to Lower Rising Fuel Costs
Sen. Barbara Mikulski has joined her Senate colleagues to fight for legislation to better regulate the multi-billion-dollar oil futures speculation market.

The Prevent Unfair Manipulations of Prices (PUMP) Act of 2008 comprehensively addresses loopholes that are allowing energy futures traders to evade federal oversight and artificially elevate oil prices and the prices Americans face at the pump. Many industry experts agree that passing the PUMP Act would limit excessive speculation in the commodity market, bringing oil prices to as low as $60 a barrel.

There are currently two types of oil futures speculation: market trading, which takes place through the New York Mercantile Exchange and is overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and “over-the-counter” trades. Most oil speculation occurs over-the-counter, which happens off the market and is not regulated by CFTC. The PUMP Act would increase oversight of the energy markets by requiring over-the-counter speculators to report to CFTC, just as on-market traders do.

Fortress International Group Secures Contracts Totaling More Than $12 Million
Columbia-based Fortress International Group, a company providing comprehensive services for the planning, design, development and maintenance of mission critical facilities and information infrastructure, has announced two new contracts worth more than $12 million.

Fortress has been awarded a $10 million contract from an existing customer, DBT Data Corp. (formerly Criticon), regarding tenant space for a DBT Data lessee. The new contract calls for the design and construction of a secure area of computer rack-ready space for Carpathia Hosting, the lessee, and will meet Uptime Institute’s definition of Tier III capabilities. The project will take place in Harrisonburg, Va.

The company also has been awarded a $2.2 million design/build contract for the second phase of an existing project with a major university located in New York. It calls for the upgrade of a separate facility to data center-ready space and Fortress will provide the design and installation services for new mechanical and electrical infrastructure systems.

Both projects are slated to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2009.

Russell Microcap Index to Include Celsion
Columbia-based Celsion Corp. joined the Russell Microcap Index when Russell Investments reconstituted its family of U.S. indexes recently, according to a list of additions posted on www.russell.com.

Membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

Michael Tardugno, president and CEO of Celsion, said, “Celsion’s inclusion in this leading benchmark index will increase our visibility within the investment community as we continue to execute and hit key milestones on our strategic business plan.”

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $4.4 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them.

Medisolv Acquires Clinisaver, McCartney Consultants
Columbia-based Medisolv, which serves the business intelligence and clinical decision support solutions market for hospitals and health care systems, has expanded its global health care business with the acquisition of Clinsaver Software Inc. and its subsidiary, McCartney Consultants, of Toronto.

The transaction will add experienced professionals to the company’s staff and brings well-known health care customers in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia to Medisolv’s existing client base.

“While Medisolv already offers Canadian versions of its business intelligence products, this transaction leverages a deeper base of expertise in the inner workings of the Canadian health system and similar systems organized as single payer models. The Canadian Health Authorities and hospitals represent a large and growing opportunity for Medisolv,” said Dr. Zahid Butt, Medisolv’s CEO.

Record 1.9 Million Passengers Fly BWI Marshall in May
A record 1,913,777 commercial passengers flew through BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in May. That figure, an all-time May record for passenger traffic at BWI, was an increase of 1.8% from the figure posted in May 2007.

Southwest Airlines led the way in May with 1,008,912 passengers for the month, an increase of 1.5% from May 2007. AirTran Airways reported the largest percentage increase in passengers, growing 27.5% from the same month last year to a total of 270,948. During the last 12 months, the number of passengers using BWI has increased 3.8% to 21.4 million, marking the busiest 12-month period in the airport’s history.

DEQ Announces Proposed Settlement With Grace for Montana Asbestos Site
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has proposed a settlement agreement with W.R. Grace, headquartered in Columbia, that would provide approximately $5 million to the state agency for expenses such as operation and maintenance costs that are part of the cleanup of the Libby Asbestos Site in Libby, Mont.

The DEQ is now requesting public comment on the proposed settlement. The settlement is separate from the recent settlement of claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Libby site. If, after considering comments received, the DEQ and the court overseeing the Grace bankruptcy both approve the settlement, the DEQ will receive an allowed, unsecured claim in the Grace bankruptcy for $5,167,000, over and above the $250 million to be paid under the EPA settlement.

Capitol College, PGCC Ink Agreement
Capitol College and Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) have signed an agreement for the articulation of PGCC’s Associates in Applied Science in Information Security (AASIS) degree to the Bachelor of Science in Information Assurance degree at Capitol.

Under the new agreement, students will be able to transfer class credits earned for the AASIS degree toward a higher degree in information assurance at Capitol. Other goals of the agreement are to establish a mutual understanding and a clear set of expectations for students, each institution and the respective degree programs.

Columbia Web Sports Company Adds Two Sites
Columbia-based DigitalSports Inc. has purchased two web sites based in Northern Va., LoudounPrepSports.com and LoudounYouthSports.com. Owner/Editor Dan Sousa will remain in charge of the editorial for both sites, which he founded in fall 2005. The company’s quest is to cover most of the nearly 20 high school athletic conferences between Baltimore and Richmond, Va.

“We have been in contact with DigitalSports about a merger since 2006, but the timing wasn’t right until now,” said Sousa. “It was important that I merge with a company that shared my vision of how high school and youth sports should be covered. The technology and knowledge base that DigitalSports offers, along with the support they can offer LPS, makes this a perfect fit.”

Columbia-Based Eurotech Completes Merger
Eurotech Inc., a provider of application-ready embedded computer systems for low power and high performance applications, has announced the completion of the merger of Applied Data Systems and Arcom.

Eurotech also presents the executive management team for the company, drawing top talent from multiple areas of the organization to lead the company to new growth opportunities. The announcement is the culmination of succession planning to ensure continuity of Eurotech Inc.’s strategy and day-to-day operations and to move the company to a new level of success.

Burger King Selects Micros for All Company-Owned U.S. Restaurants
Columbia-based Micros Systems, a provider of information technology solutions to the hospitality and retail industries, has announced that Burger King Corp. has selected the Micros RES 4.0 Point-of-Sale (POS) solution for all of its approximately 800 company-owned restaurants in the United States.

The deployment is scheduled to begin in Atlanta this summer of 2008 with 50 locations. The remaining company-owned restaurants will be completed over the next two years. In addition to POS, Burger King will procure Micros implementation services for training, installation and go-live support.

CTC Customer Service Expands to Saturdays
The Corridor Transportation Corporation (CTC), manager of Connect-A-Ride and Howard Transit regional bus service, recently expanded live-answer Customer Service to include Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Previously, riders only were able to speak with customer service representatives Monday–Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 Connect-A-Ride operates 11 routes throughout the city of Laurel, Maryland City, College Park, Odenton and Fort Meade. Howard Transit, with nine routes, covers Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Jessup and Clarkesville. Howard Transit Silver route also travels into Anne Arundel County to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and Arundel Mills.

Routes, schedules and fare information can be viewed at www.corridortransit.com. Customer Service can be reached at 1-800-270-9553.

Howard County Department of Finance Apologizes for Error
The Howard County Department of Finance recently discovered a problem with the return envelopes and coupons issued in 76,338 tax bills to owner-occupied residential properties: When the pre-printed coupon and payment are inserted in the return envelope, the return address is located in the wrong position and does not show through the envelope window.

“In the past, our tax bills have always been printed internally. This year we decided to switch to an outside printing company because it would save the county $15,000 annually,” said Finance Director Sharon Greisz. “Unfortunately, we did not double check the positioning of the return address on the coupon. We apologize to anyone we have inconvenienced.”

Of the 76,338 tax bills that went out with the improperly printed coupons, approximately 54,000 are paid by mortgage companies on behalf of the homeowner. The remaining 22,000 property owners pay their taxes in person or by mail. The department is working with the Office on Aging to get the word out to seniors, since a higher percentage of seniors pay their taxes by mail or in person.

Residents are encouraged to call 410-313-2062 with any questions about their tax bills, but are reminded that the first week after tax bills go out is often the busiest time of year for the department and it is not unusual to experience a busy signal.

Alliance Receives Grant to Educate Students About Security Clearances
The Fort Meade Alliance has received a Workforce ONE Maryland grant of $100,000 to help middle and high school students understand how the choices they make as teens can affect their eligibility for many of the jobs requiring security decisions that are coming to Maryland as the result of the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decisions.

Project SCOPE (Security Clearance Overview and Preparation Education) will provide introductory and interactive learning tools about security clearances to students in the seventh to 12th grades, as well as to their parents, teachers, mentors and guidance counselors.