Ea Engineering

USAir, pilots talk beyond deadlineUSAir and its pilots union failed to agree on a concessionary contract by their self-imposed deadline but kept talking yesterday, amid signs they are narrowing their differences.Gerald Baliles, the former Virginia governor who is mediating the talks, issued a statement saying he "stopped the clock" at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, a half-hour before the deadline, and that talks would continue. He did not elaborate, but cited "slow but continuing" progress.USAir spokesman Richard Weintraub would say only that the two sides have made enough progress to merit continuing talks.

EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc., a Hunt Valley environmental services company, said yesterday that its earnings jumped 48.2 percent in its fiscal first quarter as the company continued its strategy of courting Pentagon work and cutting costs.For the quarter ended Nov. 30, EA Engineering had net income of $720,000, or 12 cents a share, compared with earnings of $485,900, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales increased to $18 million in the recent period compared with $16.1 million last year.

A Hunt Valley environmental service company has signed agreements with two Chinese environmental agencies that could lead to nationwide projects in China.Officials of EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc., who are part of a Maryland delegation in China this week, signed an agreement on Tuesday with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, a division of the National Environmental Protection Agency.Today, EA is scheduled to sign an agreement with Anhui Institute of Environmental Science, a research and regulatory agency in Anhui Province.

A pizza kit manufacturer, a cellular phone networker, a retirement community developer and seven other executives won Maryland's Entrepreneur of the Year awards last night.The 10 winners, announced at a banquet at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, move on to the national competition.Forty-one U.S. cities hold the annual entrepreneur competition, which Ernst & Young, Inc. magazine and Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services Inc. sponsor.Winners were chosen in nine categories:* Real Estate: John C. Erickson, president of Senior Campus Living, founded the Baltimore-based company in 1979.

EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. shares rose 23 percent yesterday on news that the company signed a contract with the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command worth an estimated $100 million.Stock in the Hunt Valley-based company closed at $16.25, up $3, after it said it will provide environmental compliance and analysis services for Air Force sites throughout the United States and in some foreign locations.The contract calls for a one-year base period with options for four additional one-year extensions.

* University of Baltimore Alumni Association appointed Jennifer Whiteside Campbell as director of alumni services.New Accounts & Contracts* EA Engineering, Science & Technology received a contract for timber sale planning and other professional services from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and from the U.S. Air Force for architect-engineer services for environmental support.* Cotter Advertising has been awarded contracts to represent Advantage Health Systems, Inc.; Nutshell Enterprises, Ltd.; and Flashprint.

Gand Cherokee, Wagoneer recallChrysler Corp. said yesterday that it is recalling 115,000 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Grand Wagoneers to repair a defect that could lead to the loss of steering control.The recall, the third in 10 months for the vehicles, affects about half of the Grand Cherokees and Wagoneers Chrysler sold last year. This week, Chrysler began sending the recall notices to owners of Grand Cherokees and Wagoneers built between December 1992 and July 1993.Mutual funds pass $2 trillionThe mutual fund industry broke the $2 trillion barrier in assets last month, propelled by a record influx of money into stock funds, the Investment Company Institute said yesterday.

* United Parcel Service has unveiled a new graphic for display on the side of its familiar fleet of 64,000 chocolate-brown vehicles. The new logo, a two-tone globe labeled with: "Worldwide Delivery Service" and the firm's 800 telephone number, depicts the global reach and service accessibility of now worldwide "small package" ground and air freight carrier.* Lucas Brothers, the Baltimore-based national office supply and furnishings distributor, has changed its corporate name to Lucas Inc. and becomes holding company for Lucas Corporate Interiors and Lucas Corporate Stationers.

Since being formed 20 years ago, EA Engineering, Science & Technology Inc. has helped to restore thousands of properties with environmental problems. But in the last year and a half, it has embarked on its most ambitious reclamation project -- the company itself.Now, after wrenching layoffs, a sweeping reorganization and a new emphasis on government contracts, the company's earnings are moving up and its stock price is closing in on its level of seven years ago.The turnaround got a big boost last month when the Hunt Valley-based company won a five-year, $75 million contract from the Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc., a Hunt Valley-based environmental services company, said yesterday that it won a five-year contract worth as much as $75 million from the Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The average payout of $15 million a year will be the largest contract in the company's 20-year history."This is a very important milestone," said EA President Edward V. Lower. Because of the contract, the company will hire 50 people over the next year, he said.