Innovation + Job News

Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, along with Director of Sustainability David Carroll and Charles Reighart, Recycling and Waste Prevention Manager, announced that single stream recycling collection will begin in Baltimore County on February 1, 2010.

All 234,000 single-family homes and town homes are included in this program. The 6,000 apartment and condominium units that currently have recycling collection will also be included in this program. "This is a major environmental initiative for Baltimore County," says Smith. "Allowing individuals to combine all their recyclable items in the same container at one time will make recycling very easy for County residents, and when you make it easier to recycle, people will recycle more."

As the County moves forward with its single stream recycling collection program for these 240,000 homes, Bureau of Solid Waste Management staff will also be working to bring 63,000 apartment and condominium units without recycling collection into the program. "It is our intention to have every apartment and condominium complex in Baltimore County provide their residents with the opportunity to recycle," says David Carroll, Baltimore County Director of Sustainability. "Single stream recycling is the latest in a series of initiatives in Baltimore County designed to protect our resources."

Single stream recycling collection means that paper, bottles, and cans may be combined in the same container to be placed out for collection each week. Additionally, residents will be able to recycle more items than before, including:

• narrow-neck plastic bottles and jugs with a number from 1 to 7 in the recycling symbol
• wide-mouth plastic containers (such as butter and yogurt containers)
• rigid plastics (such as buckets, drinking cups, and flower pots)
• empty aerosol cans
• aluminum foil and pie pans
• milk and juice cartons/boxes.

In an effort to make it very easy for residents to recycle, they will be able to use a wide variety of containers to place single stream recyclables out for collection, including:

• recycling containers up to a 34-gallon capacity
• any trash containers up to 34-gallon capacity used only for recycling and marked with a large "X" or "RECYCLE"
• small cardboard boxes (the boxes will be collected with recycled items set out for pickup).

County Executive Smith stressed that it is important for residents to remember that recyclables must not be placed in plastic bags of any type or color in this new program. "Plastic bags create problems for the single stream sorting equipment," he says. "Our solid waste management team will work hard to educate everyone to use containers instead of plastic bags." Many local food stores accept clean and dry plastic bags for recycling.

Baltimore County residences will receive an updated 4-year trash and recycling collection schedule/program guide in the mail shortly before the start of the new single stream recycling program on February 1, 2010. Residents are urged to read, retain, and post their new collection schedule/program guide.

For more information about Baltimore County's transition to single stream recycling collection, residents may call the Bureau of Solid Waste Management at 410-887-2000 or visit www.bcrecycles.com starting Monday, December 14.

Source: Baltimore County Development Corporation
Writer: Walaika Haskins

County Executive John R. Leopold today announced that four projects have been granted tax-exempt Stimulus Recovery Zone Facility Bonds totaling more than $32 million that will generate more than 1,700 new jobs.

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has committed $650,000 in Neighborhood BusinessWorks Program (NBW) loans to two projects: a restaurant in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore City and a mixed-use building in Olde Towne Gaithersburg that will house a restaurant and offices for several businesses.

"Small businesses represent 98 percent of the State's employers. They are the backbone of our economy, and we are committed to ensuring that small businesses in Maryland remain strong and stable," says Gov. Martin O'Malley. "These businesses will create job opportunities in their communities and contribute to Maryland's prosperity."

DHCD provided $400,000 in NBW assistance to Langermann's Caf�, leveraging $650,000 for the project. Langermann's Caf� will be a moderately priced, 165-seat bistro located at Can Company in the historic Canton neighborhood of Baltimore City. The restaurant's menu will feature items from the shores and farmlands of the American Southeast. Langermann's Caf� will fill a previously vacant 5,300 square foot main floor and 1,800 square foot mezzanine in the Can Company. The Caf� will create an estimated 85 new jobs.

A four-story restaurant/office building in Olde Towne Gaithersburg received $250,000 through NBW, helping the project leverage over $2.25 million. The building will be home to the Slice of Olde Towne restaurant and provide offices for a nonprofit organization, a title company, and a commercial real estate brokerage. Eight new job positions will be created.

"Neighborhood BusinessWorks has been a great program for creating and expanding small businesses in Maryland," says Department of Housing and Community Development Sec. Raymond A. Skinner. "Not only do these businesses create jobs and economic growth, but they also serve as great catalysts for other community revitalization investments that enhance our cities and towns."

NBW is the state's premiere loan program for financing businesses that provide amenities and services that benefit their surrounding neighborhoods. Other recent projects have included a bike store, a veterinary office, a clayworks studio and a mixed-use project that included affordable housing for public school teachers. NBW provides flexible gap financing in the form of below-market interest rate loans to small businesses and nonprofit organizations locating or expanding in locally designated neighborhood revitalization areas. Financing ranges from $25,000 to $500,000 for up to 50 percent of a project's total cost. Since the start of the O'Malley-Brown Administration, NBW has provided over $7.3 million to 31 projects that have created 208 jobs.

The NBW program also supports community revitalization and economic development under Governor O'Malley's Smart, Green & Growing initiative. Smart, Green & Growing is a multi-agency, statewide initiative launched by Governor Martin O'Malley to help Maryland achieve a more sustainable future by linking community revitalization, transportation improvements, economic development, smart growth and environmental restoration efforts. For more information, please log on to: www.green.maryland.gov.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development works with partners to finance housing opportunities and revitalize great places for Maryland citizens to live, work and prosper. To learn more about DHCD's small business assistance and community revitalization programs, visit www.mdhousing.org.

News updates also are available by following DHCD on Twitter and Facebook.

Source: Department of Housing and Community Development
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), the state's largest technology trade association with more than 500 members employing more than 250,000 in the region, has released its 2010 Policy Platform. The legislative wishlist calls on state lawmakers to double funding for the Biotech Tax Credit, invest pension funds in Maryland's most innovative companies, oppose harmful corporate tax reform and create long-term funding solutions for higher education and transportation. The 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly is set to begin January 13.

TCM's newly released 2010 Policy Platform outlines the organization's specific priorities in the areas of advanced technology, biotechnology, clean and green technology, tax climate, transportation, higher education and workforce development. TCM's advocacy efforts during the 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly are focused on making Maryland a great place for technology and biotechnology companies to start, grow and flourish. As the only technology association with a full-time lobbying staff in Annapolis, TCM works year round advocating the interests of Maryland's most advanced growth industries.

"Advanced industries like information technology and biotechnology are part of the solution for Maryland to emerge strongly from its economic challenges," says Ren�e M. Winsky, Chief Executive Officer of TCM. "The Tech Council of Maryland looks forward to forging an even closer relationship with policymakers in Annapolis to advance the interests of our membership and get Maryland's economy moving again," said Winsky.

Legislative accomplishments during the 2009 session included the preservation of the $6 million budget request for the Biotech Tax Credit, no new taxes on innovation and the creation of a Joint Information Technology and Biotechnology Committee. TCM has worked closely with both legislative leaders and the Governor's Office to ensure continued state support for critical biotech research and development including $2 million for the Enterprise and Challenge Investment programs, $12.4 million in funding for stem cell research, $1.6 million for the Nanobiotechnology Initiative Fund and the creation and funding of the Maryland Biotechnology Center.

Download a copy of TCM's 2010 Policy Platform.

Source: Tech Council of Maryland
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has donated $10,000 and 10 computers to the Dawson Safe Haven Center. Paul O'Neill, founder of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra says he was touched by the story of Angela Dawson, who perished in her home in East Baltimore after local drug dealers firebombed it in 2002.

O'Neill is currently on tour and dedicated the orchestra's latest album, "Night Castle" to the family, "I was just kind of in awe of this woman and her family. This album is just our way of paying tribute to her and her family," said O'Neill in an interview with WMAR-TV.

The Dawson family home was transformed into the Dawson Safe Haven Community Center in March 2007. The Dawson Center's mission is to provide a safe, nurturing, caring environment for the children and parents of the Oliver Community. After hearing about the Dawson Safe Haven Center O'Neill was compelled to further get involved and honor Angela Dawson's life with a donation.

"This unexpected gift will help us ensure that Angela Dawson and her family did not die in vain,'' says Mayor Sheila Dixon. "The Dawson Safe Have Center nurtures our most precious commodity, our children, the future of our city."

Baltimore Housing has made a commitment to improving the physical environment of the neighborhood through community clean ups and the demolition of vacant and abandoned properties. In addition, the agency funded the development of Preston Place, an affordable housing community in the neighborhood, and the first new homes built in the Oliver community in over 50 years.

Source: Housing Authority of Baltimore
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Gov. Martin O'Malley, in partnership with the University System of Maryland,  revealed the results of the Generating Clean Horizons initiative, a program intended to spur large-scale, commercial renewable energy projects that will provide electricity to Maryland. Gov. O'Malley announced the issuance of awards in response to an innovative competition for the supply of clean energy to the State, offering long-term power purchase agreements to a suite of clean energy developers that can place a portfolio of renewable power on the grid before 2014, create green jobs, and promote a more sustainable energy future.

"Our State is a leader in clean energy, and the results of this initiative demonstrate Maryland's commitment to the clean energy technologies of today as significant building blocks towards a smart, green and growing Maryland," says Gov. O'Malley. "With the combined resources of strategic public and private partnerships, we will continue to bring more green jobs to our communities, use public resources more efficiently, and lead by example for other States."

The University System of Maryland's Board of Regents and the Department of General Services recently approved the award of four renewable energy projects which will produce over 20 percent of the institutions and state agencies annual electric needs. The contracts will also further the State's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint 25 percent by 2020.

The awards will be made to US WindForce for a 55 MW on-shore wind energy project, Constellation for a 13 MW solar project in Central Maryland, and BlueWater Wind for up to 55 MW of wind energy as an extension to the proposed Delaware off-shore wind project. A separate award under a small business provision will be made to Synergics for 10 MW as part of its Roth Rock development in Western Maryland.

"This is a significant step under our Environmental Sustainability Initiative," notes University System of Maryland Chancellor William "Brit" Kirwan, "which reflects our commitment to carbon reduction through a 20-year agreement for the purchase of renewable energy."

Generating Clean Horizons, in addition to numerous statewide energy efficiency projects, is another step toward achieving the ambitious energy goals established by the O'Malley-Brown Administration. Last year, Gov. O'Malley successfully championed the EmPOWER Maryland Act, which aims to reduce energy consumption 15 percent by 2015, and more than doubled Maryland's renewable portfolio standard to require that electric suppliers purchase 20 percent of their power from clean energy sources by 2022.

Maryland will offer access to these renewable energy contracts to county, university and municipal partners who may seek to benefit from these new commercial renewable energy projects.

Source: Office of the Governor
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's (BSO) OrchKids program received the best Christmas present ever. Baltimore philanthropists Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker will make a leadership gift of $1 million to the BSO's music education and life-enrichment program for kids.

The gift provides essential seed capital to support 50 percent of the OrchKids' incremental expenses as it expands over the next four academic years (years 2-5 of the program). These expenses include hiring additional instructors, purchasing supplies and instruments and adding one full-time administrative position to oversee the program as it grows to more than 300 students over the next four
years. 

Inspired by BSO Music Director Marin Alsop's artistic leadership and community vision, OrchKids is a year-round after-school program that provides music education, instruments, tutoring and mentorship to youth in Baltimore City at no cost to participants or the school. Launched in Fall 2008, the program served 30 first-grade students from Harriett Tubman Elementary School in its pilot year (2008-2009).

The school's closure at the end of the school year brought the program and the majority of the students enrolled in the program to OrchKids' new home, Lockerman Bundy Elementary School, also located in West Baltimore. In its second year, the program has grown to serve more than 150 pre-K through second grade students, both during the school day two days each week and after-school four days a week.

Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker have been involved in OrchKids since its early planning stages. They were among several community members who stepped forward to match Marin Alsop's initial founding contribution of $100,000. "The growth of the OrchKids program would not be possible without this visionary gift from Bob and Rheda," says BSO President & CEO Paul Meecham. "It is a huge vote of confidence in the remarkable progress already shown by the young students, whom they have come to know and love. Their gift, covering approximately 50 percent of the cost of the program over the next four years, will hopefully inspire others to help make a real difference in these children's lives."
 
"I have, for many years, been interested in providing educational opportunities to the underserved population," explains Meyerhoff. "The Meyerhoff Scholar Program at UMBC provides the opportunity to study and earn advanced degrees in Math and Science. The OrchKids project is focused on this same population in the beginning of their educational life. We're hoping to make a big difference there so that they can learn skills such as working with a team to produce something so beautiful and joyous as music. Rheda's longstanding relationship with the BSO and her interest in education makes us the happiest of partners in the OrchKids program."

Source: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer has launched a green initiative that will help Annapolis property owners to easily make energy efficiency improvements to their buildings. The initiative builds on legislation passed by Annapolis in January 2009 enabling its property owners to attach energy improvement loans to their properties. Annapolis is the first City in Maryland to pass such legislation.
 
The City of Annapolis, in cooperation with Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC), Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), Edison|Wright and Direct Energy will launch the first phase of the program Annapolis EZ|Energy Zone (Annapolis EZ) in early 2010. The program is designed to help with financing and implementation of energy efficiency for Annapolis residential property owners. Annapolis EZ anticipates improving up to 50 properties in Annapolis during the first phase of the program. It is currently signing up interested participants.

"Many residential property owners would like to improve the energy efficiency of their home," says Mayor Moyer. "However, high upfront cost and other financial hurdles often deter them from getting involved. Annapolis EZ does exactly what the name says � it makes it easy to move forward with projects and see real savings on energy bills."

The program is financed by MCEC with funding made available from stimulus dollars through MEA.

Annapolis EZ makes it possible for Annapolis property owners to finance energy improvements without affecting their credit score, and if they sell their property before the loan is paid off, the next property owner will take over the payments along with the reduced energy bill. The Annapolis EZ program also provides property owners with a list of only pre-approved, certified auditors, installers and contractors. 

PACE programs have the potential to unleash over $250 billion of investment into clean energy improvements over the next 10 years, eliminating more than a gigaton of CO2 emissions, saving $1.75 billion in annual electricity costs and creating 400,000 jobs per year.
 
Source: City of Annapolis
Writer: Walaika Haskins

"Increased education and easy to use programs are the keys to fundamentally changing our energy usage in the State of Maryland and across the United States," says Eric Palm, Vice President of Direct Energy - Annapolis EZ|Energy Zone?s lead energy retrofit provider. "Conducting an energy assessment of their home is the first step for a homeowner to understand what improvements need to be undertaken to reduce their energy usage and positively impact the environment."
 
Annapolis EZ will use contractors who are participating with the Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. These contractors have been trained to take a �whole-house? approach that identifies comfort, safety and energy efficiency improvements.

A Towson University professor has taken the first steps to bring to life the engineering in STEM. With start-up funds from the Faculty Development and Research Committee's (FDRC) grant and fellowships program and a $100,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation (DLLR) under its Workforce One initiative, Pamela Lottero-Perdue, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy & Geosciences, has launched a research program focused on teaching engineering to elementary-aged children.

"Engineering is one of the most neglected of the STEM disciplines in the K-12 educational system," says Lottero-Perdue, who began her career as an engineer and later taught high school level pre-college engineering before earning her Ph.D. in science education. "A lack of elementary engineering education misses opportunities to develop children's technological literacy and to learn science and math content that is inherently connected to the study of engineering."

Under the DLLR grant, Lottero-Perdue and her partners in Harford County Public Schools created science-technology-engineering integrated units using Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curricula developed by the National Center for Technological Literacy at the Boston Museum of Science and offered elementary educators in the district intensive professional development to teach those units.

This grant, as well as additional funding through the National Dissemination through Regional Partners (NDRP) project through the EiE program has enabled Lottero-Perdue and her team to provide professional development to more than 30 third-grade, fourth-grade, and enrichment teachers across seven elementary schools in the district. By creating co-teaching partnerships between the enrichment and classroom teachers, participants have been supported through the learning and teaching process. Often with little to no prior exposure to engineering content and pedagogy, the partnership is a vital component of the research. View Lottero-Perdue's work with HCPS made possible through her collaboration with David Reiss, Department of Electronic Media and Film.

Lottero-Perdue's research implements and evaluates EiE curriculum in elementary classroom settings, and, with Paz Galupo, Department of Psychology and director of the Institute for Academic Diversity and Inclusion, examines the way in which teachers experience the implementation process. With the preliminary data provided by the HCPS experience, Lottero-Perdue wants to pursue additional funding opportunities via the National Science Foundation or other sources of funding to support STEM education in the future. Currently, Lottero-Perdue is continuing EiE dissemination work through the NDRP program, which will begin the process of teacher professional development for first- and second-grade engineering units in the spring. By the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 34 classrooms of HCPS students will have received instruction in engineering, and Lottero-Perdue aims to help this number grow year by year in the district.

Source: Towson University
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The results of a preliminary study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins show that "mini" stem cell transplantation may safely reverse severe sickle cell disease in adults.

The phase I/II study to establish safety of the procedure, published Dec. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine, describes 10 patients with severe sickle cell disease who received intravenous transplants of blood-forming stem cells. The transplanted stem cells came from the peripheral blood of healthy related donors matched to the patients' tissue types.

Using this procedure, nine of 10 patients treated have normal red blood cells and reversal of organ damage caused by the disease.

Jonathan Powell, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, says the intravenous transplant approach for sickle cell disease, caused by a single mutation in the hemoglobin gene, does not replace the defective gene, but transplants blood stem cells that carry the normal gene.

Sickle cell disease, named for the "deflated" sickle-shaped appearance of red blood cells in those with the disease, hinders the cells' ability to carry oxygen throughout the body. In severe cases, it causes stroke, severe pain, and damage to multiple organs, including the lungs, kidneys and liver.

All patients in the study, ranging in age from 16 to 45, were treated at the NIH with what researchers call a non-myeloablative or "mini" transplant, along with an immune-suppressing drug called rapamycin.

Conventional transplant methods use high doses of chemotherapy to wipe out the immune system before the transplanted cells are injected, a process that has many side effects, including serious bacterial and fungal infections, which may kill some patients. In mini-transplants, lower doses of medication and radiation are used to make room for the donor's cells, the new source for healthy red blood cells in the patient.

According to Powell, side effects, including low white blood cell counts, were few and very mild compared with conventional bone marrow transplantation. But in nine of the 10, donor cells now coexist with the patients' own cells. One patient was not able to maintain the transplanted cells long term.

Mini-transplants for sickle cell disease were tested in patients almost a decade ago, but were unsuccessful because the patients' immune systems rejected the transplanted cells, says Powell.

By employing the drug rapamcyin, he says, this new approach promotes the coexistence of the host and donor cells.

Powell's earlier research in mice showed that rapamycin inhibits an enzymatic pathway that suppresses the immune system and makes the host and donor cells tolerant to each other.

The NIH/Johns Hopkins team is conducting further studies on immune cells gathered from patients in their study, and looking at a combination of rapamycin with a well-known cancer drug called cyclophosphamide.

Other teams at Johns Hopkins are studying the use of half-matched donors for transplants in sickle cell patients, helping to widen the pool of potential donors for stem cell transplantation.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the NIH.

Study authors at the NIH include principal investigator John Tisdale, as well as Matthew Hsieh, Elizabeth Kang, Courtney Fitzhugh, M. Beth Link, Roger Kurlander, Richard Childs, and Griffin Rodgers.

Source: Johns Hopkins University
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Northrop Grumman officially opened its new Northrop Grumman Innovation Institute in Linthicum last week. The center will serve as the focal point for the sector's advanced technology development activities.

The five-story, 156,000 square foot leased office building is located on West Nursery Road in the West*Quest Technology Park where Northrop Grumman already maintains the headquarters for its Electronic Systems sector. The new facility is home to more than 450 current engineers, scientists and support personnel who had previously been housed in several nearby leased and company-owned buildings.

"From the ground up, this new facility � with its modular office concepts, and innovative program strategy and planning areas � was designed to help foster a collaborative employee work environment conducive to the timely development of innovative global defense electronics technologies," says James F. Pitts, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, in a statement. "We're confident the end result of the corporation's investment in this new facility will be the generation of myriad exciting new technologies and solutions for our defense and commercial customers."

Designed to be energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly, the building has received the nationally-recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) certification. The new facility, which is situated on a 9.5 acre parcel on West Nursery Road, is owned by Columbia, Md.-based Corporate Office Properties Trust. Construction was managed by Manekin Construction LLC also of Columbia.

Source: Northrop Grumman
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have shown that a protein made by a gene called "Twist" may be the warning sign that can accurately distinguish stem cells that drive aggressive, metastatic breast cancer from other breast cancer cells.

Building on recent work suggesting that it is a relatively rare subgroup of stem cells in breast tumors that drives breast cancer, scientists have surmised that this subgroup of cells must have some very distinctive qualities and characteristics.

In experiments designed to identify those special qualities, the Hopkins team focused on the gene "Twist" (or TWIST1) � named for its winding shape � because of its known role as the producer of a so-called transcription factor, or protein that switches on or off other genes. Twist is an oncogene, one of many genes we are born with that have the potential to turn normal cells into malignant ones.

"Our experiments show that Twist is a driving force among a lot of other players in causing some forms of breast cancer," says Venu Raman, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology and oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The protein it makes is one of a growing collection of markers that, when present, flag a tumor cell as a breast cancer stem cell."

Previous stem cell research identified a Twist-promoted process known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, or EMT, as an important marker denoting the special subgroup of breast cancer stem cells. EMT essentially gets cells to detach from a primary tumor and metastasize. The new Hopkins research shows that the presence of Twist, along with changes in two other biomarkers � CD 24 and CD44 � even without EMT, announces the presence of this critical sub-group of stem cells.

"The conventional thinking is that the EMT is crucial for recognizing the breast cancer cell as stem cells, and the potential for metastasis, but our studies show that when Twist shows up in excess or even at all, it can work independently of EMT," says Farhad Vesuna, Ph.D., an instructor of radiology in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "EMT is not mandatory for identifying a breast cancer stem cell."

Working with human breast cancer cells transplanted into mice, all of which had the oncogene Twist, the scientists tagged cell surface markers CD24 and CD44 with fluorescent chemicals. Following isolation of the subpopulation containing high CD44 and low CD24 by flow cytometry, they counted 20 of these putative breast cancer stem cells. They then injected these cells into the breast tissue of 12 mice. All developed cancerous tumors.

"Normally, it takes approximately a million cells to grow a xenograft, or transplanted tumor," Vesuna says. "And here we're talking just 20 cells. There is something about these cells � something different compared to the whole bulk of the tumor cell � that makes them potent. That's the acid test � if you can take a very small number of purified "stem cells" and grow a cancerous tumor, this means you have a pure population."

Previously, the team showed that 65 percent of aggressive breast cancers have more Twist compared to lower-grade breast cancers, and that Twist-expressing cells are more resistant to radiation.

Twist is what scientists refer to as an oncogene, one that if expressed when and where it's not supposed to be expressed, causes oncogenesis or cancer because the molecules and pathways that once regulated it and kept it in check are gone.

This finding � that Twist is integral to the breast cancer stem cell phenotype � has fundamental implications for early detection, treatment and prevention, Raman says. Some cancer treatments may kill ordinary tumor cells while sparing the rare cancer stem cell population, sabotaging treatment efforts. More effective cancer therapies likely require drugs that kill this important stem cell population.

This study was supported by the Maryland Stem Cell Research Foundation. In addition to Vesuna and Raman, authors of the paper include Ala Lisok and Brian Kimble, also of Johns Hopkins.

Source: Johns Hopkins University
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Gov. Martin O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown recenly launched "MBE University," an initiative to support Maryland's minority- and women-owned businesses and to highlight the state's MBE program. MBE University will serve as a traveling conference throughout Maryland to offer training, opportunities, and information on the tools necessary for minority or woman-owned businesses to expand, create jobs, and thrive even in difficult economic times.

"Maryland is home to a rich and diverse community of 250,000 minority and women-owned enterprises that employ hundreds of thousands of Marylanders and serve as the economic engine that will drive Maryland's recovery," says Gov. O'Malley. "MBE University will provide access to information, jobs and job creation opportunities, and vital resources that will allow them to remain competitive and prosperous, especially during these tough economic times."

"By opening new doors for Maryland's innovative and dedicated small and minority-owned businesses, we are strengthening our workforce and making an important investment in our future. Governor O'Malley and I are committed to expanding opportunity to more Marylanders," says Lt. Gov. Brown. "Initiatives like MBE University will ensure that our great State remains well-positioned to not only weather this economic recession, but also thrive for years to come."

Maryland is home to the oldest MBE program in the nation, and it has established the highest minority- and women-owned business contracting goals in the nation at 25 percent. In addition, Maryland is one of only 15 states in the nation with MBE goals and one of only 4 states with an MBE law in statute. Maryland remains the only state in the nation to collect uniform reporting data including actual payments to MBEs.

In Fiscal Year 2009, Maryland state agencies achieved 22 percent MBE participation, the highest in recorded history, up from 20 percent in the previous year. These include over $1.6 billion in awards to MBE firms, an increase of 23 percent in one year and more than double the amount of MBE contracts awarded four years ago.

"MBE University" was created in collaboration with the state's minority business coordinating agencies and the Governor's Office. Coordinating agencies include the Department of Business and Economic Development, the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs, the Department of General Services, and the Governor's Grants Office. Today's conference is the first in a series that will be offered around the State continuing into next year.

For more information on the MBE University Initiative, contact the Governor's Office at 410-767-8232 or visit www.mdminoritybusiness.com.

Source: Department of Business and Economic Development
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Salesgen, a Swedish, a sales and marketing company, has chosen to set up shop in Maryland. The company has received $425,000 (SEK 3 Million)i n external financing to establish the House of GreenTech with offices and registered corporations in the U.S. and Sweden. Salesgen will also act as the formal representative of the State of Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development in Sweden and Finland.

"Salesgen's decision to set up a U.S. headquarters is another great win from our economic development mission to Sweden in June and further evidence that Maryland is well positioned to attract clean energy and green technology enterprises," says Gov. Martin O'Malley. "Maryland and Sweden share common interests in green technology and energy solutions and we look forward to learning from our European partner's ways to create a smarter and greener Maryland."

A large number of Swedish companies have developed green technologies and products that have tremendous potential in the U.S. market. But they rarely have the resources to take their offerings to the U.S. market. Even fewer have the financial muscle, knowhow and network to successfully establish U.S. subsidiaries and offer project financing. That's where Salesgen's House of GreenTech adds value, with registered corporations in the US and Sweden and vast experience from sales and marketing of technologies, products, and solutions.

"The capital infusion allows us to establish House of GreenTech and further emphasize the advantages of Salesgen; to be able to market Swedish GreenTech in the U.S. from U.S. offices, do business as a company incorporated in the U.S., and to add project financing to the equation. We have senior advisors and members of the board of directors on both sides of the Atlantic, providing Nordic GreenTech companies with a unique interface to the U.S. market", says Peter Selemark, Executive VP SALESGEN and CEO of the U.S. based Salesgen House of GreenTech, a subsidiary of Salesgen.

"The market for GreenTech is roughly where the IT market was in the nineties. Dynamics are strong and the market is largely uncharted territory. But this time there is a great window of opportunity to bring technology from Sweden to U.S. instead of just importing to Sweden", continues Peter Selemark.

A group of European investors with ties to Sweden provided the first round of external financing with $425,000 (SEK 3 Million). Additional investors may enter in the next two quarters, after which an IPO for about $1 � 1.2 Million (SEK 7-9 Million ) and a listing on one of the smaller stock exchanges in Sweden is planned. The target is to reach$ 70 Million (SEK 500 Million) in revenues from GreenTech in five years.

Source: Salesgen
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) has been named one of the nation's best hospitals for patient safety and quality of care. It is the fourth year in a row that the Leapfrog Group has honored UMMC with the designation. Only 45 hospitals nationwide have earned this important and prestigious recognition for 2009.

UMMC is the only hospital in Maryland to be on the 2009 Top Hospitals list and is one of only three hospitals nationwide to have met Leapfrog's criteria each year since 2006.

The Leapfrog survey is the only national, public comparison of hospitals on key issues including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices, and measures of efficiency. The Leapfrog Group was founded by the Business Roundtable to initiate breakthrough improvements � or "leaps" � in health care safety, quality and affordability.

"Our inclusion on the Leapfrog Group's list of top hospitals four years in a row demonstrates that our entire staff�including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists and support staff �is focused on providing the best patient care," says Jeffrey A. Rivest, president and chief executive officer of the UMMC.

"The Leapfrog survey is a comprehensive, objective and up-to-date assessment of hospital performance in terms of quality and safety. It gives health care consumers an important resource when they are choosing a hospital for care," says Rivest.

The Leapfrog survey uses such criteria as patient care outcomes, use of best practices and patient safety initiatives. The criteria also include the number of specific high-risk procedures that are performed. Each year, Leapfrog adds new performance measures and expands the criteria for hospitals to meet its stringent standards.

One of Leapfrog's key criteria is whether a hospital uses computerized physician order entry, which means that medications, lab tests and imaging studies are ordered by physicians electronically, to reduce errors. UMMC completed full implementation of computerized order entry, known as CPOE, two years ago. As an added measure for 2009, Leapfrog looked not only at whether a hospital implemented CPOE, but also how effectively it used the system to prevent medication errors. The medical center met Leapfrog's rigorous standards on the CPOE evaluation tool.

Leapfrog also reviews hospital performance in a variety of common and high-risk procedures, as well as at the volume of high-risk procedures. A high number of procedures indicates more experience and usually represents better outcomes.

The medical center performed 133 aortic valve replacements in the past year, while the Leapfrog standard was 120. There were 778 percutaneous coronary interventions (such as balloon angioplasty) at the medical center, while the Leapfrog standard was 400. In addition, the medical center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit cared for 123 very low birth weight babies, significantly exceeding the Leapfrog standard of 50.

Also important to the Leapfrog Group is whether hospital intensive care units are staffed with physicians who have specialized training in intensive or critical care. Such specialists are known as intensivists. "All ten of our Intensive Care Units, including the surgical, medical, neurological, cardiac surgery, multi-trauma and pediatric ICUs, are staffed by doctors who are specially trained in intensive and critical care," says Dr. Gottlieb.

UMMC also scored well on many of the safe practices selected by Leapfrog, such as nurse staffing, quality and leadership, hand hygiene, medication reconciliation, communication of critical information to patients and having leadership structure and systems in place to provide patient safety.

The hospital was among 1,206 hospitals that submitted data and documentation for the 2009 Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey.

Source: The University of Maryland Medical Center
Writer: Walaika Haskins