Archives For Energy & Sustainability

GlycoMimetics CEO Rachel King named Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board Chair

Karen Glenn Hood —  June 5, 2013
Rachel King

Rachel King, co-founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics in Gaithersburg, has been named chair of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board.

ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 5, 2013) – Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that Rachel King, co-founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics in Gaithersburg, has been named chair of the Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board (LSAB). King will replace chair H. Thomas Watkins, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences, Inc., who has served on the Board since Governor O’Malley and the Maryland General Assembly created it in 2007. As chair, Watkins led the Board through a strategic planning process that, working closely with Governor O’Malley, resulted in BioMaryland 2020, a 10-year, $1.3 billion strategy for moving Maryland’s life sciences industry forward.

“I want to commend Tom for leading the effort to develop a comprehensive plan that has helped position Maryland as a global leader in the life sciences. To date, we have invested more than $600 million in initiatives that create jobs and expand opportunity for decades to come,” said Governor O’Malley. “We are equally fortunate to have someone of Rachel’s caliber as our new chair, as well as a board comprised of some of the State’s most skilled and talented scientists, educators and business professionals to help us grow our Innovation Economy.”

“It was an honor to serve as Board chair and work with many dedicated colleagues and industry leaders to maximize Maryland’s tremendous life sciences assets and build a roadmap for the industry’s future,” said Watkins. “I also want to thank Governor O’Malley for his vision for the life sciences in Maryland and for his continued support, which has resulted in making our State one of the top science and technology states in the country.”

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Maryland wind power project slated for Frostburg

Emily Kimball —  April 26, 2013
Wind turbines are expanding in Maryland.

Wind turbines are expanding in Maryland.

A wind energy project, approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission, could bring up to 24 wind turbines to a mountainous area in Frostburg, the Associated Press reports.

Fourmile Wind Energy LLC, of Annapolis-based Synergics, is leading the project, which is planned for Fourmile Ridge and the western slope of Big Savage Mountain, according to the article.

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VIDEO: General industry InvestMaryland finalists compete for $100,000

Emily Kimball —  April 12, 2013

Finalists in the general industry category of the InvestMaryland Challenge represent some of the most innovative start-ups in Maryland and beyond.

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Academics to provide legal options, protection to Maryland farmers

Emily Kimball —  April 11, 2013
Maryland farmer

Maryland farmers are especially at risk for costly legal battles.

Maryland’s farming industry employs roughly 350,000 people. Among them, few have law degrees and even fewer may be fully aware of their options when facing a lawsuit.

In an effort to protect the state’s farmers from costly legal debacles, academics are planning a study to determine which services or clinics would be most beneficial to farmers seeking legal guidance, The Associated Press reports.

Funding for the study was approved by the state legislature in 2012, in response to a suit against Maryland chicken farmers by Waterkeeper Alliance, which alleged water contamination. A judge eventually ruled in favor of the farmers, the article stated.

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Maryland ranks 8th nationally in solar installation

Emily Kimball —  April 10, 2013
Maryland solar power

Marylanders are outpacing most Americans with solar installations.

Marylanders are taking advantage of sunny days and saving on their electric bills.

The state ranked eighth among markets for solar installation, based on a recent study released by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Star Democrat reported.

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Earth Starter named University of Maryland’s Cupid’s Cup winner

Emily Kimball —  April 8, 2013

Cash may not grown on trees, but a pair of University of Maryland alums just got thousands of dollars out of their innovative vegetable gardens.

Earth Starter LLC was named winner of the Cupid’s Cup Business & Innovation Showcase and Competition, sponsored by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. Under Armour founder Kevin Plank announced the final winner on April 5.

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Forum to highlight Maryland wind energy business opportunities

Emily Kimball —  March 29, 2013
Maryland offshore wind energy

Business leaders are invited to a forum on Maryland offshore wind energy.

Passage of the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013 has opened the door for hundreds of employment, subcontracting, joint venture and strategic alliance opportunities for Maryland businesses.

The Business Coalition for Maryland Offshore Wind will highlight these opportunities during the “Offshore Wind = Onshore Jobs: A Supply Chain Forum,” between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on April 4, at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park in Baltimore.

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Maryland green jobs surge, state leads mid-Atlantic region

Jim Palma —  March 21, 2013
Maryland is a top green state

Maryland ranked among the nation’s greenest states in 2011.

By Jim Palma, Senior Manager, Research and Information, Department of Business and Economic Development

Maryland’s workforce was more “green” than all but five other states and the nation’s capital in 2011, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The second annual (and final) Green Goods and Services Survey, which measured jobs in green services and goods production, found almost 92,000 Maryland workers held such jobs. Green jobs accounted for 3.7 percent of all jobs in the state. With an 18.3 percent growth rate from 2010, Maryland also had the largest percentage increase in green jobs of any state in the nation, including the District of Columbia.

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Maryland wind farms could benefit minority businesses, colleges

Emily Kimball —  March 21, 2013

The recently passed Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act, which will likely result in a wind farm near Ocean City, provides $10 million to assist minority firms in gaining contracts. It also paves the way for clean energy programs at historically black colleges, the Baltimore Business Journal reports.

According to the article:

The funding will help businesses gear up to handle a variety of work related to the wind farm, including manufacturing components for wind turbines, transporting freight and providing engineering and other professional services, said [Vernon] Wade, CEO of Wade Enterprises Inc., an information technology company based in Ft. Washington …

The legislation also includes the creation of a Clean Energy Program Task Force to recommend whether Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Bowie State University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore should establish programs that would grant a degree or certificate in clean energy.

Find the BBJ’s complete report here.

Turkish delegation taps Maryland for biotech inspiration

Emily Kimball —  March 13, 2013
Turkish Governor of Trabzon

Turkish representatives, including Dr. Recep Kizilcik, governor of Trabzon, visited the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development.

Known for its ancient castles and seaside mosques, the Turkish city of Trabzon is looking to raise its profile on a new  front—biotechnology.

For inspiration on expanding the Trabzon region’s high-tech and environmental-based industry, a foreign delegation arrived in Baltimore on Tuesday to meet with the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development.

“Turkey is a country interested in innovation, especially in the area of biotechnology. We want to benefit from the experience and the technology of the institutions and universities located in Maryland,” said Dr. Recep Kizilcik, the governor of Trabzon.

“It’s our plan to create sister city projects between us and Maryland, so we’re happy to share this experience,” he added.

The Turkish delegation launched its week-long visit with meetings with Maryland DBED and commercial and academic biotechnology industry leaders. The visit was arranged by the international marketing firm Abundances.

Onur Unal, manager of the Bioentrepreneurial Resources Program within the Maryland Biotechnology Center, described a robust Turkish economy.

“The Turkish economy is fairly big, and began experiencing rapid growth about 15 years ago. They’ve always been an ally of the United States and they’re very stable … now it appears they are trying to create programs similar to Maryland in plant biology-based science,” Unal said.

Industry growth in Turkey could further strengthen the nation’s trade relationship with Maryland, according to Carey Esslinger, Maryland DBED regional manager over Europe, Russia, FSU, Latin America and the Balkans.

Turkey ranks as Maryland’s 27th largest trading partner. Maryland exported over $98 million in products to Turkey in 2012, the bulk of those products including waste and scrap, computers and electronics, transportation equipment and fabricated metals, Esslinger said.

Turkish delegation

Robert Walker, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, accepted small gifts on behalf of the state of Maryland from the Turkish delegation.

Turkish delegation

Members of the Turkish delegation kicked off their week-long tour of Maryland at the Department of Business & Economic Development.

InvestMaryland Challenge: Q&A with i-lighting

Emily Kimball —  March 8, 2013

Check back for Q&A profiles on all the competition finalists.

The first-ever InvestMaryland Challenge is down to its final round with just 33 companies competing for more than $300,000 in grants and business services. The final winners will be announced during the Governor’s Cup Awards Ceremony on April 15.

One of the companies, selected out of more than 250 applicants, is North East-based i-lighting, founded in 2007. To find out a little more about this up-and-coming company, we spoke with president and CEO of i-lighting Scott Holland.

Q. What does i-lighting do, and how would you explain it to the average person?
A. What we do is manufacture indoor stair lighting systems, outdoor deck lighting systems and post lighting systems, along with landscape lighting systems, to provide to the DIYers and the contractors. It is a completely plug-in system. We patented the name Easy Plug and anybody can install our system by simply plugging the wires together and the system will work. It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s cost effective and we strive to provide everybody that buys our kit with everything from the light fixture, the painted head screws, the staples and all the wiring, without having to run to Lowe’s to get this or get that. We also manufacture some lights for under the kitchen counters.

Whether it’s a contractor of a homeowner, they can just plug into a normal outlet, and the power switch that goes from AC to the direct current will come out to their LED lights. It simply plugs together, so they don’t have to do any stripping, wire cutting, netting, where you literally have to put the wires together and tape them to make sure no one get into it. He’s created a very simple, easy to use platform for LED lighting. We have over 150 contractor users and they all tell us the same thing—that it’s half the installation time of other systems on the market, so we’re growing really rapidly.

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InvestMaryland Challenge: Q&A with Mercaris

Emily Kimball —  March 6, 2013
Mercaris

Mercaris is a finalist in the InvestMaryland Challenge.

Check back for Q&A profiles on all the competition finalists.

The first-ever InvestMaryland Challenge is down to its final round with just 33 companies competing for more than $300,000 in grants and business services. The final winners will be announced during the Governor’s Cup Awards Ceremony on April 15.

One of the companies, selected out of more than 250 applicants, is Silver Spring-based Mercaris. To find out a little more about this new company, founded in 2012, we spoke with Founder and CEO Kellee James.

Q. What does Mercaris do, and how would you explain it to the average person?

A. Mercaris is a market data service and also an online trading platform for organic and non-GMO commodities. Organic foods are very hot items. A lot of consumers would prefer to buy foods that are grown without chemical pesticides fertilizers or growth hormones, and organic foods have become a separate category of food commodity. Mercaris allows those within the organic food sector to track prices and supply and demand data for those organic and non-GMO food ingredients, just like Bloomberg lets you track stocks or bonds. The second thing we are is a trading platform and so we provide a way to actually physically trade those commodities, sort of like an eBay or a Chicago Board of Trade.

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