SSTI Digest

Bill Badger announced he will resign as president and CEO of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. to take an executive position with M&T Bank.

Toucan Capital announced the appointment of Dr. Phillip Singerman as a new Venture Partner.

Phillip Singerman resigned as executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corp.. Renee Winsky will serve as interim executive director until a permanent replacement is named.

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development appointed Benjamin Wu as the assistant secretary for the Capital Region and senior advisor for technology policy.

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, College Park named Dan Goodman as its first technology commercialization fellow.

John Reardon will be new Charles County Economic Development Department chief in Maryland, effective in December.

Maryland has a new program to provide loans to early stage technology-oriented companies that are affiliated with the incubation network, Governor Robert Ehrlich announced earlier this month. The $500,000 Working Capital Loan Fund, administered by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), will offer low-interest, flexible term loans of between $15,000 and $50,000 to companies in underserved parts of Maryland. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) provided $325,000, which was matched by TEDCO, to capitalize the fund, provide technical assistance and support outreach efforts. The loans are specifically targeted toward incubation-affiliated businesses in Wenstern Maryland, the Lower and Mid Shore and Baltimore City. Loans can be used for working capital. "This loan program will allow Maryland's business incubator network to be more effective in developing high-tech businesses and in promoting technology transfer to areas outside the Baltimore/Washington tech corridor, specifically Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and on the Eastern…

For the second year in a row, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) was the most active source of early-stage or angel capital, according to the July issue of Entrepreneur magazine. The list of the top 100 funds, based on number of deals made during 2004, is based on the results of the quarterly MoneyTree survey published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Forty-six of the venture capital sources on the list are from California; 17 are from Massachusetts. Some of the well-known angel organizations, such as Tech Coast Angels, Band of Angels and the Angels Forum and the Halow Fund (all from California), were in the top firms with 7-8 deals. To get on the list for 2004, funds had to report at least three deals, up from the two-deal minimum required last year. TEDCO made 15 deals in 2004, the same number as it had in 2003 when it also received the top spot on the list. While several of the list's funds may have public funds in their available capital pools, several funds directly supported or…

Chris Marschner is the new president of the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA).

Last week, Kevin Carr, the director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, announced that he would be leaving his position and NIST effective June 30. Kevin has led the program since 1994, and under his leadership, MEP became the exemplary federal program for working in partnership with the states. Since Kevin became director, MEP has worked closely with the states, actively seeking their input on program design and operation. While SSTI is the product of the work of many, Kevin's support and encouragement were critical to our start-up and continued existence. As an advocate for state-federal partnership and as a friend, he will be sorely missed.

MdBio, Inc., a nonprofit organization servicing Maryland's bioscience industry, announced it will be renamed the MdBio Foundation under restructuring and expansion efforts. The 501(c)3 organization will be overseen by a new 501(c)6 nonprofit membership trade association, MdBio, Inc.

President Bush has nominated Dr. William Jeffrey as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.