CAMI Launches Unique Cyber
Jobs Platform
The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland Inc. (CAMI) has announced the launch of a state-of-the-art online jobs platform in partnership with Maryland-based SkillSmart. The platform, Maryland Cyber Jobs (MCJ), addresses the chronic shortage across all industry sectors in finding qualified candidates for Maryland cybersecurity positions.
Using a skills-based methodology tailored to each hiring entity, MCJ reduces the time, effort and expense for Maryland employers to find qualified candidates for cyber-related positions. MCJ also helps candidates identify jobs that match their experience and current skills, as well as the skills they need to acquire for the jobs they want. Additionally, the platform identifies Maryland education, training, certification, internship and apprenticeship resources where job seekers can get the skills and experience needed for jobs of interest.
“This platform dramatically reduces the time a hiring organization will have to invest to find best-fit candidates,” said CAMI Executive Director Stacey Smith. “Numerous commercial businesses and cybersecurity companies have told us that using standard job boards is laborious … MCJ directly addresses this shortcoming. Additionally, it’s a platform that connects all three of the critical elements for a successful workforce program: employers; job seekers; and entities that provide the education, skills, training and experience for job seekers.”
CREG Acquires 259 Acres at
Brandon Woods
Chesapeake Real Estate Group (CREG) has acquired approximately 259 acres of land near Fort Smallwood Road in Anne Arundel County from Exelon Corp., at Brandon Woods III. CREG plans to develop up to 1 million square feet of industrial and warehouse space on the site.
Through a partnership with EverWest Real Estate Partners, CREG plans to immediately begin construction on Phase I, which will consist of a 500,000-square-foot, 36-foot clear, speculative industrial building. This mega-warehouse is ideally suited to e-commerce users and targets the largest distribution and fulfillment users in the country. It will be the largest speculative building ever constructed in Anne Arundel County and one of the largest ever built in Maryland.
“With the scarcity of land and suitable development sites available for large-scale warehouse and distribution product, this strategically-located tract presents a tremendous opportunity to continue our e-commerce and industrial building program in the mid-Atlantic region,” said Jim Lighthizer, owner and managing partner of CREG.
Maryland Business Coalition Launches Website Addressing Mandatory Paid Leave
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has announced its participation in the Save Maryland Jobs business coalition. The group includes business leaders in the state who are focused on supporting Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of House Bill 1, which concerns mandatory paid leave.
“Our goal is to ensure that the public is aware the potential still exists for mandatory paid leave to become law. We are not completely out of the woods yet, and the Save Maryland Jobs coalition will do everything we can to increase awareness regarding the legislature’s ability to override Gov. Hogan’s veto,” said Mike O’Halloran, NFIB Maryland state director.
The coalition is composed of NFIB, the Maryland Retailers Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, the Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association, the Restaurant Association of Maryland, the Maryland Motor Truck Association, the Maryland Society for Human Resources Management State Council, the Service Stations Association and DavCo Restaurants. It recently launched a new website that enables users to identify their legislators and contact them directly.
NOAA Awards $2.3M for UMD Climate Change Research
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is awarding $2,311,491 to the University of Maryland in College Park (UMD) to support ongoing climate change research.
NOAA heads a group of 13 federal agencies in researching the latest climate change trends and disseminating results in a report known as the “National Climate Assessment,” released every four years. UMD — one of NOAA’s primary research partners in this effort — will use the funds to conduct research for the upcoming National Climate Assessment, due to be finalized by next year.
The National Climate Assessment analyzes the effects of global climate change on the environment, agriculture, land and water resources, transportation, human health, human social systems and biological diversity. Researchers use these findings to project major and emerging climate trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.
Columbia-Based MedStar Adopts Newest Breast Cancer Technology
Dr. Maen Farha, director of the MedStar Union Memorial and Good Samaritan Hospital breast centers, is the first physician in the state to offer breast cancer patients electromagnetic wave technology to locate and remove breast lumps that are not detectable by touch. The device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, uses real-time guidance to deliver a reflector directly into the breast lump, giving a precise target that will be removed with the lump during surgery.
The treatment, known as wire localization, requires a radiologist to insert a wire through the breast to the tumor, to guide the surgeon to the target tissue. But with the wire extending out of the breast skin until the biopsy or surgery, the procedure can be uncomfortable and plagued by scheduling challenges, making the patient experience less than optimal.
“The new technology uses radar to triangulate the reflector already placed in the breast tumor,” said Farha. “Patients can have the reflector inserted anytime within a week before the surgery, so the convenience factor alone is an advancement that we are pleased to be able to offer. More importantly is the level of precision afforded by this technology gives us an increased probability of removing all the cancer.”
New Tenable Program to Help Orgs Close the Cyber Gap
Columbia-based Tenable has unveiled its cutting-edge partner program, Tenable Assure, that positions partners to build long-term, consultative relationships with customers. The crux of the program is to help customers translate raw security data into a metrics-driven program where every business decision factors in cyber exposure.
In recognition of the global shortage of trained security professionals, Tenable Assure also includes the company’s first-ever managed security service provider (MSSP) program. It is designed to provide customers with the flexibility of choosing strategic, cost-effective solutions and custom services to help them address how to manage, measure and reduce their cyber exposure.
“Partners are critical to our mission of empowering organizations to accurately understand, represent and reduce their cyber risk across the rapidly changing modern attack surface,” said John Negron, chief revenue officer, Tenable. “We’re investing in our partners to help them remain competitive in a market that is rapidly evolving, and together we’re building a world-class, revenue-generating machine that will not only accelerate Tenable into the next stage of growth, but benefit our partners directly as well.”
Vheda Health’s National Growth Fuels Expansion
Due to the growth of Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship (MCE) resident Vheda Health, the company has moved into a new, larger space in Columbia at 8325 Guilford Road. This larger space enables the company to meet the needs of its user base while providing a space to accommodate a larger workforce and operational needs.
Vheda Health has provided health care information technology services to health insurers for more than a half-decade. It employs 25 people across two continents, but started it journey in the MCE with two.
“With a focus on national expansion, it was imperative we identify a new headquarters that could sufficiently accommodate this growth. We can now scale and support our partners the right way. Our platform currently reaches 12 million lives nationally. By early 2018, we expect this reach will double,” said Shameet Luhar, CEO.
Sonatype Adds Native Container Scanning to Nexus Lifecycle
Fulton-based Sonatype has released a new version of its Nexus Lifecycle product, which now includes a built-in service that enables software development teams to automatically and continuously examine the security and quality of open source components used within container images. According to the 2017 DevSecOps Community survey, 88% of information technology (IT) professionals are contemplating new and different approaches to security, as container images are fast becoming an operational standard in DevOps-native environments.
The free service, known as Lifecycle Container Analysis (LCA), gives customers the ability to surface intelligence with respect to the quality of open source components inside of a container image and automatically apply and manage policies based on the results.
“Rather than treating security as an afterthought, high performance technology organizations view containers as an unprecedented opportunity to embed automated security controls into every phase of the software delivery pipeline,” said Wayne Jackson, CEO of Sonatype. “We have hundreds of enterprise customers like Goldman Sachs, Intuit and Liberty Mutual already using Nexus Lifecycle to continuously govern the security and quality of open source components being used within their applications — and beginning today the remarkable intelligence of Nexus Lifecycle has been extended to containers as well.”
New Records Set for BWI Marshall, BaltimoreLink Service Added
BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport announced that 2,464,890 passengers traveled through the facility in June 2017, an increase of 5% over June 2016 and a new all-time June record for passenger traffic. It marked the 24th straight monthly passenger record.
For fiscal 2017 (between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017), 25,686,444 passengers traveled through BWI Marshall, an increase of 4.1% and a new fiscal year record. To help meet this growing demand, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) launched BaltimoreLink (LocalLink 75) to create a truly interconnected transit system for the entire region, which includes new service to assist commuters in BWI Technology Park and Baltimore Commons and along Stoney Run Road.
Northrop Team Adopts Latest Matterport Technology
The Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate is providing high-resolution photography and interactive three-dimensional (3-D) and virtual reality (VR) experiences using Matterport’s latest Pro2 3-D cameras. The Northrop Team’s use of the new, all-in-one Matterport Pro2 camera will address all photography needs including 3-D and VR.
Using the new technology, homebuyers can visit the team’s online home listings to manipulate 3-D models of home interiors, virtually move through rooms and hallways, and spin views 360 degrees, now including high-res imagery allowing greater zoom capabilities. The new cameras provide 4K-resolution capture for printing, as well as digital photos; 360-degree views and spherical images for space communication; and automated generation of color 2-D and 3-D interactive floor plans; among other features.
Laurel Mayor to Run for Prince George’s County Council
Mayor Craig Moe, a Laurel resident and member of the Democratic party, has announced his intention to file as a candidate for Prince George’s County Council District 1 in the 2018 election.
“As a proven municipal leader, I have a record of accomplishments, bringing people together and getting results to better the community,” Moe said. “I am proud of the accomplishments we have made in Laurel, through partnerships with the community and other elected officials. I would be honored to serve the residents of Council District 1 with the same hard work and dedication I have always provided.”
NSA Accredits Sylint for Cyber Incident Response Assistance
Sarasota, Fla., based-Sylint Group has received accreditation from the National Security Agency (NSA) for Cyber Incident Response Assistance (CIRA). Sylint is now one of only 16 companies in the U.S. recognized by the NSA as having met its standards to provide cyber incident response services to government agencies, public companies, nonprofits and other organizations.
“Sylint is a highly agile team of cyber professionals and licensed investigators able to quickly and discreetly respond to incidents,” said Charles Shugg, brigadier general, USAF (ret.), and a senior partner at Sylint. “We move rapidly to assess the situation, contain the incident, limit damage and help restore our client back to operational status. One of our senior partners is actively involved in every case, giving our clients unprecedented levels of expertise and attention.”
NMS-Backed Anne Arundel Dermatology Management Acquires KDG
Annapolis-based Anne Arundel Dermatology Management (ADM), a portfolio company of New MainStream Capital, has partnered with Knoxville Dermatology Group (KDG). Founded in 1971, KDG is one of the largest private practice groups of board-certified dermatologists in Tennessee, and will benefit from the administrative support provided by Anne Arundel Dermatology Management.
In addition, in June 2017, ADM completed the acquisition of Excel Dermatology in Vienna, Va., a provider of general and cosmetic dermatology services. As part of the affiliation, both KDG and Excel will benefit from ADM’s extensive administrative and support services, including investments in information technology and electronic medical records, revenue cycle management, payer credentialing and contracting, compliance and reporting, human resources, business development and finance.
Cushman & Wakefield Arranges the Sale of Corridor Industrial Portfolio
Cushman & Wakefield has closed the sale of the industrial portfolio on behalf of Exeter Property Group. The buildings, 96% leased at the time of the sale, include 7587 Montevideo Road, 7591 Montevideo Road and 7595 Montevideo Road, all in Jessup; as well as 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover.
“This represents the second-largest industrial portfolio transaction we have arranged in the past week. Investor demand for infill last-mile warehouse in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., region remains white hot,” said Jonathan Carpenter, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield. “These properties are strategically located in the market to service the growing consumer populations of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.”
Loving Heart Assisted Living Home Is Accepting New Clients
Loving Heart Assisted Living Home (LHAL) has announced the launch in Bowie of its full-service assisted living home for seniors. In a time when people are living longer and the baby boomer population is growing, the opening of LHAH offers an opportunity to provide a unique alternative to large facilities, to living with their adult children or in a nursing home.
The home provides 24-hour care and the security of licensed and certified staff. LHAL seeks to ensure that residents are provided a positive experience in a family-oriented neighborhood.
Howard County Honored With Excellence in Procurement Award
Howard County has been honored with the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award by the National Procurement Institute (NPI). Howard County is one of just 48 counties in the U.S and Canada, only six agencies in Maryland, to earn this distinction. This is the ninth consecutive year the county has earned the NPI award.
“The Office of Purchasing’s staff help us make smart and responsible purchasing decisions every day to offer the best value and results for our residents’ tax dollars,” said County Executive Allan Kittleman. “We continue to reach out to our local businesses through our Local Business Initiative. By giving them a fair chance to compete, we are supporting jobs, helping our neighbors and making Howard County more economically sustainable.”
HCGH to Valet Park ER Visitors During Construction
While Howard County General Hospital (HCGH) renovates its emergency room, parking spaces directly outside the ER entrance will be temporarily unavailable; however, other campus parking is available.
The hospital is asking ER patients and families to follow signs directing them to the alternate complimentary parking when entering the campus, which will be provided at the ER entrance through October 2017. The temporary change is part of HCGH’s campus construction project, which involves building a two-story addition and renovating existing space. For more information, visit www.hcghoftomorrow.org.
DOC Accepting Online Apps for More Jobs for Maryland
The Maryland Department of Commerce (DOC) is accepting applications from manufacturing companies locating to, or expanding in, the state under a new incentive program called More Jobs for Marylanders. The program, Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature job creation legislation during the 2017 legislative session, provides tax incentives for manufacturing companies that create new jobs and provide workforce development resources for employees.
To date, more than two dozen companies, ranging from manufacturers of metal, construction products, wood and food, have filed a notice of intent to utilize the new program, indicating they plan to expand or locate in Maryland.
In addition, program resources include Partnership for Workforce Quality matching grants for workforce training, workforce development scholarships for students in job training programs at community colleges, and a state income tax credit for the first year of employment of an eligible apprentice. To submit an application or obtain additional information, visit commerce.maryland.gov/morejobs.
COLA Launches Website, Spotlights Patient Clinical Lab Testing
A new website developed by Columbia-based COLA is focused on raising the awareness of the importance of near-patient testing to early diagnosis and chronic disease management. While the health care system is moving forward with financial incentives to keep people healthy, having the ability to perform clinical laboratory testing at point-of-service is vital to ensuring the health of populations and communities across the country.
NearPatientTestingMatters.org is a valuable resource to showcase how near patient testing improves the lives of patients. The site was created by COLA in recognition that the health care delivery system is changing at a rapid pace, and sometimes decisions are made without consideration to the total cost of care nor the unintended consequences of those decisions.
Galway Bay Hits No. 6 in Foursquare’s Irish Pub List
Galway Bay Irish Restaurant, located on Maryland Avenue in historic downtown Annapolis, was recently named one of the best 25 Irish pubs in America by Foursquare, according to Business Insider. Foursquare uses location intelligence to build what it terms meaningful consumer experiences and business solutions, and ranked Galway Bay as the 6th Best Irish Pub in the U.S. based on data taken from its Foursquare City Guide.
Opened in 1998, Galway Bay is one of three authentic Irish pubs owned and operated by Emerald Hospitality & Consulting, which also owns and operates Brian Boru, in Severna Park; and Killarney House, in Davidsonville, and The Pirates Cove, in southern Anne Arundel County.
Area Lawn Care Company Again Named to Inc. 5000
Inc. magazine recently released its 36th annual Inc. 5000, a ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing privately owned companies, and Blades of Green, of Edgewater, was ranked No. 3,694, appearing on the list for the second time in a row. The company has posted $6.4 million in revenue and a three-year sales growth of 82%.
The average company on the list achieved a three-year average growth of 481%. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue is $206 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 619,500 jobs during the past three years. Complete results of the new Inc. 5000 can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.
HCC Named One of America’s Best Two-Year Colleges for Adult Learners
For the second year in a row, Howard Community College (HCC) has been named as one of the nation’s top 10 two-year colleges for adult learners, according to rankings released by Washington Monthly. HCC reached No. 7 on the list, with high scores for its ease of transfer, services for adult students and flexibility of programs.
To develop its rankings, Washington Monthly used data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System survey, College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges, and the College Scorecard. In addition to ease of transfer services, services and program flexibility, the magazine also looked at the percentage of students over age 25, earnings 10 years after attending college, loan repayment rates, and tuition and fees.
Journalists Recognize VAAAC at Travel Media Showcase
Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (VAAAC) was awarded the Exhibitor Choice Award during the 18th annual Travel Media Showcase, held in Cabarrus County, N.C., from Aug. 22–25. Seventy-eight journalists from across the United States and Canada were invited to cast their ballots for the exhibitor they felt best represented his/her destination during the annual showcase. VAAAC was selected from a field of 67 destination marketing organizations and suppliers from the United States, Canada and Mexico.
During two days on the marketplace floor, VAAAC Vice President of Communications Susan Seifried met with 29 journalists in pre-scheduled appointments and with dozens of additional media representatives during networking events. The goal was to introduce journalists to Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, share story ideas and promote media coverage of destination.
ThinkB!G Launches Mobile Lab for Onsite Apple, Adobe, Microsoft Training
Columbia-based ThinkB!G.LearnSmart has released a new training service called ThinkB!G2GO. It provides clients with an onsite mobile computer lab, software, courseware and training by an industry certified instructor at their location.
ThinkB!G.LearnSmart offers Apple, Adobe and Microsoft training courses as available options to be delivered with ThinkB!G2GO; Apple Mac and/or Windows PC laptops with software and class files installed; delivery and setup of training classrooms; and optional services, such as technical onsite support, Wi-Fi access and projection.
“By bringing the technology onsite, we are able to create a no-hassle experience while increasing the access of training across organizations. This new service is cost-effective, convenient and fully responsive to our clients’ needs,” said Christine Abunassar, founder and CEO.