Biz Roundup

AAA Ratings From Three Bond Rating Agencies for Howard County - Again
For the 13th consecutive year, all three bond rating agencies - Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investor Services - have given Howard County a Triple-A credit rating. Of the more than 3,000 counties in the country, fewer than 30 receive Triple-A rating from all three agencies.
The key rating driver for Fitch Ratings was the county's "ability to balance spending and preserve its current level of fiscal resources amidst a strained revenue environment."
Moody's reported that conservative management and comprehensive policies position the county to manage through near-term budgetary pressures.
Standard & Poor's noted the county's "strong management team's ability to implement ongoing cost-control measures allowed the county to come in $26.8 million, or 3.2%, under budget on the expenditure side, preventing more serious declines in reserves."
These credit ratings determine the interest rate Howard County will pay on bonds. All three agencies examined Howard County's diverse tax base, financial policies, debt burden and long-range plans for continued fiscal health, economic strengths and overall quality of life. The full bond rating reports are posted on www.howardcountymd.gov.

Constellation Energy Announces $90 Million Solar Capital Commitment
Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, has announced that it will support the development of commercial photovoltaic power systems with a $90 million solar capital commitment.
To maximize the value of government renewable incentives, the $90 million set-aside will be available for customer-sited solar installations of 500 kilowatts or larger which begin construction before mid-2010.
"Constellation Energy's solar capital commitment provides the resources to make photovoltaic power a simple and economical proposition for commercial and governmental customers who want to support clean, renewable energy at their facilities," said Michael Smith, senior vice president of green initiatives for Constellation NewEnergy.
The capital commitment enables Constellation to finance, design, construct and own solar installations for customers and supply the power generated on-site to the customer. This structure makes it possible for customers to deploy on-site solar and meet sustainability goals without incurring upfront costs. Approximately $18 million of the capital commitment has already been committed to projects soon to begin development in Maryland and New Jersey.

I.M.P. Selects Ticketfly as New Ticket Provider for Merriweather
Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion, one of the few remaining independently operated amphitheaters in the nation, will start the 2010 concert season with a new online ticketing and marketing provider - and concert fans will save money as a result.
I.M.P., operator of Merriweather Post Pavilion, owner of the 9:30 Club and concert producer of the Virgin Mobile Festival, has selected Ticketfly to sell tickets for Merriweather. The deal means that there will no longer be a charge to print tickets at home and service fees will be up to 30% lower per ticket than they were previously. There is never a service charge when concertgoers purchase tickets at the Merriweather box office in advance or on the day of the show.
"We started selling 9:30 Club tickets through Ticketfly at the end of last year," said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. "They've had zero learning curve and sold a ton of tickets, so we're giving them the next shot. We were able to work out lower service charges and no extra charge for printing at home, which was driving everyone nuts - and rightly so.
"[It] seems like the sky's the limit with these guys. I have seen the future of the ticket business, and its name is Ticketfly," said Hurwitz. Fast Company has just named Ticketfly one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Music Companies in the world in 2010.

HCGH Expands New Electronic Medical Records Sharing Program
Doctors and patients at Howard County General Hospital (HCGH) will benefit from advanced technology that enables medical records to easily be shared between physicians' offices in the county.
Speeding care to patients through electronic record sharing is the goal of the hospital's Physicians' Office Integration System, which was made possible with a $25,000 Verizon Foundation grant.
Funding from the foundation will allow HCGH to link the hospital-based electronic medical records (EMR) system in a two-way sharing of data with two of the highest volume-based community physician practices in Howard County; for example, by connecting a physician's EMR system with the hospital's clinical system, a doctor could electronically order a laboratory test from the hospital lab.
Once completed, the copy of the test results would be electronically transferred back to the physician's office and automatically stored in its EMR computer system. Rapid data sharing will allow the hospital-based physician to prescribe clinical treatment more quickly and in coordination with the patient's primary physician.

Cardin Introduces Bill to Promote Small Business Job Growth
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, has introduced the Boosting Entrepreneurship and New Jobs Act, a bill that is designed to spur job creation and strengthen the economy by providing essential tax credits and loans to small businesses.
Key provisions of the bill will make available urgently needed working capital loans, reward small businesses for creating new jobs and help to offset the skyrocketing cost of health insurance.
"Maryland's 522,000 small businesses provide economic opportunities to diverse groups of people, employing more than 1.2 million citizens, and bring innovative products and services to the market," he said. "But without working capital, small businesses in Maryland and across the country cannot weather the current financial storm that has engulfed our economy."
Small firms employ 41% of the nation's high tech workers and generate 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large firms. The SBIR program alone has generated more than 84,000 patents and millions of jobs.

Mikulski, Cardin Announce More Than $16M in Federal Funding for Maryland Transportation Priorities
U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) have announced the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has provided more than $16 million to the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to improve MARC Commuter Rail, Howard Transit, Connect-A-Ride and Western Anne Arundel County transit services.
"Every day, thousands and thousands of Marylanders depend on public transportation, and that is why I applaud funding that will provide new cars for MARC and enhance transit maintenance and operations," said Cardin, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. "As our state prepares for an influx or workers because of BRAC relocations, we need to ensure that Marylanders have access to reliable, efficient public transportation that will get them to their jobs safely."
The MTA has been awarded $6.8 million for the MARC Commuter Rail Car Overhaul Program to purchase new rail cars and $6.1 million for the MARC West Baltimore Parking Expansion project. The purchase of new cars and completion of the parking expansion improvements will allow MARC to expand its system capacity. Mikulski worked to include this funding in the fiscal year 2009 transportation funding bill.
Additionally, the MTA has been awarded a $3.3 million grant to purchase two pieces of land on Corridor Road in Howard County that will be the site for construction of an operations and maintenance facility. This new facility is to be shared by the Howard Transit, Connect-A-Ride and Western Anne Arundel County transit services.
It will support fixed route and paratransit services including dispatching functions, vehicle maintenance, parts storage, revenue collection and vehicle storage and management space.

O'Malley Announces Launch of Interactive Map for Fiscal '11
Capital Budget
Gov. Martin O'Malley has announced the launch of an online, interactive map that outlines many of the major Capital Budget projects for fiscal '11. The Capital Budget, totaling more than $3.2 billion in the fiscal year, invests in infrastructure projects, public schools, environmental projects and others. Nearly a third of the budget is dedicated to education projects.
"We are committed in Maryland to fulfilling our promise to the people of Maryland to bring them a more transparent, accountable and fiscally responsible state government," said O'Malley. "This new web site allows all Maryland citizens to explore local projects that will impact the lives of their families and the neighbors, and see firsthand how tax dollars are being used to improve the quality of life for all Marylanders."
The web site, maintained by StateStat, Maryland's performance-measurement and management program implemented to make state government more accountable and more efficient, categorizes capital projects and separates expenditures by project and by jurisdiction.
Capital budgets are planned in five-year increments, and therefore a single fiscal year offers only a piece of the total picture. For an account of Maryland's six-year Capital Improvement Plan and all capital expenditures, visit Maryland's Department of Budget and Management's web site.

JBGR, Investors Buy The Village at Waugh Chapel
A team of investors led by Chevy Chase-based JBG Rosenfeld Retail (JBGR) has acquired The Village at Waugh Chapel, a 390,000-square-foot shopping center in Gambrills.
The new ownership is composed of four entities: JBGR; Chevy Chase-based JBGR's Funds VI and VII; and Buvermo Investments of Bethesda. The property was originally developed by Owings Mills-based Greenberg Gibbons, and financing for the acquisition was provided by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
JBGR will manage the center, which is located at the intersection of Route 3 and Waugh Chapel Road. It is 96% leased to more than 60 tenants, including Safeway, Marshalls, L.A. Fitness, Home Goods and the Robert Andrew Day Spa. Its 15 restaurants include The 4 Seasons Grille, Damon's Applebee's, Atlanta Bread, Cold Stone Creamery, Caribou Coffee and Bob Evans.
"A year ago, we would not have been able to obtain this type of financing from a conservative firm willing to invest in a retail asset," said JBGR Principal Grant Ehat. "This clearly signals a thaw in the capital markets and an upswing in the beleaguered retail sector."
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More than 80,000 people live within five miles of The Village at Waugh Chapel; the average household income of $111,525 makes the area one of the most affluent submarkets in the Washington-Baltimore region. The local population is expected to grow more than 7% by 2013.

Resolution Health Develops 25 National Quality Forum Endorsed Measures
Columbia-based Resolution Health Inc. (RHI), a personal health care guidance company and subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., developed 25 of the 70 measures recently endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF).
The measures endorsed by NQF encourage the use of electronic data to measure, report and improve the delivery of health care across the U.S. NQF reviewed more than 200 measures, all of which are currently used by private health plans, to assess physician performance.
The 70 endorsed measures employ two or more types of common electronic data such as medical and prescription drug claims, and laboratory test results. RHI developed measures for nine of the 16 conditions for which NQF endorsed measures, including bone and joint conditions, cardiovascular disease, cancer screening, medication management and prenatal care.
"These NQF measures take advantage of multiple sources of data to provide a more complete picture of care," said Earl Steinberg, president of RHI. "The endorsement of these measures will enable health plans to further improve the quality of care members receive by providing physicians with feedback about their performance on standardized quality measures."

State Launches Genuine Progress Indicator
The state has launched the Maryland Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), an online tool that will allow policymakers and citizens to more accurately measure the state's standard of living. It includes indicators of social and environmental health with traditional economic calculations.
"To give us a truer measure of our prosperity, we are launching the most comprehensive application of the Genuine Progress Indicator any state has ever undertaken," said Gov. Martin O'Malley. "In addition to measuring our economic standard of living, this tool allows us to also factor in environmental and social costs of problems like air pollution, crime and income inequality, as well as the values of benefits like clean water, education and volunteerism. These indicators will help us make more informed, sustainable policy choices for many years to come."
Developed with input from several state agencies, the governor's office and the University of Maryland, the GPI is designed to complement (but not replace) traditional, strictly economic measurements like the Gross State Product.
"The GPI will give us a more complete picture as we strive for a sustainable future and grow a stronger economy that will not negatively impact our natural resources or the quality of life of our fellow Marylanders," said Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin, whose agency led the program's development. "The next challenge will be how we use this new tool to inform priorities in investment and policy making."
To date, several nations and states have calculated their GPIs, but no state has developed and applied it as a public, web-based tool, as Maryland has.

UM MIPS Program Announces
17 Research Projects, Including
Three in Area
The University of Maryland's (UM) Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS), an initiative of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), has announced 17 research projects teaming Maryland companies and university faculty to develop high technology and biotechnology commercial products.
Two of the companies are in Columbia. They include Emerald Sky Technologies, which, with UMCP Assistant Professor Sean Humbert, will develop an integrated aircraft flight display and control system with a collaborative autopilot. It will allow pilots to maintain situational awareness and engage in the higher level task of managing and directing a flight.
Also, Sensics Inc. and UMBC associate professor Marc Olano will develop video processing algorithms that optimize video streams to a high-definition, panoramic, head-mounted display for mass corporate applications such as virtual design, training medical pain management/therapy and more.
The third local company is Jessup-based American Dynamics Flight Systems Inc. With UMCP Professor Jewel Barlow, the company will validate the propulsion system for the company's maritime-capable, high-speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing Unmanned Aircraft System.
Worth $3 million, the 17 projects combine $1.5 million from participating companies and $1.5 million from MIPS.

Grace Announces Sustainability Policy
Columbia-based W. R. Grace & Co. has announced that, as part of its overall sustainability strategy, it has targeted reducing the energy intensity of its operations by 20% per pound of production by 2017 and will report its progress annually.
"Sustainability is about maximizing our growth while minimizing our impact on the environment and enhancing lives," said Fred Festa, Grace's chairman, president and CEO. "This new component of our sustainability strategy makes good business sense. As a company, we are constantly striving to be as productive as possible.
"Improved productivity helps keep our cost structure competitive while delivering improved products to our customers to help them enhance their competitiveness," said Festa. "Clearly, this is a stretch goal, but I am convinced the drive to achieve it will make us more innovative, more efficient and enhance our stewardship of the environment."
Grace will use 2007 as the base year against which it will measure progress. In that year, it produced nearly 2 million tons of products and had carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of 1.1 million tons. To achieve its goal, Grace needs to have emissions at or below 2007 levels in 2017, while meeting business growth strategies.