Archives For Manufacturing

Maryland/DC District Export Council to train businesses in trade

Emily Kimball —  May 13, 2013
Maryland/Washington D.C. District Export Council, Inc.

Maryland/Washington D.C. District Export Council

Over $11.8 billion in merchandise traveled out of Maryland and into markets around the world in 2012.

While Maryland already has a flourishing export market, the Maryland/DC District Export Council is working to build that number even higher. The DEC plans to hold its first-ever Celebration of International Trade in Linthicum Heights on May 21, with a special focus on training businesses in exporting goods and services.

Registration for the Celebration of International Trade has reached 70 percent and will remain open online until the day of the event. Admission, including breakfast and lunch, is free for government employees and $99 for others.

The world market is a “surprisingly small place,” according to Carl Livesay, chairman of the DEC.

“Businesses perceive that there are overwhelming barriers to exporting goods and services, and that’s just not the case. It is confusing and it can be cumbersome, but if you align yourself with businesses and people who have traveled that path before, they will help light the way,” he said.

The region benefits from transportation systems that easily support trade, including the top-ranking Port of Baltimore and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Livesay also described the area as a “hotbed and innovation and technology.”

“There’s no other area in the country that is better suited, better qualified or has access to stronger resources than we do here in Maryland,” he said.

Ultimately, as more companies in Maryland and Washington, D.C. trade internationally, the more the overall economy will grow and the national trade balance will improve. He said, ”We do not seek to help companies import foreign goods or services into the United States. To put it bluntly, this is about creating permanent, sustainable jobs right here in Maryland.”

The event’s main draw is an extensive list of prominent speakers, including Robert Walker, Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development; Laszlo Horvath, CEO or Active Media; and Todd Marks, CEO of Mindgrub Technologies.

Dozens of other industry leaders and exhibitors will present training sessions, ranging from mitigating risk in international trade to strategic tax consideration.

VIDEO: Maryland DBED Secretary test drives Chevy Spark EV

Emily Kimball —  April 17, 2013

How does it feel to drive General Motors’ newest American-made electric vehicle?

According to Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Dominick Murray, the 2014 Chevy Spark EV has “tremendous feel, incredible pick-up when you need it, smooth as could be.”

“When you see a Spark come into your neighborhood, I’d recommend getting it,” he added.

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Grants, business services await InvestMaryland Challenge winners

Emily Kimball —  April 15, 2013
InvestMaryland Challenge

i-Lighting won the $100,000 InvestMaryland Challenge prize in the general industry category.

From over 250 applicants, judges have chosen the final winners of the first-ever InvestMaryland Challenge of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development.

Representing some of the most innovative early-stage companies from Maryland and beyond are the three $100,000 grand prize winners in each competition category.

InvestMaryland Challenge sponsors have also provided thousands of dollars in grants and business services to several participating companies.

Find descriptions of each special award below:

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InvestMaryland Challenge: Q&A with VisiSonics

Emily Kimball —  March 14, 2013
VisiSonics

VisiSonics offers 3D sound.

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 College Park-based VisiSonics, founded in 2010. To find out a little more about this high-tech company, we spoke with President and CEO of VisiSonics Ramani Duraiswami.

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

A. Our product presents sound as naturally as if you’re listening to something on the scene. When you listen to music on headphones it sounds a lot different than how you would have experienced the music at the concert. If you see a movie at a high-end theater with a very high-end sound system, it sounds quite a bit different from the way a movie sounds when you watch it on your iPad or tablet. So our software makes that sounds as natural as being present at the real scene. We hope it will have a major impact on the way people consume media, such as games, movies and music on mobile devices.

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Defense firm ELTA to hire 100 in Howard County

Nick Sohr —  April 18, 2012

By Nick Sohr, Managing Editor, MDbizMedia

ELTA Systems Ltd., an Israeli defense electronics firm and the world’s fourth-largest radar manufacturer, plans to hire 100 people at its newly opened U.S. headquarters in Howard County, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Wednesday.

ELTA North America, the company’s U.S. subsidiary, has leased 7,500 square feet of space in the county’s Maple Lawn development. ELTA plans to expand to 25,000 square feet as it hires more employees and ramps up the office to include electronics manufacturing and other services.

“We believe that leveraging the high-tech talent pool provided by the region coupled with the globally proven ELTA technology is a win-win for the customers of ELTA North America,” said David Machuga, the company’s president and CEO. “It was clear from the beginning that the leadership in Maryland at all levels is focused on economic growth and high-tech jobs. This has allowed us to move quickly to the region and begin hiring.”

ELTA Systems was founded in 1967 and is a subsidiary Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. It develops products for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, homeland security and fire control. ELTA has annual sales of $1 billion and exports products and services to the militaries of more than 50 countries.

The state, through the Maryland/Israel Development Center, started discussions with the company about establishing its U.S. presence in Maryland in 2010.

O’Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, County Executive Ken Ulman and Department of Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian Johansson met with ELTA executives throughout the process.

DBED extended the company a $300,000 conditional loan and Howard County is offering a tax credit to bring ELTA to Maryland.

“Our strategic location accessible to many U.S. and foreign markets coupled with one of the most highly-educated workforces in the country will be a tremendous benefit to the company as they look to grow their U.S. customer base,” O’Malley said.

Brown met with ELTA officials during his trade mission to Israel in 2010, and Ulman met with IAI executives during his own trip to Israel last year.

“It’s exciting to see a cutting-edge, innovative company like ELTA North America creating high-quality jobs in our communities,” Brown said.

ATR: Following the sun

Nick Sohr —  April 5, 2012

By Nick Sohr, Managing Editor, MDbizMedia

A solar panel array fitted with ATR's tracker system to follow the sun.

As the economy slumped at the end of 2007 and into 2008, Advanced Technology & Research Corp. searched for a new niche to fuel its business. Eventually, ATR decided to follow the sun.

The Howard County company that builds mail-sorting robots for the U.S. Postal Service and models electromagnetic fields for the military hopes sustainable energy will be sustainable business.

ATR leveraged its robotics know-how into a line of “solar trackers” — solar panel arrays that turn from east to west every day to soak up more rays than traditional, stationary panels.

“There have been several different tracker designs,” said Rob Lundahl, ATR’s vice president of automation systems and the mastermind of the company’s solar shift. “Certainly, tracking the sun with solar panels is an immediate gain in terms of efficiency and power output, but nobody had really addressed the small market.”

ATR has developed four tracker models – residential and commercial versions as well as a unit that can be mounted on wind turbine poles and another that feeds electric car charging stations. The company used a Maryland Energy Administration grant of about $1 million to bring the trackers to market.

A microprocessor in the tracker takes location information from a GPS unit to reposition the panel every 10 minutes to keep it facing the sun.

Lundahl said ATR’s tracker units produce up to 34 percent more juice than a fixed solar panel.

The company recently signed an international distribution deal for the hybrid wind-solar model. Southwest Windpower, of Denver, has about 1,500 dealers around the world. ATR’s units have shipped to Germany, France, Chile and other points abroad.

“This is huge,” said Lundahl.

ATR systems can be found closer to home, too.

The products are all made in Maryland and assembled in ATR’s Columbia headquarters, located in a maze of an industrial park off Route 175.

A line of panels sporting ATR trackers stand outside the River Hill Pool and others cling to light poles outside county buildings.

The Port of Baltimore uses three units to charge electric vehicles. There are two ATR solar car chargers in the area — in Columbia and Bethesda — with another slated for Northern Virginia.

“People who are driving [electric vehicles], they’re already environmentally conscious, they don’t want their cars to be charged by the dirty coal plants,” said Lundahl. “They see this and they say ‘perfect picture.’”

ATR has approached the Maryland Stadium Authority about mounting trackers and panels on light poles in the parking lots around Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. The company is also talking to a “major hotel chain” about installing ATR trackers, Lundahl said.

ATR is counting on the greater visibility of its pole-mounted panels — compared to rooftop units — to make the products more appealing to businesses hoping to boost their green credentials.

ATR also hopes to grow in the residential market, competing on price and the ability to add new units one at a time rather than springing for a full rooftop array for $50,000 to $100,000. Lundahl says a tracker — retail: $2,895, panels included — can be assembled easily with instructions, like building a grill.

“Someday, and maybe this day isn’t too far off, this could be a do-it-yourself type of product,” he said.

BIKETOO: Building a better bicycle

Nick Sohr —  March 27, 2012

By Nick Sohr, Managing Editor, MDbizMedia

While other bicycle designers were slimming down their products, Drew Phillips pedaled in the other direction.

Instead of making components out of ultra-lightweight carbon fiber or searching out lighter, stronger aluminum alloy, Phillips added a gas tank, transmission and 49 cc motor to his bike frame.

The result was a hybrid, a cross between a light motorcycle and a bicycle called the BIKETOO. After 15 years in development, Phillips said he hopes to have final prototypes finished this year and begin sales in the summer of 2013.

Phillips in his partners looked across this country and abroad for an established motorcycle name to partner with on the project, but never found any takers. So BIKETOO Inc. turned its focus local. The company plans to assemble its bicycles in Maryland.

“We decided we would do it all ourselves,” said Phillips. “We had put all the effort in.”

Phillips, an engineer, grew up riding mopeds, but said the BIKETOO is designed to be more of a true hybrid.

A moped “was never intended to be pedaled,” he said. “Their gear ratios were all so low you could get off and walk faster than you could pedal.”

The BIKETOO, which includes technologies covered by the company’s two patents, feels and functions like a normal bike, Phillips said, until the rider flips a switch and engages the motor. Classified as a motorized scooter, it will be street legal.

It will run on gasoline or propane. A 1 lb. bottle of propane will go 50 to 60 miles on the BIKETOO.

BIKETOO was granted $187,000 last summer by the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program to speed commercialization of the motorized bicycle. MIPS set University of Maryland students working on the design, refining the transmission and cutting the bike’s weight from more than 100 lbs. to a svelte 70 or 75.

The company has 3,000 square feet of space for assembly in Fruitland, just south of Salisbury. The transmission, castings and other components will be made in the United States, Phillips said, but the handlebars and frames will come from overseas.

Phillips said the BIKETOO will sell for $1,495 and recreational users will be its key demographic.

“You can’t see any RV going down the road without a motorcycle or a bicycle strapped to the back of it,” Phillips said. “The recreational market is what we think will be by far the largest.”

But the company sees other opportunities, too.

College students could motor to campus, pedal to class and then lock the BIKETOO up at the bike rack. Office workers with short commutes could use the motor in the morning and then pedal home in the evening to get their exercise.

Phillips said the company has gotten positive responses from the law enforcement community, including the San Diego Police Department. The BIKETOO would allow officers to conduct normal bike patrols, but respond to incidents more quickly and without tiring out the officer.

“They were very interested,” Phillips said. “If they can get one officer out of one car for a day, they save mad amounts of money.”

Firms announce 376 Md. expansions in 2011

Nick Sohr —  February 28, 2012

By Nick Sohr, Managing Editor, MDbizMedia

New and expanding businesses in Maryland announced more than 10,000 new jobs and $3.3 billion in capital investment last year, according to figures compiled by the Department of Business and Economic Development.

The growth — 376 total projects across all 24 local jurisdictions — reflected the state’s traditional strengths in professional and technical services, health care and government.

Nearly a quarter of the growth came from professional services, with 84 projects. Almost half of those were announced by information technology firms, an area of emphasis for Maryland as the state works to capitalize on growth in cybersecurity driven by the National Security Agency in Anne Arundel County and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg.

The health care sector saw 1,875 new jobs announced in 2011, with more than three-quarters of them part of the expansion of Holy Cross Hospital in Montgomery County.

The federal government was responsible for the largest new capital investment. Most of the $890 million in announced spending will go to the planned Social Security Administration project in Frederick.

There were more than 2,000 new jobs announced in the hospitality and recreation sector, according to the DBED figures. Most of those jobs are at the Maryland Live! Casino being built next to the Arundel Mills shopping mall and the new Four Seasons hotel in Baltimore.

Manufacturing, which has struggled in Maryland in recent years, added the second-most new businesses of any sector, with 11. Along with 53 expansions, manufacturing firms announced 1,477 new jobs and $212 million in capital investment in 2011.

Statewide and across all sectors, businesses new to Maryland accounted for 67 of the 376 announced projects and 2,964 jobs. The 309 expansions accounted for 7,408 jobs.

Projects were announced in all 23 counties and Baltimore City. Howard County led the way with 50 new and expanding projects. Anne Arundel led the state in new businesses announced, with 13 totaling 1,696 jobs.

While the report does not capture all of the employment growth in the state, DBED Secretary Christian Johansson said it is an “important barometer of where Maryland is creating jobs.”

According to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Maryland added 30,300 jobs in 2011, with 25,600 of them coming from the private sector.

Top deals, according to DBED figures, include:

  • Cordish/Maryland Live! at Arundel Mills (Anne Arundel County) – 1,500 new jobs, $320 million investment
  • Social Security Administration (Frederick County) – 200 new jobs, $500 million investment
  • EMD Sales (Baltimore City) – 70 new jobs, $1 million investment
  • Evolve Composites (Washington County) – 60 new jobs, $3 million investment
  • Under Armour (Anne Arundel County) – 225 new jobs
  • Vocus (Prince George’s County) – 200 new jobs, $10 million investment
  • Restoration Hardware (Cecil County) – 150 new jobs, $66 million investment
  • Maricom Systems (Baltimore County) – 150 new jobs

 

Dorchester center feeds growing workforce

MDbizMedia —  February 23, 2012

by Mindie Burgoyne, Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development’s Upper Shore Field Office

As Maryland’s Eastern Shore works to attract and grow high-tech companies, the Dorchester County Career and Technology Center in Cambridge is preparing the next generation of workers to staff them.

The Center moved to a new, 98,000-square-foot building in Cambridge before the Fall 2011 semester and has 445 high school students enrolled in its courses. The new Center blends traditional vocational courses, such as masonry, welding and diesel engine mechanics, with high-tech tracks including interactive media production, computer-aided design and IT networking.

A tour of the Center, which every local eighth and ninth grade student in the county is invited to take to pique their interest, is impressive.

All the equipment is new, and enthusiasm exhibited by students, teachers and staff is palpable. Students take honors courses, compete in state academic and technical competitions and partner with community organizations on large projects.

Students learning building trades work with Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a family in the community. The culinary arts students provide lunches for guests who attend meetings at the DCTC conference area. Cambridge International, a local manufacturer, hosts DCTC student interns.

The goal of Maryland’s career and technology education programs is to work with traditionally academic programs in providing a well-qualified pool of potential employees, trainees, and college students.

Henry Wagner, Superintendent Dorchester County Schools; Mary Calloway, Cambridge Economic Development, Keasha Haythe, Dorchester County Economic Development; Natalie Chabot, Cambridge Economic Development; Kermit Hines, DCTC Principal

“This Center plays an enormous role with kids that graduate,” said DCTC Principal Kermit Hines. “This has actually kept some students that would have otherwise dropped out of school in school and has brought them the success academically that they couldn’t otherwise find before. They see the relevance in their academic education.”

The new focus on technology fields comes at a critical time for Dorchester County, which saw significant job losses as manufacturing plants moved overseas and the seafood industry declined. For years, Dorchester has dealt with high unemployment and a workforce struggling to find jobs that pay well.

The county, in partnership with Cambridge and state and federal agencies recently initiated the $8.5 million development of the Dorchester County Business and Technology Park to attract high-tech companies and house the state’s only technology incubator on the Eastern Shore.

The county sees DCTC with its expanding curriculum in technology courses as a key supplier of workers for the firms it hopes to bring to the technology park.

“The young people have a wonderful opportunity to rewrite their life scripts,” said county school Superintendent Henry Wagner. “We find that the children in our community often have a narrow view as to what their potential is in the global economy and in the workforce. What a facility like this accomplishes for them is that it provides them with an opportunity to see their future differently and to align their school experience right here in [Dorchester County] with that future they are now envisioning.”

O’Malley, Solis tour GM White Marsh expansion

MDbizMedia —  February 16, 2012

by Nick Sohr, Managing Editor, MDbizMedia

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis toured the GM Baltimore Transmission Plant in White Marsh on Wednesday as part of President Obama’s effort to spur investment and expansion in the country’s manufacturing sector.

“That’s what we want,” she said on the factory floor. “We want to see products that are developed and produced and made here in America so we can sell those to other countries and consumers here.”

Solis, accompanied by Gov. Martin O’Malley and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, saw a factory in transition.

The plant, which opened in 2000, kicked off an expansion last year. When it is completed in 2013, the White Marsh operation will produce electric motors for the next generation of hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles.

GM employs about 200 in White Marsh now and will double its payroll when the expanded facility opens next year.

“GM is now the No. 1 auto maker because they’re building cleaner, greener automobiles and a lot of that is happening right here in Baltimore County,” said O’Malley.

The automaker is investing more than $125 million in the plant expansion and also received a $105 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the project. Maryland contributed $4.5 million and the county, $6.15 million.

As Solis toured the GM plant, the president visited a Master Lock manufacturing plant in Wisconsin. Obama has made growing the country’s manufacturing base a key component of his economic agenda and has proposed incentives to spur growth in the sector.

 

“That’s where the American jobs are, the good middle class jobs that can provide support for a family,” said Solis.

“We’ve seen a lot of factories closing down in this industry,” she said. “Now they’re popping up. To see it happening here, in Baltimore, Maryland, it’s a wonderful sight.”

The factory makes a range of products for GM vehicles, including hybrid transmissions for Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks.

“The product that’s being manufactured here is what’s really so special,” Kamenetz said. “We’re talking about electric motors, hybrid transmissions. These have the potential to really grow in popularity and the fact that we’re on the cutting edge of that technology here is very promising for the future of this plant.”

RG Steel Announces Almost 800 Employees Back to Work

MDbizMedia —  January 24, 2012

by Jacob Austin, DBED Marketing & Communications

Governor O’Malley (center) publically announced that RG Steel has secured financing to resume operations at its Sparrows Point plant and bring nearly 800 employees back to work who were furloughed late last month.

“A line of credit has been secured to allow RG to fire up the furnace and get our steelworkers back to work again at Sparrows Point”.

 Joining Governor O’Malley at a job training center in Hanover, MD was RG Steel employees (back), RG Steel CEO John Goodwin (right), and United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard (left).

The optimistic CEO stated “With this liquidity bridging the gap to where we feel steel is going this year, we can make a very successful company, and preserve the jobs we just got back.” When asked on the sustainability of the saved jobs Leo Gerard said “I’m confident they will remain. We now have leadership that wants to make steel.”

Governor O'Malley stand with RG Steel leadership and employees

The atmosphere of ready-to-work employees was cheerfully hopeful.  A large portion of employees returned to work earlier this month and remaining will return by the end of January.

Sparrows Point steel woker

“RG Steel announced today that the “L” blast furnace at its Sparrows Point plant has resumed operations. The “L” furnace is expected to reach normal operating rates within several days.” (RG Steel January, 17 2012).

 

Baltimore’s Premier Rides Takes Roller Coaster Technology to New Heights

MDbizMedia —  January 3, 2012

by Karen Glenn Hood, DBED Marketing & Communications

Mad Cobra, located in Dalian, China

It is a little known fact that tucked away in a chic industrial space on East Pratt Street in downtown Baltimore is one of the world’s top designers and manufacturers of theme park attractions.

Premier Rides, which started up in the early 1990s to service theme park rides, soon began making inroads into an industry dominated mostly by European companies. 

“We provided the best service and were able to fix complex issues,” said Premier Rides President Jim Seay, adding that when the company made the transition to designing and manufacturing theme park rides, “instead of starting out small, we leapfrogged and started out designing and manufacturing big attractions.”

 

In fact, in 1996, one of Premier’s first projects was the original Outer Limits: Flight of Fear attraction at Kings Dominion. It was the first Linear Induction Motor (LIM) coaster, the magnetic drive technology that Premier pioneered under Seay’s leadership.

Yamaha Racing Coaster, Bandung, Indonesia

Today, the company employs about 25-30 people at its Baltimore headquarters, where the design, prototype and marketing of the theme park attractions is done. Roughly another 200 subcontractors work at a space near BWI-Thurgood Marshall Airport, where the fabrication of the rides takes place. When the fabrication is completed, Premier sends an expert team to the client’s site to construct the ride.

“It’s like delivering a giant erector set,” said Seay, who, before joining Premier in 1996, was a project engineer for Hughes Aircraft and engineering and maintenance executive at Six Flags Theme Parks.  

Recently, Seay joined Governor Martin O’Malley on the State’s trade mission to India, where he signed an agreement with Mumbai-based Adlabs Entertainment LTD, which is planning to build a theme park in India. Premier Rides will design and manufacture a custom theme park attraction that will employ the very latest technologies and provide a one-of-a-kind experience.

Sky Rocket, located in Pennsylvania

“Emerging economies are moving so quickly,” Seay said, who also joined the State’s trade mission to Asia in May 2010 and does many projects overseas. “We are dealing with incredibly successful entrepreneurs in these countries and there is an expectation to get these projects done quickly to accommodate what has become a growing theme park industry.”

One of the company’s most memorable accomplishments, Seay recalled, was a coaster Premier designed for Universal Studios, Revenge of the Mummy. The ride is designed to simulate being in the movie, with 3-D mummies coming at the rider in high speed in near total darkness. The design allowed for 13 trains to run simultaneously.

“We know that visitors to theme parks often have to wait hours to get on a ride,” Seay said. “When we can watch them get off the ride and high-five each other, that is the best compliment of our work.”