UMUC Plans Fall Launch of Entrepreneur Development

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has unveiled a new program aimed toward helping entrepreneurs better understand career growth and successful business management.
Located at the college's 22,000-square-foot Dorsey Station campus in Elkridge, UMUC's Entrepreneur Development Center (EDC) will begin its first nine-month seminar schedule this September. For $1,200, it will offer participants the chance to network with other business owners while learning from local experts about the major issues facing entrepreneurial enterprises.
The EDC offers state-of-the-art communications equipment, a fully-equipped computer lab, a business resource center and 11 so-called smart classrooms. "All of the rooms feature wireless Internet access, smart podiums and high tech audiovisual and computer projection equipment," said Sabina Carter, director of UMUC's Dorsey Station campus.
The EDC program includes six morning seminars at Dorsey Station and three off-site evening business networking events sponsored by several participating partners.
"Our goal is to get 25 business owners signed up for the first program," said Jamie Waldren, senior vice president of wealth management for The Waldren Group of Columbia and one of the founding members of the EDC.
In addition to Waldren, the EDC's trio of founding members and advisory board includes Managing Principal Theodore Offit of Offit Kurman and Managing Partner Marc Rubin of Berman, Goldman & Ribakow.

Next Level Planning
"The program is designed for more mature or successful businesses to help get them to the next level," Waldren said, and is particularly suited to those in the $5 million to $100 million range. "Some issues get deep and may not be appropriate for less mature companies and generally don't apply to startups."
Waldren has been pursuing the idea of such a development center for the past three years. With some assistance from the Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA), his search for the appropriate educational partner led him to UMUC. Howard County was a natural choice for the center's location, he said, due to the county's wide range of small- to medium-sized companies, as well as its convenient access for similar businesses in surrounding counties.
According to HCEDA CEO Dick Story, the EDC promises to provide a valuable complement to other business development partners such as j-ref and the Tech Council of Maryland.
"We're taking the boulevard approach," Story said. "We're all going the same way, [working to] achieve the synergies that make individual programs even more successful."
It's also a timely program, he added, coming at a time when no less than 13 new companies have started relationships with Howard County's NeoTech Incubator within the past year and as several Indian technology companies are preparing to locate in the county.

Shared Expertise
At an information session held last month, several seminar speakers gave brief overviews of the topics they will cover.
Presented by President Mitch Vandiver and Rochelle Mendelsohn of Strategies Inc., the lifecycles and strategic planning portion of the program will give participants a chance to "diagnose where they are today and understand behaviors for success," said Vandiver.
Managing Partner Howard Kurman and Scott Kamins of Offit Kurman will team with Ben Griffin of Monkton-based PerformanceCatalyst to present strategies related to workforce development.
"Companies are experiencing problems with employing the right people" because they have to adhere to strict legal requirements, Kurman said, noting that this portion of the program also deals with "protecting confidential information, trade secrets and other proprietary information," in addition to innovative compensation strategies.
In a seminar on the financing of capital needs, Rick Kohr of Evergreen Capital in Columbia said the focus will be on financing alternatives and how to manage financing during growth phases.
Management consultant Art Jacoby of Catonsville will lead a seminar on "what makes your business valuable and making sure you are engaging in [proper strategies] to get to your exit." Oversight and governance, dealing with vendors and contracts with customers and vendors, will also be covered, Jacoby said.
As part of the same seminar, founder and President Kenneth Wexley of Annapolis-based Wexley Consulting will discuss role clarity, along with "the skills entrepreneurs [need] to have a top notch management team that is marching in the same direction and knows where it is going."
Brian Keane, head of banking for Citi Capital Strategies, and John Gardner, of City Global Wealth Advisory Services, will also team up to provide guidance on merger and acquisition strategies (Keane) and exit plans (Gardner), while Gardner will lead a separate seminar on life planning and the creation of wealth outside of the entrepreneurial enterprise.

Challenges, Frustrations
In his role as a certified financial planner, Waldren said his work with clients looking to create and implement customized wealth preservation strategies indicated that the time was right for a targeted entrepreneur development program.
"A lot of small businesses today are being challenged and they're expressing ... frustrations in getting professional help and guidance in making their decisions," he said.
Moreover, experts have projected that "$4.6 billion will be generated from the sale of private businesses [from now] until 2014," Waldren said, translating to a huge need in the immediate future for succession and exit strategy planning as baby boomers decide whether to sell off their businesses, transfer them or otherwise seek liquidity.
In response, he said, the new seminar session will allow participants "to take advantage of [experts'] mistakes and their learning, and learn what's going on in the local business world."
Enrollment for the first EDC program ends on July 14. More information on course descriptions and syllabi can be found at www.umuc.edu/edc.