community : Innovation + Job News

Ignite Baltimore is seeking applicants for two Ignition Grants, to be awarded for projects that aim to make Baltimore City a better place to live and work. Past winners have included a video tour of the city’s parks and trails and interviews with the city’s homeless population.
 
Applications for the grants of up to $2,250 each are due by midnight on Sept. 30. A committee picks the winners. Now in its fifth year, the awards are sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Technology Council. Previously, the Baltimore Community Foundation sponsored the awards. This year, the sponsor is the Greater Baltimore Technology Council.
 
Kate Bladow, coordinator of the Ignition Grants, says the grants are intended to encourage people who have ideas that address the social and economic challenges of the city. The award-winners speak at the Ignite Baltimore event, which also helps to publicize their ideas.
 
In the past, a grant went to a woman who formed a company in which low-income, stay-at-home mothers made reusable bags for produce that were sold at local farmers’ markets. Another grant-winner taught a video-making course to children at the Walbrook branch of the Enoch Pratt Library and encouraged them to make videos of their neighborhood. A third winner was the developer of a website to showcase Baltimore’s dance community.
 
The winners will be announced at the Ignite Baltimore event, to be held this year on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Brown Center of the Maryland Institute College of Art on Mount Royal Avenue. Last year, 1,300 people attended the sold-out event. Tickets to the event cost $5 each, and the proceeds are used to fund the Ignition Grants.
 
Source: Kate Bladow, Ignite Baltimore’s Ignition Grants
Writer: Barbara Pash

Start Up Grind, an international community of entrepreneurs and investors, makes its debut this month in Baltimore. Loyola University of Maryland and Wasabi Venture are inaugurating the group here for monthly meetings, open to everyone interested in technology and startups.
 
The first local Start Up Grind will take place Sept. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Loyola University, 4501 North Charles St., in the Student Center’s fourth floor programming room. Brian Razzaque, CEO and inventor of SocialToaster, is the guest speaker.
 
“We were interested in the concept of getting entrepreneurs together, and Start Up Grind is also a way for us to be involved in that community,” said Kendall Ryan, director of events and outreach for Wasabi Ventures. The group serves as an outlet for entprepreneurs who want to network, brainstorm and offer feedback with one another. 
 
Start Up Grind began last year in Silicon Valley and has grown into an organization with chapters in more than a dozen cities in the U.S. and in countries ranging from Australia to the Union of South Africa. Ryan says that Start Up Grind Baltimore will host a monthly event although an October date has not yet been chosen.
 
Fee ranges from $10 (with early-bird registration) to $20 per person. The event is free to Loyola University undergraduates and graduates. Ryan says the reception so far has been enthusiastic and she expects at least 150 people at the first event.
 
Start Up Grind Baltimore joins another group that gives local entrepreneurs an opportunity to get together. Baltimore Tech Breakfast began last year as a casual get-together for about a dozen people and has since grown to a list of 1,000.
 
Ron Schmelzer, president of the tech company, Bizelo and founder of Baltimore Tech Breakfast, says about 250 people usually attend the monthly event. Meetings are held the last Wednesday of the month except for this month, when the meeting will be on Sept. 27. Meetings are free but pre-registration is required. 
 
Schmelzer says he started Baltimore Tech Breakfast as a way “to help increase the momentum of technology in Baltimore.” The group is not associated with any organization. Participants are invited to give short, three-minute talks about their companies.
 
Sources: Kendall Ryan, Wasabi Ventures; Ron Schmelzer, Bizelo
Writer: Barbara Pash
 

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation is more than doubling its Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project from the original $2 million commitment to $5 million over the next four years to renovate and/or build libraries at 12 Baltimore City public schools.
 
The international foundation, headquartered in Baltimore County, announced the library project in December 2011. Less than a year later, it is unveiling its expanded initiative at a Sept.12 celebration at Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School, one of three schools to receive funding in the project’s first round. The other two schools are Moravia Park Elementary and Southwest Baltimore Charter School.
 
Amy Gross, Weinberg Foundation’s program director for education, children, youth and families, says the library project was expanded because of its early success. It is already partnering with 30 businesses, nonprofits and government entities on the project.
 
Says Gross, “We wanted to extend our commitment now for planning and to get others involved.”
 
At the September celebration, the second round of schools is being announced. This round also involves three schools, one of which is the East Baltimore Community School, due to open in the 2013-2014 academic year, for which a new library is being built. Gross declined to name the other two schools before the event.
 
Gross says that as part of a federal funding process, Baltimore City picks about six schools per year with library needs. The Weinberg Foundation uses that list as a basis for choosing project recipients although it also has its own criteria.
 
“We look for a school with a full-time librarian and strong principal support as to how the library can be utilized through the school, not only for instruction but for community involvement,” she says.
 
In the schools in the first round, Gross says that the existing libraries were gutted and a new design installed. Work included a new layout, new furniture, and additional books, computers and e-readers, aka nooks.

“We pretty much stayed in the footprint of the [existing] libraries but they look nothing like their previous spaces,” says Gross, adding that in new schools, the library space may be expanded. “Basically, it’s what makes sense for the school.”

The cost and size of the library project varies with the school. The spaces average about 2,000 square feet. The total cost of all construction and programmatic activities runs about $980,000 per library.  The foundation contributes, on average, $335,000 per library for capital and operating costs, with a U.S. Department of Education program contributing $360,000 and the city school system $145,000 per library. Partners provide the rest in additional financial and in-kind contributions.

The library project goes beyond the physical.  The foundation’s funding provides for professional development and to hire an additional staffer at each library to assist the librarian. Partners are providing other services, among them:
 
• Barnes and Noble, nooks and instructions to teachers on using them in an educational setting;
 
• Dyslexia Tutoring, teacher training for early identification;
 
• Enoch Pratt Free Library, management of the Parenting Corner that is being set up in each library, with books on parenting  and job search, and access to the Pratt system; and
 
• Wells Fargo, financial literacy training.
 
 
Source: Amy Gross, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Writer: Barbara Pash

The Maryland Public Service Commission will hear proposals Aug. 7 on where to spend the $113.5 million fund created to benefit Baltimore Gas and Electric customers following its parent company's sale to a Chicago energy company.

By the June 15 deadline, 19 organizations had submitted 100 proposals, among them Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., as well as nonprofit organizations like Baltimore Electric Vehicle Initiative, Fuel Fund of Maryland and The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.

The proposals for the Customer Investment Fund include energy efficiency projects and support for low-income residents. Maryland's Public Service Commission approved Constellation Energy Group Inc.'s $7.9 billion sale to Exelon Corp. on the condition that it pass on some of the cost savings to customers.

PSC spokeswoman Regina Davis said in an e-mail reply to inquiries about the hearing that it doesn't offer comment on the record for matters that are before the PSC. Davis also says that the PSC has not given a deadline for its final decision. 
 
Fuel Fund Executive Director Mary Ellen Vanni calls the PSC initiative “unprecedented.” Says Vanni, “This is the first time within Maryland that the PSC has put out a request on how to spend settlement money.” The Fuel Fund has requested almost $20 million for low-income aid.
 
However, there are several unknowns regarding the PSC hearing. Vanni says the organizations that submitted proposals have not been told if the hearing will go on for more than one day or if the PSC has a timetable to make a decision. Vanni says she does not expect a PSC decision before December 2012, given the number of proposals submitted.
 
The PSC has not indicated how the money will be allocated, she says. “The PSC can do whatever they want,” says Vanni. “They can decide to give all the money to one or two organizations or divide it among several groups. They can also say to us [the Fuel Fund], ‘You asked for $20 million and we’ll give you $10 million.’”

Paula Carmody, People's Counsel of the Maryland Office of People's Counsel, agrees with Vanni. The PSC set up the fund, asked for proposals from the community "and they can do what they like." She expects the PSC to pick a certain nimber of proposals that they like, then ask that further work be done on them to "firm them up." The Office of People's Counsel has requested $36.3 million for multiple programs, including establishing a model for greater rate affordability for low-income customers that can be used throughout the state.
 
Aleeza Oshry, manager of the sustainability initiative of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, says that most of the proposals are intended to enhance and/or expand existing programs. 
 
That is the case with the two separate proposals Associated submitted. One proposal is from Associated itself for $2.7 million to extend its existing Green Loans Fund Program to northwest Baltimore nonprofits for interest-free financing for energy upgrades. The second is from CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc., an Associated agency, for $2 million for its existing residential weatherization program in northwest Baltimore.
 
“We are the only faith-based organization that has submitted proposals” to the PSC, Oshry says.
 
Other organizations that submitted proposals, some for multiple-year funding, include:
Abundant Power Solutions, $5 million;
American Council for An Energy-Efficient Economy, $111 million, multi-programs;
Baltimore City, $55 million for its Green & Healthy Housing Initiative;
Baltimore Community Lending;
Baltimore County, $20 million to $50 million, multi-programs;
BGE, $54.7 million, multi-programs including small businesses and schools;
Baltimore Electric Vehicle Initiative, $10 million for an e-vehicle workforce;
Community Assistance Network, $1.7 million;
Energy Associates;
Green Renewable Earth Energy Corp;
Maryland Alliance for Fair Competiion;
Maryland Clean Energy Center, $5 million, seniors and veterans;
Maryland Energy Administration/State of Maryland, $113.5 million, multi-programs;
National Housing Trust; and
Public Technology Institute, $3.8 million, nonprofits and counties.
 
 
Sources: Regina Davis, Maryland Public Service Commission; Aleeza Oshry, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore; Mary Ellen Vanni, Fuel Fund of Maryland, Paula Carmody, Maryland Office of People's Counsel

Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 

A report from the Goldseker Foundation takes an optimistic view of Baltimore City’s potential for job and neighborhood growth.
 
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s goal of increasing the city population by 10,000 over the next 10 years is doable, according to report, “Great Neighborhoods, Great Cities, Strategies for the 2010’s.”  Released last month, it details how to improve the city to attract and retain residents.

Among them:
 
• Focus on retaining and attracting middle-income residents;
 
• Build from market strength wherever it’s found rather than concentrating all resources on the most distressed neighborhoods; 
 
• Market properties and neighborhood amenities to potential buyers; and,
 
• Give city-based employers incentives for workers to live nearby.
 
Timothy Armbruster, foundation president and CEO, says the report was intended to gather and analyze the demographic and economic data that has become available since the previous report in 2010. The foundation has put the report on its Web site and also sent it by email to public policy and nonprofit groups in order to reach the “opinion leaders,” says Armbruster.
 
The project started out as a small-scale look at the neighborhoods the foundation traditionally supports, and expanded to the entire city. The mayor’s goal gave the project a sense of urgency.
 
The report found that Baltimore’s population dropped 4.6 percent from 2000 to 2010. By contrast, Baltimore metro’s population rose by 6.2 percent and Washington metro by 16.4 percent during the same period. It concluded that people were not leaving Baltimore for job relocation.
 
Armbruster says the Goldseker Foundation’s works with community groups, businesses and nonprofits to focus its expertise and funding. 

“There is widespread interest and enthusiasm about the mayor’s goal,” he says. But it is not a city-project only. The institutions, businesses and public need to participate, too.

To that end, Armbruster has met privately with members of the institutional, real estate and nonprofit communities. He is considering holding forums with these groups as well.
 
“The response has been positive,” he says.
 
Source: Timothy Armbruster, Goldseker Foundation
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 
 
 
 

Legal services for the poor and jobs training program were among the recipients of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation grants in April and May, which totaled $8 million. The grants present a snapshot of the Baltimore-headquartered foundation’s grants of approximately $100 million per year.
 
The Legal Aid Bureau got $850,000 over two years, for free legal services and educational material for low-income adults. Job Opportunities Task Force got $750,000 over three years to support the Task Force’s and Baltimore CASH campaign’s financial literacy programs.
 
Other Baltimore recipients are:
International Rescue Committee, $150,000 over two years;
Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training, $150,000;
Dayspring Programs, $100,000 over two years;
The League for People with Disabilities, $128,000;
House of Ruth Maryland, $250,000 over two years;
Family League of Baltimore, two grants totaling $175,000;
YMCA of Central Maryland, $120,000 over two years;
Art with a Heart, $40,000 over two years;
Resident Services, $80,000 over two years;
Wide Angle Youth Media, $50,000 over two years;
Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, $50,000 over two years;
Community Law Center, $70,000 over two years; and
South Baltimore Learning Center, $25,000 over two years.

The foundation recently changed its award announcement format. Rather than issuing a grant list every two months, the foundation is issuing its grant approvals on a weekly basis via social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter. 
 
Craig Demchak, director of community affairs, says the Weinberg Foundation “is excited to share information on its grant making, reflecting the fine work of our many grantees who serve the poor and vulnerable. We are pleased to extend this vital, ongoing communication to a new audience through social media.”
 
The grants are earmarked for specific purposes. Two Baltimore organizations received six-figure grants.
 
Source: Craig Demchak, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Writer: Barbara Pash; [email protected] 

A Columbia Association neighborhood center is getting some of its energy from the sun.

ATR Solartech installed 1  ii iininins2 solar tracking systems at the River Hill Pool and the River Hill Neighborhood Center in Howard County's Clarksville. 
 
Robert Lundahl, ATR's vice president of automation systems, says it is also in discussion with the Columbia Association about the installation of a solar car-charging station. The charging station would provide electricity for electric vehicles.
 
However, unlike other such stations, which derive their power from an electrical source, the ATR station would also have solar tracking devices to collect energy to offset the power used by the electric vehicles. 
 
Columbia Association is looking at locations for a station, Lundahl says. 

Lundahl says the River Hill installation is the first the Columbia-headquartered company has completed with the Columbia Association, although talks are underway for other projects similar to River Hill’s.
 
Lundahl says that each of the River Hill systems consists of two solar panels mounted on a motorized tracker that calculates the position of the sun and automatically follows it during the day. The solar tracker produces 30 to 34 percent more energy than regular fixed solar panels, he says.
 
The systems are designed to convert energy to grid-tied power and, on average, will provide more than 26 kilowatt hours per day. The total cost of the 12 systems was $35,000, for the solar trackers, installation and wiring, he says.
 
“With solar rebates and incentives," says Lundahl, “the installation will pay for itself in less than six years," then continue to operate for at least another 15 years.
 

 
Source: Robert Lundahl, ATR Solartech
Writer: Barbara Pash; [email protected]
 
 
 
 

Baltimore City is spending $150,000 to create a Climate Action Plan as part of the city’s overall sustainability initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2015.

The city adopted the sustainability plan in 2009 but it wasn’t until this year that there was funding to implement it. Beth Strommen, director of the city’s Office of Sustainability, says Baltimore received $6.1 million from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a variety of energy projects, among them the climate action plan.

“Our goal is to help Baltimore be a more sustainable city, with environmental education and green buildings,” Strommen says.

But Baltimore has unique challenges.

Unlike many cities where the major source of greenhouse gas emissions is vehicle-related, in Baltimore the emissions are overwhelmingly come from commercial and residential buildings. That's because 40 percent of the housing stock was built prior to 1939.

"We are an old city with old houses," Strommen says. 

The Climate Action Plan will have different short-term and long-term goals, by 2020 and 2030, respectively. Stommen says the city has hired AECOM Technology Corp., a global company with expertise in climate action plans, to create the plan.

The plan will look at such issues as land use, green infrastructure, water and waste.

“We are including an adaptation piece,” says Strommen. “How do we adapt to extreme weather events, and to flooding in the Inner Harbor? How do we minimize economic loss? And, also, minimize loss of life with, for example, cooling centers.”

Strommen did not have a timetable for the plan’s completion. Once it is ready, Baltimore City has already received two grants, for a total of $107,000, to begin putting the recommendations in place. The city is also seeking additional federal and state money to implement the plan.
 
Source: Beth Strommen, Baltimore City Office of Sustainability
Writer: Barbara Pash

A scientific study of the change in the seasons has implications for the tourism and travel industries. Researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science found that spring is arriving earlier – and autumn will be later – in the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
 
“Spring is arriving earlier in the cities relative to the rural areas, the reason being the cities have warmer climates because of rooftops and asphalt” streets and parking lots, says Andrew Elmore of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “Also, the cities don’t have vegetation around them, which has a cooling effect.”
 
Elmore conducted the research with Steven Guinn, of the UMd. Center, Burke Minsley of the U.S. Geological Survey and Andrew Richardson of Harvard University.

Using high resolution satellite data of trees and forests in the region collected over the past 25 years, the group found that the urban landscape traps heat in the summer and holds it throughout the winter, triggering leaves to turn green earlier in the spring and to stay green later into the fall.

The urban heat islands affected the growing season in areas within 20 miles of the cities, allowing for a longer growing season and the cultivation of new varieties.

Elmore says that temperature difference can have an economic impact. “If spring comes earlier, that’s an important time for tourism,” he says. “There are so many people living in urban areas and they are responding to an earlier spring.”
 
The study did not address climate change specifically, although Elmore may examine that in the future.
 
Source: Andrew Elmore, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 

Calling all entrepreneurs.  A national organization, Startup America Partnership, is launching a regional initiative called Startup Maryland at a March 30 event.
 
Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship and a co-chair of the launch of Startup Maryland, says the goal of the nonprofit advocacy group is “to bring together the entrepreneurial system in the state” and to create a community of entrepreneurs.
 
Startup Maryland aims to provide entrepreneurs access to capital, mentoring, clients and a celebration and awareness of entrepreneurship through success stories.
 
While the state has “incredible resources,” Kirk says, “they’re in pockets, independent of each other and entrepreneurs are not working together.”
 
Startup Maryland aims to change that. “We want to leverage the best projects and promote them across the entire state,” says Kirk, noting that at the event, attendees will decide on specific projects for the future. Possibilities include a regional conference in which potential customers talk about their needs or a meeting about state and local resources.
 
Startup America Partnership began a year ago and the brainchild of two foundations: the Steven Case Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation. The alliance of universities, foundations and entrepreneurs are forming local chapters around the country. The White House has launched a similar initiative. 
 
Startup America does not offer funding, but it does provide access to the large corporations that are backing it. They include American Express, American Airlines, the New York Stock Exchange, Dell Computers and Microsoft.
 
In preparation for the March 30 launch at the University of Maryland College Park, two “town hall” meetings were held – in Howard County on February 10 and Baltimore City on March 1.
 
“We had 90 people at each. We had to cut off registration because we ran out of space,” says Kirk. “That told us there is interest” in Startup Maryland.
 
Membership in Startup Maryland is free. Register on the website. So far, even before the official launch on March, Kirk says some 200 companies have registered.
 
Source: Julie Lenzer Kirk, Startup Maryland
Writer: Barbara Pash
 
 
 
 

Many of Baltimore's neighborhood recreation centers are scheduled to close, or have closed already, as a result of the city's continuing budget woes. Members of the Riverside community and Digital Harbor High School boosters have been looking at ways to transform the soon to be shuttered South Baltimore Recreation Center into a neighborhood technology center.

A meeting on the subject will be held Wednesday, Feb. 29 at the Baltimore Room at 100 Harbor View Dr. The meeting is being held jointly by the Key Highway Community Association and the HarborView Social Committee.

Andrew Coy, an educator at Digital Harbor High School who was named one of “10 Rock Stars Making A Difference In Baltimore” by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, will fill the community in on plans to pay for the transformation. Coy is looking at using grant money to get the centers up and running. Digital Harbor students will also be presenting information about how technology impacts their education. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m..


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Jane Wehrle, founder of the Loop, an activity network in South Baltimore 

In this economy, it's been a challenge for Michelle Ingrodi of Charm City Animal Rescue to raise the funds that her charity needs to provide services for homeless animals in Baltimore.

A recent partnership with Groupon's nonprofit fundraising team -- called G-Team -- helped the animal rescue service find the funds it needs to keep the functioning. CCAR's Groupon event ran for three days and raised $2,060. The nonprofit sold 206 Groupons at $10 each, Ingrodi says.

“We aimed for $300, so this was really huge for us,” says CCAR founder Michelle Ingrodi.

The Groupon effort is just the first of this year's creative fundraising efforts for the animal rescue. CCAR will be raising funds through a tattooing benefit in March and a bull roast in April. The animal rescue also plans to continue the fundraising effort with a 1980's prom themed benefit, a “giant yard sale” benefit and New Year's Eve spay and neuter event.

“CCAR is funded only by donations. We don't have a facility yet, I don't even have a car, so both are very big on our list of items needed,” Ingrodi says.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Michelle Ingrodi, Charm City Animal Rescue

Apothecary Wellness in Federal Hill has added three new employees.

The holistic wellness spa and boutique has added a new esthestician, a massage therapy assistant and Dr. Homa Hashime, a holistic medical practitioner to its team.

The addition of a naturopathic medical doctor to the staff means that Federal Hill patients who choose naturopathic medicine will no longer have to travel to Hampden for care. To promote this expansion, Apothecary Wellness has planned an open house Jan. 29.

“We are seeing a drastic change in the way people are taking care of themselves, including the products they are choosing to use," says Christine Cochrum, co-owner of Apothecary Wellness. "We are excited to be a part of that change and we hope to continue to inspire wellness in our community."

The open house will feature free samples of the natural products that the boutique carries, make-up and skincare demonstrations and educational opportunities with the spa's practitioners.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Sources: Jane Seebold; Federal Hill Main Street; Christine Cochrum, Apothecary Wellness

Constellation Energy is now accepting applications for its EcoStar Grant Program, which promotes renewable energy.

In its third year, the program provides grants of up to $5,000 to organizations working on community projects that fit into one or more categories designated by the Baltimore firm: pollution prevention, education and outreach, energy efficiency, conservation and community activism

Past winners of EcoStar grants in Baltimore include Coppin State University, Knowledge Is Power Program charter schools and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Coppin State University used EcoStar grant funds to study nanotechnology and solar power. Constellation has awarded EcoStar grants in 20 states since the program's inception. Last year, it awarded 85 EcoStar grants.

The deadline for applications for the 2012 EcoStar grant program is March 10. Grant awards will be announced on or before Earth Day, April 12.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Christina Pratt, Constellation Energy