The Fort Meade Alliance’s Meade Business Connect (MBC) program has selected 14 companies focused on providing information technology services for its inaugural 2012 class.

The mentorship program is part of the Fort Meade Alliance’s (FMA) Meade Business Connect, that provides focused mentoring programs, networking opportunities and events, business forums and capability matching for companies in the Fort Meade region.

This 12-session mentorship program is serving Alliance member companies that are serious about understanding and winning business in the Fort Meade Region. The program has matched companies with proven leaders in the region that are currently successful in winning and building business.

The 14 companies selected to participate in the mentorship program are: Alpha Omega Technologies, Inc., AttivaSoft, LLC, Bluemont Technology & Research, Inc., Columbia Technology Partners, Inc., Computer Essentials Quick, Inc., Delta Resources, Inc., Envision Innovative Solutions, Inc., ITIC Corporation, Jovian Concepts, Inc., Miller, Moll and Associates, NetLink Resource Group, Inc., PathSensors, Inc., System & Software Designers, Inc. and The Nasir Group, Inc.

“The Fort Meade Alliance is pleased to provide these member companies with the opportunity to learn about government contracting in the Fort Meade region through experienced mentors,” said FMA President Rosemary Budd. “We are confident this mentorship program will provide valuable insight to help these companies do business with government agencies and prime contractors.

The mentorship program has two designated mentors Bill Dunahoo, president of Praxis Engineering and Matthew Norris, CEO & president of Axom Technologies. Dunahoo has led Praxis from a startup business to large business status. Norris, a service disabled veteran, founded Axom that posted revenue growth of more than 1,200 percent over the past three years.

Over the 12 sessions, Dunahoo and Norris will be joined by executive guest speakers affiliated with CommerceFirst Bank, Lockheed Martin, M&T Bank, National Security Agency, Praxis Engineering, SAIC, TASC and Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. These leaders will help member companies to climb the ladder with targeted information on the 98 government agencies and organizations of Fort Meade and the region’s prime contractors.

This program is targeted for FMA member companies with software engineering, solutions development, mission operations, certification and accreditation, information assurance and cybersecurity capabilities.

Some of the topics covered will include Fort Meade government and prime contractor overviews; contracting requirements for businesses; business infrastructure required for federal government contracting and teaming; rate development and pricing.

These 14 selected participant companies will have the opportunity to present capability briefs to experienced contractors and receive feedback. They will meet with top name companies in their field and gain an understanding of the federal government-contracting environment in the Fort Meade Region.

The Meade Business Connect mentorship program began on February 14 and will continue through October 2012.

The Columbia Foundation (www.columbiafoundation.org), which raises, manages and distributes funds to support Howard County nonprofits, gave $295,000 in grants to 44 nonprofit organizations in Howard County. This is $89,300 more in grant awards than last year. These are the first grant distributions from the foundation’s new community grant program which combines operational and project requests into one funding cycle.

“These grants provide support for nonprofits meeting the needs of our county’s most vulnerable residents as well as those enhancing our lives through arts and cultural programs,” said Priscilla Reaver, senior program officer for The Columbia Foundation. “This support is crucial during a time when our community needs these organizations the most.”

Human Services Grants

The 24 human service grants total $184,500, an increase of $44,500 over last year’s human service grants. The human service grants support organizations that address critical concerns of the community, including family issues, health care and housing.

• Adaptive Living – $1,000 supporting a residential and support program for residents with developmental and/or cognitive disabilities

• American Red Cross Chesapeake Region – $5,000 supporting training, disaster relief and blood collection services in Howard County

• The Arc of Howard County – $11,000 supporting a wide range of services including day services for adults, residential services and family support

• AT:LAST – $10,000 helping people with autism select lower cost mainstream technologies to foster communication, learning, employment and independent living

• Best Buddies Maryland – $5,000 supporting friendship match programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

• Better BedRest – $1,000 supporting assistance programs for women placed on bed rest due to pregnancy complications

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland – $3,000 supporting case-management services for Howard County residents matched in mentoring relationships

• Bridges to Housing Stability – $12,000 supporting housing and prevention programs for the homeless in Howard County

• Camp Attaway – $3,000 supporting a summer therapeutic program for children with serious emotional and behavioral disorders

• Columbia Triathlon Association – $4,000 supporting the Learn2Tri youth triathlon education program which will introduce the triathlon lifestyle into the physical education curriculum of Howard County Public Schools

• Community Action Council of Howard County – $12,000 supporting the Dream$avers program, an extensive case management, financial and life skills educational program that helps families save from their earned income

• Domestic Violence Center of Howard County – $15,000 supporting counseling, education, shelter and abuser intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault

• FIRN – $11,000 supporting information and referral, immigration counseling, interpreting/translating and English tutoring services

• FISH of Howard County – $9,000 supporting county residents with evictions, utility cut-offs, prescriptions and the provision of food delivered to their homes

• Gilchrist Hospice Care – $8,000 supporting comprehensive end-of-life care to Howard County patients

• Girl Scouts of Central Maryland – $5,000 supporting GirlZ Go Fit!, a program which addresses obesity in kindergarten-through-fifth-grade girls

• Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center – $14,000 supporting programs including walk-in counseling, crisis services, shelter programs and the day resource center

• Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland – $12,000 supporting a home-delivered meal program in Howard County

• NAMI Howard County – $7,500 supporting outreach, education and support programs for individuals and families living with mental illness

• National Family Resiliency Center – $9,000 supporting clinical services and educational programs to help children and adults preserve a sense of family and foster healthy relationships

• Neighbor Ride – $10,000 supporting transportation services for seniors in Howard County

• Salvation Army Howard County Family Service Center – $5,000 supporting crisis intervention services for Howard County residents in need of eviction and utility turn-off assistance, food and clothing

• Special Olympics Maryland Howard County – $7,500 supporting training and competition programs for Howard County children and adults with intellectual or closely related disabilities

• Voices for Children – $4,500 supporting the representation of abused and neglected children in the Howard County court system

Arts and Culture Grants

The 12 arts and culture grants total $72,000, an increase of $26,300 over last year’s arts and culture grants.

• B&O Railroad Museum: Ellicott City Station – $7,500 supporting the programs and educational resources that preserve the physical legacy and experience of American railroading

• Candlelight Concert Society – $10,000 supporting its Chamber and CandleKids Music Series, outreach programs and master classes

• Chesapeake Shakespeare Company – $5,000 supporting the free Shakespeare for Kids summer program

• Columbia Bands – $4,000 supporting free concerts and programs in Howard County

• Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts – $1,000 supporting conservatory, theatrical arts productions and outreach programs

• Columbia Festival of the Arts – $15,000 supporting programs and events that build community through shared participation and celebration, engage participants in a broad spectrum of art forms and cultures, and encourage interaction among artists and audiences

• Columbia Orchestra – $10,000 supporting concerts and programs that foster lifelong appreciation of, enthusiasm for, and participation in music

• HoCoPoLitSo – $6,000 supporting live programs and events that promote excellence in literary arts

• Howard County Arts Council – $6,000 supporting programs, classes, exhibits and outreach

• Little Patuxent Review – $1,500 supporting a journal and salon series that promotes the tradition of written and visual arts

• Sundays at Three – $2,000 supporting its 15th concert season offering public performances of chamber music

• Young Audiences of Maryland – $4,000 supporting arts programs that transform the lives and education of youth through the arts by connecting educators, professional artists and communities

Education and Community Affairs Grants

The eight education and community affairs grants total $38,500, an increase of $18,500 over last year’s education and community affairs grants.

• A-OK Mentoring-Tutoring – $3,000 supporting a mentoring program for Howard County Public School students

• Conexiones – $4,500 supporting work on behalf of Hispanic students in Howard County

• Cradlerock Children’s Center – $3,000 supporting scholarships for immersion programs and preschool for children of recent immigrants

• HC DrugFree – $7,500 supporting programs that help the Howard County community raise drug-free teens

• Howard County Foundation for Black Educational and Cultural Achievement – $2,000 supporting scholarships for African-American students who plan to pursue post-secondary education or training

• Junior Achievement of Central Maryland – $7,500 supporting young people in work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs

• Linwood Center – $6,000 for the purchase of an interactive mobile computer to support children and adults with autism

• Pinnacle Empowerment Center – $5,000 supporting career and life coaching, career management training and resource coordination programs for women in transition

The road to success that was taken by Jeff Walker isn’t one that anyone would choose. It was fraught with tragedy, frustration and readjustment; but it was followed by invention, persistence and success, then considerable optimism.

That optimism was borne of a wheelchair lift that Walker and his father, Skip, developed for his 2008 GMC Sierra diesel pickup truck.

Along with the truck’s lift, Variable Effort Brake (VEB) System and Loc ’n Drive Steering System, Walker plans to make the lives of other physically-challenged individuals easier, just as he has his own.

His efforts led to the founding of Centreville-based Innovative Mobility Solutions and his being named 2011’s Innovator of the Year by The Daily Record — which is a big deal, because the business and legal newspaper doesn’t pick a single winner every year — and a business opportunity that he hadn’t expected.

A Fateful Day

As it turned out, Walker’s early life was an indication of his drive. The Ellicott City native “was always into mechanical stuff,” he said. “I started riding a little 50cc PW50 Suzuki motorcycle at age 2.”

It was in 1995, at age 15, that he purchased a used, $3,500 Pontiac GTO that “had a good engine but needed several other repairs,” which provided an opportunity to take advantage of his natural mechanical talents.

Though never the studious type at Glenelg High School, Walker’s intelligence and excellent work ethic inspired his father, Skip, to hire him for his high-end home remodeling business, Walker Construction, where Jeff worked for the first two years after graduation.

Then came Aug. 11, 2001.

That was the date of the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert at Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. It was a rainy night, and Walker slipped on some mud near the bathroom and fell on a pipe, which resulted in two broken vertebrae. That fast, Walker was a quadriplegic.

After about 18 months of healing and rehab, he became interested in his father’s computer-aided design (CAD) drawings. But, while he worked on the CAD system for three years, it wasn’t fulfilling.

What he wanted was to work on a truck again, out in the field.

Therefore, he went through the driver’s licensing process again, only to find that Maryland’s Department of Rehabilitation Services “wants [the physically challenged] to drive a van, not a truck,” he said, “because that’s easier” for all concerned.

That may well be. But Walker wanted to drive a truck.

“I told them that I could design a truck for myself, with a chair lift, for less money than they could design my van,” he said.

New Designs

“Designing a van for someone in a wheelchair is not that complicated,” said Walker. “It costs about $50,000 for a bare bones van. Renovated for a wheelchair, it’s up to $75,000, over-and-above the initial cost. That works for most people; but, like most 20-year-olds, I didn’t want to drive a van.”

And doing it Walker’s way, there would be savings in not just the trade-in, but the fact that he can take the “$30,000 worth of equipment and put it into a new truck, which cost $45,000,” he said.

“That saves the state money, because they would have to buy all new equipment and replace it every eight years,” Walker said. “The way my dad and I did it, I don’t lose resale value, and I don’t have to buy the extra equipment again.”

It was at that point where the persistence kicked in.

“I kept getting told what I couldn’t do, like opt for a diesel truck, because there was no braking system available for one; also the state wanted $6,000 to modify the braking system,” he said, “but whenever cost became an issue, I’d create a new design myself.”

That was partly due to Walker’s experience using the Chief Architect (light commercial) CAD program when he worked for his father. “But now I needed the CAD SolidWorks program that’s used by large corporations.

“[SolidWorks] allowed me to make parts that were not available on the market,” Walker said, like the Loc ’n Drive steering system and the VEB brake system, “which outperforms the unmovable $6,000 brake system that had been the only option on the market.”

Try, Try Again

Terese Reamer, technical specialist for the state’s Department of Rehabilitation Services in Columbia, was the person Walker had to convince that he had a hit. However, she and Dan Dubay of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council initially turned him down due to safety concerns.

“Much has happened between the summer of 2011 and now,” said Reamer, who worked with Walker from 2006 to 2008. “We had never, ever done a truck modification at the time. The only similar case I’d heard about was at a VA hospital in Texas, so we gathered some information about that case and from other sources, and presented it to our administration for review.

“Jeff thinks outside the box, and a governmental entity goes with the tried-and-true method, especially given that our first priority is the safety of the client,” Reamer said. “But after considerable research, we were eventually able to develop our proposal and resubmitted it. After a few negotiations, he eventually won.”

She called what Walker has accomplished “phenomenal. He’s a trailblazer. I’m not aware of anyone else, inside or outside our agency, who has modified a truck.”

Steve DeSmet, a member of the Leahy & DeSmet law firm in Calverton, worked on the patent for Walker. “He came to us through a referral from another client who also does vehicle modification,” he said. “He impressed us from the start. He had a number of ideas and knew what he wanted to do.

“From that first meeting with Jeff and his father, we felt privileged to work with them,” DeSmet said, adding, “One of the most impressive things about Jeff is that he doesn’t know the word ‘can’t.’”

Coming Attractions

Dr. Cristina Sadowsky, medical director at the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injuries, worked with Walker in 2005 (the year that he had his first of two cancer scares, which he said “wouldn’t have been found had I not been injured”) when he lived in Ellicott City and worked out in the institute’s therapy gym.

“The idea behind his company is to adapt any type of vehicle to his invention because today, petraplegics [someone who cannot move from the shoulders down because of paralysis] drive big, bulky, expensive vehicles that are hard to drive,” said Sadowsky.

“I don’t know how profitable his company is at this point, but what he’s done is a breath of fresh air because of the need for the product,” she said, “and the idea behind it is novel.”

While the niche for the product has been relatively small, “that isn’t to say that it shouldn’t happen,” Sadowsky said. “Jeff is determined and regimented, and he follows through with what he deems to be worthwhile. That’s a positive from an investor’s point of view.

“So, if his approach to his business is the same as it was to his rehab,” she said, “I have no doubt that he’ll be successful.”

Walker feels the market “has to be developed,” but sees a bright future in it. “The general mentality in the world of handicapped business is that it has not evolved as fast as it could have,” said Walker. “[The U.S.] has been up in space, but we’re still struggling with people driving minivans. That’s what I’m trying to change.”

Oddly enough, initially there was no thought about turning his ingenuity into a business. “This was really a result of family and friends being supportive and telling me to take it further,” he said. “So, I did.”

Innovative Mobility Solutions is now an official LLC “and we have new products to release soon. We’re already having some equipment manufactured in China because it’s too expensive to do it domestically.”

And then there’s the most important aspect of this incredible story.

“I can come and go as I please, and I’m completely independent,” Walker said, hinting at a larger ambition: “I haven’t walked yet, but I believe that will happen, too.”

Integrated BioTherapeutics Inc. (IBT, www.integratedbiotherapeutics.com), founded by Dr. M. Javad Aman in 2005, is a research and development firm that specializes in protecting against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacterial infections as well as Ebola and Marburg filoviruses. Spanning both the public health and bio-defense arenas, IBT is a recognized leader in the field of vaccine development and filovirus research. The company is currently developing a virus-like particle filovirus vaccine product.

Both Aman and IBT co-owner Dr. Kelly Warfield were researchers at the U.S. Army Research Institute for Infectious Diseases.

In 2008, IBT won a $22-million, four-year advanced development cost-reimbursement contract with the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a multivalent pan-filovirus vaccine. At the same time, IBT began its services business, called IBT Bioservices, which provides early research and development services to clients working with infectious disease vaccines and therapeutics.

“The business leverages IBT’s core infectious disease expertise and skills in animal model development, assay development, small molecule screening, and vaccine and therapeutics product development,” explained IBT spokesperson Molly Boyle.

By working directly with other scientists, IBT has differentiated itself from most other service firms in the industry, she added. “By working directly with clients in an advisory role, we are involved in design of the early research path including experimental design and, in some cases, we have had our team serve as contract project leaders for clients.”

From offering riding lessons, to managing a bed-and-breakfast, to leasing and selling horses, to offering educational programs, Ted and JoAnn Dawson have rolled more than half a dozen entrepreneurial efforts into one operation at Fairwinds Farm & Stables Inc. (www.fairwindsstables.com) in North East.

The couple opened Fairwinds in 1998, but even before starting their current business, they have a history of galloping into entrepreneurial endeavors. Ted Dawson has an extensive professional farming background that includes dairy, crops, livestock and fish farming.

In addition, he’s helping to usher in the next generation of equine entrepreneurs by teaching an equine business management class at Cecil College. “Part of the program requires everybody to put together a business plan as if they were going to start an equine business,” he explained.

JoAnn is the author of the award-winning Lucky Foot Stable series for elementary and middle school readers. She also works in film and television as an actress, wrangler and animal handler.

Both the Dawsons have a passion for educating others, which serves them well since, of all the farm’s services, the riding lesson program brings in the most income. But Ted Dawson is always considering other money-making ideas as well.

“I’m continually exploring new realms of farm production,” he said.

Entrepreneurs in Cambridge report they are excited about a new funding opportunity. Eligible entrepreneurs soon will be able to tap into Cambridge Venture Capital Fund One LLC (www.cambridgemainstreet.com), a new, $300,000 venture fund set aside especially for small businesses. The fund is being organized by fellow entrepreneur Brett Summers, a principal with NOVO Development, which owns five buildings in downtown Cambridge.

NOVO has renovated three of the five buildings, constructing apartments in the upper floors and leaving room for businesses to lease in the lower quarters. Summers is also on the board of the nonprofit Cambridge Main Street, which has the mission of revitalizing Cambridge’s historic downtown area into an entrepreneurial haven.

Summers and his colleagues are utilizing the “Main Street” model of economic development developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a model that’s now in place in more than 1,000 communities nationwide that were hit hard when big box stores, chains and shopping malls began to dominate the dining and retail sectors.

“We are creating opportunities for businesses to operate,” said Summers, who passionately believes that downtown Cambridge can be restored to the thriving business community of its past. “We’ve now finally got a good base of restaurants,” he said, “but we still have a long way to get back to where we were in the 1920s and ’30s.”

After years of researching the sometimes rocky relationship between businesses and local communities worldwide, Dr. Rani Parker decided to dedicate her life to exploring how businesses can mitigate risk while helping local communities along the path to development. After earning a Ph.D. from the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management, she turned her passion for business-community relations into a business with Business Community Synergies (www.bcsynergies.com).

There, Parker and other international experts help manage corporate and community engagement at local, national, regional and international levels in more than 50 countries around the world, from Afghanistan to Vietnam to El Salvador.

Before a business moves into a local community, Parkers helps businesspeople understand and interpret the local fabric of social and gender issues. She also informs business owners about local capacity for employment and how business-support foundations can help local social development.

“A lot of this works sounds like very technical research,” she said, “but in fact the impact it has on people’s lives is incredible. Businesses that consider these issues before developing a strategic plan find that they are more harmonious and ultimately more profitable.”

Parker is considered a leading authority on corporate-community engagement and is known internationally for her work in community-based gender and social analysis. She has worked for two decades on corporate-community relationships between the public sector, private business and civil society.

Her research spans grassroots work in India, economic development programs in West Africa, gender analysis in the Middle East and participatory evaluation and partnership building across many regions of the world. She was previously director of woman/child impact programs and chief adviser at Save the Children (U.S.), where she created and led multinational teams of development practitioners in capacity-building.

James Goins has been an auctioneer — and an entrepreneur — for more than 20 years. He first started Goins Auctioneers (http://goinsauctioneers.com) in 1988 and, over the past several years, he’s been watching the market change since the Wall Street crash. He said he’s auctioning more real estate than ever before. “People realize their property is not going to get sold, and they’re tired of letting it sit on the market,” he said.

Along with real estate, Goins has seen an increase in auctions of antiques, coins, jewelry and even entire companies that are getting hoisted onto the auction block.

Every Thursday, Goins hosts a weekly consignment auction as well as a monthly antiques auction at his own facility.

Though business has remained steady, sometimes Goins longs for the old economic times in his area. “I remember the gravy days when you could sell a doghouse on a piece of land for $200,000,” he said.

If you’ve been to Ocean City, you’ve probably stopped at one of the two Dolle’s Candyland (www.dolles.com) locations on the Boardwalk. For more than 100 years the family-owned business has been meeting the salt water taffy cravings of vacationers — a not-to-be-missed tradition for many families.

The fourth-generation business (generation five is still a little young) boils, pulls and packages approximately 350,000 pounds of the sticky stuff a year. With 22 flavors, vacationers have a lot of choice, but according to family member Anna Bushnell (fourth generation), the No. 1 salt water taffy favorite is … peanut butter. Runners up? Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. No flavors have been retired, which means you can still get molasses mint when the craving strikes.

The candy is still cooked in copper kettles at the company’s Wicomico Street location, though the kettles are a little bigger today than they were in 1910.

Dolle’s prides itself on buying local when possible and in supporting the local community. Candies it doesn’t make, it buys in either the U.S. or Europe, where the quality of the product is better, the family feels, than some that comes out of Mexico or China.

In addition to the Ocean City stores, the family owns Pony Tails in Chincoteague, which it acquired in 2007. Dolle’s is also developing a thriving wholesale business. According to Bushnell, growth is the goal, and the wholesale arena is where they see a lot of potential.

At the heart, however, is their commitment to being a family business in a family-oriented community. For Anna Bushnell, Dolle’s is “not just a job; it’s a lifestyle.”

When Michael Koch and Pablo Solanet opened the FireFly Farms Creamery and Market (www.fireflyfarms.com) in the western Maryland town of Accident this November, it was only another step up a ladder that has seen this 12-year-old company grow from a small goat farm to 10 employees and current annual sales of more than $700,000.

From its simple beginnings in a farmhouse kitchen, the company’s award-winning artisan goat’s milk cheeses are now found in farmers markets and specialty stores in multiple areas, from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia; in Michigan, Delaware and Indiana; and in Whole Foods in Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

D.C. residents Koch and Solanet bought a Garret County farm in 1997, and when a neighbor had goats he didn’t use, they created their first cheeses in the farmhouse’s kitchen. These first efforts were immediate successes. Mountain Top and Merry Goat Round cheeses won national awards in 2002.

Today, FireFly produces seven cheeses, which visitors can see made by hand at the Accident facility.

The partners helped build the artisanal goat cheese market not only for themselves, but also for the state. Maryland’s only goat cheese makers when they started; today there are five producers. No longer raising their own goats, they buy and process up to 60,000 pounds of goat’s milk a month, purchased from four carefully-selected local farms.

Their growth has been the result of a careful business plan. Expansion has moved them to develop new cheeses — two debuted this past fall — and a web site offers recipes and promotes goats and, of course, goat cheese. Noted Koch: “Everything is done by people who are passionate about cheese and cheese-making. We are in this business to put people to work.”