Innovation : Innovation + Job News

Medifast Tops Forbes 2010 List of America's 100 Best Small Businesses

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

For Owings Mills-based Medifast, Inc., a purveyor of prepackaged, portioned weightloss meal plans, , the third times the charm. The company took the top spot in Forbes Magazine's 2010 list of "America's 100 Best Small Companies." In 2008, Medifast earned its first mention on list as the 85th best small biz, rising to No. 16 on the list in 2009. Under Armour and Joseph A. Bank also made the list earning the No. 28 and No. 48 spots, respectively.

"We are extremely pleased to be recognized by Forbes for the third consecutive year, and being ranked as the top small company in America is an amazing honor and achievement," says Michael S. McDevitt, CEO of Medifast.

According to Forbes, the rankings are based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over five years.

"We dropped companies with fuzzy accounting or looming legal troubles. We also compared the stock performance of each company with that of its peers. Shares of last year's list members outpaced the Russell by 10 percentage points," Forbes says, "Medifast is on a tear. Sales have marched north 41% a year over the past five years and earnings per share have increased 35% a year during the same period. The past 12 months have been even better, with sales increasing 69% and earnings jumping 120%."

The company made it to the top of the list churning out $218 million in annual sales, a 41 percent increase over the previous five years and earnings per share that have increased 35 percent a year during the same period.

Source: Medifast
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Energy Answers International to Build Renewable Energy Plant in Baltimore

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Energy Answers International, an Albany, NY-based company, is preparing to break ground on a planned renewable energy plant in Curtis Bay. The plant will be located on the "brownfield" site of the former FMC Corp., an agricultural chemical manufacturer. The 90-acre facility will include a 140 megawatt combined heat and power plant as well as an "Eco-Industrial Park."

According to the company, the heating and electricity power plant is designed to provide wholesale energy to help meet regional demands, as well as reduced-price retail for co-residents of the industrial park, by burning shredded municipal waste, tire chips, auto parts, and woody debris. The plant has received all necessary municipal and state approvals.

Local environmentalists have expressed concerns about the site, however, arguing that it will increase air pollution and emit mercury and other potentially harmful toxins.

Energy Answers says there will be no solid waste, unprocessed waste, or hazardous materials used in the plant, and that all fuel will be delivered in enclosed vehicles. In addition to the generation of steam and electricity, the Fairfield facility will recover ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the combustion residue for recycling and produce Boiler AggregateTM for use in concrete products and other construction materials.

The facility will create up to 400 jobs during a planned three years of construction, set to begin in December, and at least 180 permanent green jobs when it begins operations in 2013.

Source: Energy Answers
Writer: Walaika Haskins

CRISP Launches Statewide Health Information Exchange

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) has launched its statewide health information exchange (HIE). HIE is the infrastructure that supports the private and secure flow of health information among physician practices, hospitals, labs, radiology centers, and other healthcare institutions.

The information exchange is a major step towards the ubiquitous delivery of the right health information to the right place at the right time providing safer, more timely, efficient, patient-centered care.

Healthcare organizations currently participating in the HIE include: Holy Cross Hospital, Suburban Hospital, Montgomery General Hospital, Community Radiology (a RadNet partner), Advanced Radiology (a RadNet partner), American Radiology Services, Quest Diagnostics, Laboratory Corporation of America. Several more organizations will connect in the next few weeks

All 48 Maryland hospitals have recently committed to sharing data with the statewide HIE. This commitment covers 11,175 in-patient beds, from Garrett County to the Eastern Shore.

"We at Holy Cross Hospital believe a statewide health information exchange can help make care safer and more efficient for Marylanders," says Kevin J. Sexton, president and CEO of Holy Cross Hospital. "We are delighted to join CRISP, state government and other healthcare providers in getting Maryland to this important milestone."

Other hospitals, physician practices, and clinics will be coming online before the end of the year, including many of the state's federally qualified health clinics, which predominantly serve Medicaid, uninsured and other underserved patients. CRISP will also be expanding the kinds of data the HIE is able to exchange as participation grows, from today's hospital discharge summaries, lab results and radiology results to medical documents that contain more complete medical information, sometimes referred to as continuity of care documents, or "CCDs."

This summer, Lt. Gov. Brown joined Gov. Martin O'Malley to convene a roundtable forum of industry leaders and experts, including medical system presidents, hospital CEOs, state officials and other stakeholders to discuss health care reform and innovation in Maryland. The governor has set a goal for the state to become a national leader in health information technology by 2010 by developing a safe and secure statewide HIE and promoting the adoption of electronic medical records among providers. Maryland is well on its way to achieving that goal.

"This is a major step in developing an electronic system that protects individual privacy while improving the quality of health care and controlling costs," says Lt. Gov. Brown. "Soon, every Marylander will be able to enjoy the benefits of having their critical medical information delivered with speed and accuracy to the point of care, avoiding medical mistakes especially in case of an emergency."

Source: CRISP
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Microsoft Scoops Up Baltimore-based Tech Company AVIcode

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Microsoft, the Redmond, WA-based tech giant, has added a Baltimore company to its long list acquisitions. The company announced last week that is has purchased AVIcode, a developer of of real-time, always-on application monitoring solutions, for an undisclosed amount.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft, AVIcode will use its monitoring technology to provide a 360-degree view of Microsoft's ever-expanding portfolio of cloud-based technologies. Micorosoft says it has been using AVIcode's solution in conjunction with its own System Center Operations Manager for years in its datacenters.

According to a Microsoft spokesperson, AVIcode will continue to be based in Baltimore.

"AVIcode will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft and will maintain AVIcode offices in Baltimore, MD, for now. We're excited about the caliber of employees at AVIcode and are working closely with AVIcode's management team to bring a number of AVIcode employees to Microsoft across most functions of the company," he says.

Source: Microsoft spokesperson.
Writer: Walaika haskins.

GBTC TechNite 2010 Highlights Baltimore's Innovators

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hunt Valley-based Oculis Labs, a cyber security firm, and Tom Loveland, CEO of Mind Over Machines, were the big winners named at the Greater Baltimore Tech Council's (GBTC) TechNite last Thursday. In truth, though, it was the region's tech community as a whole that won. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the GBTC while also shining the spotlight on some of the area's most innovative technology companies.

Oculis Labs, which took home top honors for the "Hottest Tech in Town," was selected from among 15 finalists. The first-time award was based equally on votes from the public and a panel of judges. Oculis edged out Direct Dimensions, a 3D imaging company, and Gloto, developer of a social media marketing platform, both of which had more votes from the public.

"The judges probably looked at it from a slightly different perspective than the community. These are VC and private equity folks, people who deal with ventures on a regular basis. The judging panel was pretty strict. The community vote was great. We had over 5,000 votes which really blew my mind for a first year competition," says Jennifer Gunner, GBTC's interim executive director.

"I was pleasantly surprised that we won. There are a lot of really good companies in Baltimore doing some really interesting things. It was a really nice surprise to be picked," says Bill Anderson, CEO of Oculis Labs.

Tom Loveland's role as Baltimore's "Google Czar" and the work he's done to help win the Google Fiber competition were only part of the reason he received the GBTC's Beta 2.0 award. Inaugurated in 2009, the award is presented to a person who has done the most to help expand the area's technology and business sectors. Loveland was selected from a group of five finalists that included Newt Fowler, a partner at Rosenberg, Martin, Greenberg LLP, Christian Johansson, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, Mike Subelsky, founder of Ignite Baltimore, and David Troy, president of Roundhouse Technologies.

"[Loveland's role as Google Czar] is one part of it, but it's also the fact that he's really been pushing things forward. From something as simple as pulling together everyone for a great barbecue at his house, to his work with the National Academy Foundation School, where he's trying to make sure that students have access to the STEM curriculum," Gunner says.

Loveland emphasizes that the projects he's involved in are group efforts and that he shares the award with the other finalists. And, of course, that none of this would be possible if there weren't smart, innovative people starting companies and working on cool technologies in the Baltimore area.

"What we really want to say is that it's not just about us. There are emerging leaders and we want to get them some recognition. All kinds of people are doing things. It's exciting. There's a lot of energy, a lot of programs that are getting people engaged," says Loveland.

The attention the event attracts for tech companies is significant, says Gunner.

"CSA Medical, Social Toaster, Direct Dimensions, and Juxtopia -- all of the companies are impressive. It was a really hard process to narrow it down. The most important thing that we did is to get their names and their products out into the marketplace," Gunner says.

Sources: Jennifer Gunner, GBTC; Bill Anderson, Oculis Labs; Tom Loveland, Mind Over Machines
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Profectus BioSciences gets $6.25M in grants and contracts from NIAID

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Profectus BioSciences, Inc., a technology-based vaccine company devoted to the treatment and prevention of chronic viral diseases, has received $6.25 million in grants and contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), including three Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants from the Division of AIDS, National Institutes of Health totaling $2.9M. These grants are focused on optimizing the Company's portfolio of genetic adjuvants.

Profectus BioSciences seeks to harness the immune system to treat and prevent viral diseases and cancers through the delivery of proprietary prime/boost vaccines.

"Along with IL-12, our portfolio of genetic adjuvants provides us with a toolbox of options to optimize our heterologous prime/boost vaccines. These awards provide significant validation to our scientific approach and accelerate our efforts to develop therapeutic vaccines against HCV, HPV, HSV, and HIV that will have significant clinical impact," says John Eldridge, chief science officer at Profectus BioSciences.

Profectus BioSciences also received $2.75M in continued contract support from the Division of AIDS to develop its recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (rVSV) platform as an HIV vaccine. VSV is a negative-strand, non-segmented RNA virus from the order Mononegavirales that has been redesigned to enable delivery of vaccine immunogens. VSV is a particularly attractive candidate for this purpose because its genome can potentially host more than one foreign gene and it contains its own Profectus BioSciences is utilizing this technology along with its pDNA platforms to develop effective therapeutic vaccines against HCV, HPV, HSV, as well as HIV.

This funding is in addition to the $4.4M in grants announced earlier this week to support the Company's HIV prophylactic vaccine program.

Source: Profectus BioSciences
Writer: Walaika Haskins

B&O American Brasserie Nabs National Spirit Award

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Anyone who's been to the B&O American Brasserie wouldn't be surprised to learn that the restaurant received an award for its food, decor or dining experience. But would you expect the downtown eatery to receive kudos for its treatment of its employees? The restaurant received the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) and Nation's Restaurant News 2010 SPIRIT Award for its "commitment to their workforce and a strong understanding of how their staff impacts the organization's overall success."

"Being recognized by the National Restaurant Association and Nation's Restaurant News for employee satisfaction at B&O American Brasserie means a great deal to us." says Niki Leondakis, president and chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. "At Kimpton, we are committed to empowering our employees to stay true to themselves. This recognition is a tremendous nod to the strong culture of care that the employees at B&O have created."

"It is an honor to win this prestigious award. At B&O American Brasserie we pride ourselves in employee satisfaction. We recognize the importance of a comfortable and positive work environment and we believe it benefits everyone, including costumers," says Marcus Garner, general manager of B&O American Brasserie.

The National Restaurant Association Education Foundation and Nation's Restaurant News present the annual award to four restaurants that have shown a superior dedication to employee recognition and retention. Winning restaurants display a commitment of quality in several areas including, employee recruitment, hiring, retention, education and training.

The awards are given in four categories (Fine Dining, Full Service, On Site, and Quick Service) and are won by varying types of food establishments from franchise foodservices to independent restaurants. Industry leaders and educators review applicants and determine the winners.

Source: B&O American Brasserie
Writer: Walaika Haskins

GM to Invest $23.5M for New Electric Components Facility in Baltimore County

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

General Motors announced last week that it will invest $23.5 million for additional production of vehicle electrification components on the site of the Baltimore Transmission Plant, site of the first electric motor manufacturing facility in the U.S. to be operated by a major automaker.

The new investment will create 11 job openings to be filled in accordance with the UAW-GM National Agreement.

"This will allow us to strengthen our core electrification components expertise," says GM Manufacturing Manager Arvin Jones. "We'll have more to say about specific products later."

The investments in the White Marsh facility will be made with the assistance from the Recovery Act funding announced in August 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The newly announced investment is in addition to the $246 million investment announced in January to build a high-volume electric drive production facility for GM's next-generation rear-wheel drive Two-mode Hybrid system. The addition of electric motor production, to begin in 2013, will take place in a separate facility to be built on the same site as the Baltimore plant. The January investment will create about 200 jobs in three states, including Maryland.

Designing and manufacturing electric motors at Baltimore Transmission allows GM to more efficiently control the design, materials and production processes as well as reduce costs and improve performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability.

Source: General Motors
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Oculis Labs Takes Top Spot in American Security Challenge

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Oculis Labs, a cyber security firm based in Hunt Valley, MD, won the American Security Challenge Award for its Private Eye 3.0 software last week. The prestigious national contest offers security technology companies with market-ready products an opportunity to showcase them for an audience of government and corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists.

"It's an invitation only event with sponsors like Northrup Grumman and other big defense-related players. They chose us from among 150 applicants," says Bill Anderson, Oculis Labs CEO.

The company received a trophy to commemorate the win, however, the true prize is the chance to lure potential investors, partners and customers. According to Anderson, Oculis has received inquiries from a number of firms interested in possibly partnering with the company on future projects.

"What's nice about this one is it's the largest form of recognition we've gotten so far and it gets a lot of attention from potential government customers," Anderson says. "The event is all about bringing together companies with technologies useful for solving government security problems. It's one of those events that get us attention and its nice to get the recognition."

"The products we have look relevant and real, according to feedback from judges," he continues. "They want something they can use right now, not something that works only in someone's basement. They were also looking for something really powerful. There are many companies who are making different versions of the same thing. The judges were looking for companies solving problems that have been around for awhile, and that's what we're doing."

Source: Bill Anderson, Oculis Labs
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Bmore Team Takes Home Philly's Gigabit Genius Grant

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Bmore Fiber, a group of business leaders and residents working to bring super high-speed broadband access to Baltimore, has won the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Award, created and funded by Philadelphia's startup and technology communities to encourage gigabit innovation worldwide. A panel of expert judges selected by Philadelphia's Division of Technology were instructed to choose the most promising projects from anywhere in the world.

The winning projects were chosen from among 20 finalists by a panel of expert judges drawn from Philadelphia's technology, civic, academic, and entrepreneurial leadership.

The projects were chosen for their potential to transform lives using ultra high-speed Internet connectivity known as gigabit. Gigabit technology would make the Internet up to 100 times faster than it is today, a difference in speed similar to the transition from dial-up modems to broadband Internet connections.

Bmore Fiber was awarded the bulk of the prize, $7,500, to begin developing teleradiology technology that will enable specialists to transmit and review radiology scans in real-time, making the experience identical whether the specialists are in the next room or the next continent.

"We are going to meet to consider our next steps. This is a big topic. One question is whether the funds should go to enabling the gigabit technology and then seek a path for the teleradiology work, or whether we should start work on the teleradiology project right away. In my mind the two are inextricably linked, so we'll have to see what makes sense," says David Troy, a Baltimore-based entrepreneur and spokesperson for Bmore Fiber.

The team will also start looking for partners from among Baltimore's robust technology and healthcare sectors.

"We have a broad range of volunteers here in the community, but we don't have anyone specifically lined up for the teleradiology project yet. Here in Baltimore, though, it would seem that with Hopkins and UMD medicine so strong here, we should not have trouble finding willing partners," says Troy.

The remainder of the prize, $2,500, was awarded to Israeli entrepreneur Daniel Dobroszklanka for a remote education project that would enable students anywhere in the world to participate in a world-class live classroom experience.

Source: Dave Troy, Bmore Fiber
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Millennial Media Filling 20 Positions by End of 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

In an effort to keep up with the growth of business in the mobile ad space, Baltimore based Millennial Media announced last week that it plans to hire 20 additional staff members by the end of 2010.

According to the company, from 2009 to 2010, Millennial Media's staff grew by more than 50 percent. To keep up with the company's unprecedented revenue and client growth, the number of employees grew an additional 34 percent during the first nine months of 2010. The 20 new positions will boost the company's engineering, operations, and sales teams in its Baltimore and San Francisco offices.

Source: Millennial Media
Writer: Walaika Haskins

1st Mariner Arena Adds 50-inch HD Screens for Advertisers

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

1st Mariner Arena executives have signed a deal partnering with Baltimore-based Creative Visual Results (CVR) to install 50-inch, high-definition LCD digital screens in the box office and main lobby, with plans to install 15 more screens throughout the arena over the next year.

CVR will offer advertisers static ad spots, animation, and video in 10-second rotations, resulting in between 22 and 60 impressions per hour. Depending on the package purchased, advertisers will spend between $.05 and $.25 per impression. With the cost of television advertising continually on the rise, and averaging $21 in advertising spend to reach just 1,000 people via television, local and national businesses are already showing serious interest in 1st Mariner's digital screens.

Hosting at least 120 nationally advertised events annually, with capacity for at least 14,000 guests per event, 1st Mariner Arena was CVR executives' first choice for housing the interactive screens. "Digital advertising is growing as the leading form of marketing, showing exceptional results in consumer attention and recall," says VP of Marketing for CVR, Alex Kutsishin. "We couldn't wait to bring this prospect to Baltimore's busiest stage."

In addition to digital advertising being more positively rated by consumers than any other media, more than a third of consumers report that they have taken action as a direct result of seeing digital signage advertising.

Source: Creative Visual Results
Writer: Walaika Haskins

W.R. Grace to recieve $3.3M to advance biofuel technologies

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

W. R. Grace & Co. has been awarded up to $3.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the evaluation and enhancement of advanced biofuel technologies.

The company will work with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE research facility, to develop technologies for thermochemical conversion of biomass to advanced biofuels that are compatible with existing fueling infrastructure. The technologies will upgrade bio-oils into gasoline, diesel and jet fuels using a specialized catalytic reactor designed to resist corrosion and extend catalyst lifetime. Also on the team are VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, who will be providing pyrolysis oils, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who will study corrosion.

The funding is a component of the Department of Energy's strategy to accelerate the development of sustainable biofuels, and is coordinated by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Biomass Program.

Grace and PNNL researchers will use a thermochemical process known as pyrolysis, which breaks down biomass using heat to produce bio-oils that can be further processed in existing petroleum refineries into transportation fuels.

Source: W.R. Grace
Writer: Walaika Haskins

MP3Car.com launches largest online automotive app marketplace

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Baltimore-based MP3Car.com is hoping to do for the automotive app what the Apple App store did for mobile apps with it's newly launched Auto App Mart.

Mp3Car, the largest car computing community online, is placing heavy odds that an in-dash computer will soon become a standard feature in every new car. The company points to the success of Ford's Sync, Genivi's selection of MeeGo as a reference platform and Google's entrance into telematics as clear indicators that in-vehicle infotainment is the new frontier in mobile computing.

Driving the market in that direction are drivers' demand for a smartphone-like application experience in their vehicle that provides access to a variety of helpful apps at little to no cost.

As the Apple App Store and other application platforms have proven, crowdsourcing application development is a successful marketplace that will continue to grow.

According to Heather Sarkissian, MP3Car's CEO, the Auto App will act as a conduit for carmakers, platform providers and others to connect with the its community of automative application developers with whom they can partner to create apps that balance consumer demands for functionality and a personalized experience with carmaker's concerns about safety and security.

"Essentially mobile computing will be increasingly available in cars over the next two to three years. The issue though is that the software for these systems becomes obsolete fairly quickly, are impossible to update, and right now there's no way to get apps to drivers that for the most part are free," she says.

MP3Car, Sarkissian says, is well positioned to become the leader in the auto app market. The Auto App Mart is important because it is mobilizing the global community of developers to consider developing a different kind of app, familiarizing them with what the concept of an automotive app would be, and getting them to start thinking about safety and usability concerns associated with these apps.

The company won't set industry standards, compatibility, other technical specifics, but rather to mobilize developers, acting as a central location for innovators.

"We're really focused on getting the developers all in one spot and being really aware of their needs and very supportive of what they need to do to innovate. Ideally [Auto App Mart] would be a resource that automotive makers will want to tap into to develop applications. The reality is that Ford isn't going to want to negotiate with 50 developers. They're going to want to negotiate with one -- MP3Car," says Sarkissian.

Source: Heather Sarkissian, MP3Car.com
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Davis, Agnor, Rapaport & Skalny law firm unveils new website

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Baltimore area law firm, Davis, Agnor, Rapaport & Skalny (DARS) has launched a new website that will help introduce prospective clients to the firm and answer some very basic legal questions.

"It was important for us to create a website that had the potential to offer a more interactive experience, enabling clients, prospective clients and visitors to the site to communicate with us. It also allows us to better communicate our message to our clients and the community," says Paul Skalny, managing director and partner at the law firm.

The website has undergone a rebranding and now provides users with greater details regarding the firm's main practice areas and significant involvement in the greater-Baltimore community as a corporate partner to area nonprofits. DARSLaw.com also provides users access to a wealth of articles, informational pamphlets and legal forms, allowing visitors to browse various documents and become more informed about the law.

According to Skalny the new site will help give clients a sense for where their case or situation might stand, the kinds of things the firm can help them with and also educate them about the law, however he cautions that it is not legal advice specific to a particular case.

"We love an informed client, one that understands what we can do for them and challenges us with hard questions. The site will also expedite some of our legal services, for instance with estate planning. We're looking to employ a system that will enable us to collect the necessary information online and really cut down on the time and number of meetings required for clients to finish an estate plan," he says.

The site includes lawyer blogs as well and is free to use and totally accessible to the public. The firm is also investigating how to create a secure section of the site for clients through which they will be able to pay their bill, access updates about their case and other information.

Source: Paul Skalny, DARS Law Firm
Writer: Walaika Haskins