Baltimore County : Development News

Centric Business Systems, a document management company in Owings Mills, plans to snatch up two firms in the next three or four months, CEO Rick Bastinelli says.

“We are aggressively pursuing and evaluating acquisitions,” Bastinelli says.

The company moved into a new 39,000-square-foot LEED Gold building this month. Double the size of its former headquarters, the office houses 120 workers. Another 20 work in Salisbury, Hagerstown and Rockville.

And Bastinelli says he plans to hire another 30 Centric plans it hopes to add another in sales, marketing and administration. 

Its customers’ migration from black-and-white printers, scanners and copiers to color is fueling Centric's product sales, the CEO says.

Acquisitions are also key to its growth strategy. Last year, the company bought the copier division of Office Suppliers Inc. in Hagerstown.

Bastinelli couldn’t give any details on the companies Centric plans to acquire due to confidentiality agreements except that the two firms are in Maryland.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Rick Bastinelli, Centric

Special Olympics Maryland Inc. has moved to a new headquarters in Arbutus after outgrowing its space in Linthicum Heights.

The nonprofit, which organizes sporting events for kids with disabilities, needed more space for two additional staff and training for its 30-person staff, says Pat Fegan, president of Special Olympics Maryland.

The 11,000-square-foot space is accessible to Interstates 695 and 295, Fegan says. The new office is 2,000 square feet larger than its old space.

Completed between the earthquake and the hurricane, the move to 3701 Commerce Dr. was challenging, Fegan says.
“The challenge was to get everything done and into the new place before the hurricane hit,” she says. The nonprofit put shelving into the new office at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, shortly before the destructive storm hit Maryland.

Special Olympics signed a lease with Merritt Properties Inc. It serves 10,000 athletes throughout the state.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Pat Fegan, Special Olympics

A senior care business is looking to launch a dozen franchises in Greater Baltimore.

Comfort Keepers, based in Dayton Ohio, is eyeing primarily Baltimore, Howard, and Anne Arundel Counties for the new startups, says Jim Brown, Comfort Keepers' vice president of franchise development.

The areas the company is targeting include Pikesville, Essex, Annapolis, Severn and Elkridge. It already has offices in Columbia and Towson.  It has 630 locations throughout the country.

Franchisees can expect to spend $85,000 to $100,000 in startup costs. Its business model is to get out into the community and start marketing and advertising its senior care services to get referrals for people who need at-home care, Brown says.

According to the U.S. Census, seniors make up 12 percent of the Maryland population and that number is expected to grow as the baby boomers age.

The company hopes to get the first three franchises up and running within six months. It will hold an open house at the Doubletree Annapolis hotel Sept. 17.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jim Brown, Comfort Keepers

Larry Schwartz is hoping Arbutus will become the next Catonsville.

With restaurants like the Catonsville Gourmet, the Baltimore County town has earned a modest reputation as a dining destination for suburbanites. Schwartz is hoping his new 35-seat restaurant at 1332 Sulphur Spring Rd. in Arbutus will lead the way to a similar dining revolution in that town.

With most of his career spent in the catering industry, Schwartz was eager to use his cooking experience to finally open his own restaurant. Larry's 1332 serves lunch and dinner and provides catering.

The restaurant serves homemade soups, salads, sandwiches, yellowfin tuna, crab cakes, and crab hash. His soup selections include a corn-and-crab chowder and a watermelon soup with mint and feta cheese.

Schwartz has renovated the interior of the former corporate lunchbox business to include a lapis lazuli tile floor, bench seating in the bay windows, and black-framed mirrors. 

The location will hopefully draw folks working at nearby Saint Agnes Hospital and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Schwartz says.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Larry Schwartz, Larry's 1332

Three local businessman, including a physician, plan to open six create-your-own stir-fry restaurants, the first of which will open in the Can Company this fall.

The partners will invest $350,000 to $550,000 to open each BangBang Mongolian Grill location, says Dr. Shawn Dhillon, who practices internal medicine at Union Memorial Hospital. That makes for a total investment of $2.1 million to $3.3 million for the new businesses.

BangBang Mongolian Grill will replace the former Austin Grill, which closed nearly a year ago at The Can Company. The 4,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 140. Lunch will cost $10 and dinner around $15.

The second Mongolian grill will open at 15752 Annapolis Rd. in the fall. Dhillon expects the remaining four spots to open by the end of next summer. Dhillon and his partners, John Stautzenbach and Bob Bernotas, are scouting locations in Baltimore and Harford Counties, including Hunt Valley, Timonium, and Bel Air. The partners are eyeing strip malls anchored by a grocery store and open-air malls.

Dhillon says his professional focus on managing cardiovascular disease drew him to what he believes is a healthy dining option. Diners at BangBang Mongolian Grill get to choose how much beef, poultry, seafood, vegetables, or noodles are in their dish to suit their dietary needs. Dessert options will include a frozen yogurt bar.

Baltimore's BangBang Mongolian Grill is an affiliate of a restaurant in Iowa.
 

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Dr. Shawn Dillon, BangBang Mongolian Grill

The Corner Stable, a family-owned restaurant in Cockeysville, is opening a second restaurant in the King's Contrivance Village Center in Columbia in October.

Known for its ribs and crab cakes, the 6,000-square-foot restaurant will replace longtime local watering hole Michael's Pub that closed earlier this year.

Co-owner Charles "Chip" Reed says he plans to hire between 65 and 85 full-time workers to staff the new restaurant. Reed says he and his wife Randy Reed have been scouring the Greater Baltimore region for a second location for years. They said they settled on Columbia because they thought a family-owned restaurant and bar could stand out among the area's many chain establishments. And many of the area's restaurants are bustling on the weekends.

There's also ample parking in the shopping center, which includes Harris Teeter, a CVS pharmacy, and a consignment shop, Reed says.

Close to Routes 29 and 32 and Interstate 95, the location will hopefully draw folks who live in Ellicott City, Laurel, Elkridge, and Silver Spring.

Reed says he plans to spruce up the interior with large-screen televisions and a pool table. His nephew Bryan Hiller will manage the restaurant.

The Corner Stable in Cockeysville opened in 1971. The Reeds have owned it for 10 years.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Charles "Chip" Reed, Corner Stable

A Baltimore area entrepreneur hopes to find sweet success by turning a childhood treat into a business.

Nikki Lewis will sell a variety of rice krispies treats at Mallow Munchies caf�. She'll spend about $50,000 to open the Rosedale dessert shop inside a strip mall at 8767 Philadelphia Rd.

She's giving the dessert an upgrade with ingredients like Belgian dark chocolate. The Trail Munch features dried cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds while the Toffee Nut Munch is made with salted cashews and toffee. The desserts were named best sweet snack by Baltimore magazine last year.

Since cupcakes have been all the rage in recent years, fancy rice krispies treats should offer a good alternative for sweet tooths, Lewis says. The entrepreneur has made some inroads with restaurants, caf�s, and grocery stores. Whole Foods Market in the mid-Atlantic has agreed to sell the sweets. So far, the Whole Foods in Baltimore's Harbor East sells them, with others to follow.

Zeke's Coffee, Grilled Cheese & Co., Eddie's Market of Charles Village, and Milk and Honey Market Baltimore sell the confections as well. You can also find the treats at Baltimore area farmers' markets.

Lewis is raising some of the money to fund the caf� on Kickstarter.com, a website that allows individuals to raise money for creative projects.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Nikki Lewis

LifeBridge Health's sports medicine division has acquired a Baltimore-area physical therapy practice, giving it an another five clinics and nearly doubling its patients.

The clinics it acquired from Henning & Cole Therapy Associates are located in Hunt Valley, Bel Air, Essex, Perry Hall, and Belcamp, bringing its total number to 11.

The expansion in physical therapy also allows the health care organization to keep its grip on aging baby boomers as they stay active longer.
Having more clinics makes it easier for LifeBridge to keep patients once they leave the hospital and seek physical therapy, says Matt Carlen, executive director of LifeBridge's wellness division. LifeBridge will handle about 6,000 physical therapy patients per month with the acquisition.

Each of the Henning & Cole clinics pulls in about $1 million in revenue, Carlen says. He declined to disclose the purchase price. The practice was known for relying on manual, hands-on therapy more than machines, he says.

LifeBridge Health is composed of Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Courtland Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and LifeBridge Health and Fitness.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Matt Carlen, LifeBridge

The Maryland Athletic Club is pumping up its Timonium facility this month with new workout machines and a makeover for its exercise studios and basketball court.

The focus of the renovation will be to allot more space for free-motion equipment, General Manager Michael Meehan says. That includes stability balls, medicine balls, and kettle balls that allow members to challenge their balance. It will also include resistance machines that rely on cables that let the user move around freely, rather than the restricted movements that are typical of traditional weight machines.

The Timonium MAC, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary in November, will shut down for a week in August during the renovation.

The gym is also sprucing up the floors in its yoga and pilates room, basketball court and swimming pool.

New elliptical trainers, computerized bikes and cycles that work out the upper body will go into the gym when it reopens Aug. 29.

The MAC has two other locations, in Harbor East and Hunt Valley.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Michael Meehan, MAC

A husband-and-wife team have launched a local arm of a national paint franchise with plans to hire about 10 workers.

Rick and Dori Eisenacher hope to get Fresh Coat Painters of Baltimore up and running in one month and are eyeing both residential and commercial clients, Rick Eisenacher says.

The couple works out of their home and serve White Marsh, Fullerton, Kingsville, Perry Hall, Bel Air, Forest Hill, and surrounding communities.

Though the real estate market is still wobbly, Eisenacher says he hopes he can still pull in $250,000 in revenue in one year by attending home shows, job fairs, and meeting with realtors. The business required a $40,000 upfront investment, about one-third of the amount required of other home-improvement franchises he considered.

So why sign on to a franchise to paint homes and offices? Eisenacher says the advantage is getting support to run the business, including software that provides estimates for paint jobs and marketing assistance.

Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fresh Coat Painters serves clients in more than 100 cities.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Rick Eisenacher

ShopRite is opening two Maryland stores July 28, following the auction of 11 Maryland SuperFresh shops.

ShopRite in Timonium and D.C. suburb White Oak will each employ around 200, many of whom are former SuperFresh employees, says William Sumas, vice chairman of ShopRite parent Village Super Market Inc.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., the parent company of SuperFresh, filed for bankruptcy protection last year. It auctioned 12 SuperFresh stores, all but one in Maryland, as part of its restructuring plan. That has opened the door for other grocery chains to expand in Greater Baltimore. Fresh & Green's opened in the former SuperFresh downtown and plans to replace the former store in Hampden. Shoppers Food opened this month in Ellicott City.

Located at Fairgrounds Plaza, the Timonium ShopRite store will include a bakery, pharmacy, and full-service floral department. It will also feature an international aisle and prepared foods with hot entrees and side dishes, soups, brick-oven pizza, an olive bar, a salad bar and sushi.

An on-site registered dietitian will be on hand to educate customers on preparing healthful meals and proper nutrition. Customers can also take weekly cooking classes taught by professional chefs.

"It's a great opportunity for date night, a fun family activity, or a get-together with friends," Sumas says.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: William Sumas, ShopRite

The owner of an Italian restaurant in Halethorpe has doubled the number of seats and added a seafood eatery next door.

Gianni's Italian Bistro, at 3720 Washington Blvd., now has a sister restaurant called the Angry Mallet. Patrons can order linguine in the seafood restaurant and fried oysters in the Italian restaurant.

The restaurants seat 180 combined, says Owner Greg Orendorff, former owner of Luigi Petti in Little Italy.

Orendorff spent about $300,000 on the expansion. The Angry Mallet serves steamed and friend crabs, shrimp, scallops, oysters, lobster and grilled fish.

Now five years old, Gianni's serves homemade pasta, chicken and veal specialties, and pizza.

Orendorff took over a former Sprint store and Mexican restaurant after his landlord approached him about expanding.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Greg Orendorff, Gianni's, the Angry Mallet