New Business

The investment in economic development is paying off with more industry coming to Carroll County and more local businesses expanding, county officials said.New business permits have increased substantially this year, officials say. From January through March, the county issued 90 new business permits for an estimated value of $21 million.Jack Lyburn, director of the county Office of Economic Development, released those and other figures at the annual Industry and Enterprise Awards Dinner on Tuesday.

To small business owners whose life's blood is cash flow, few phrases are more dreadful than "deadbeat customer."Like a foot on a garden hose, slow-paying or nonpaying customers choke the flow of resources needed to sustain the cycle of business activity."

WHAT IS IT about folks in Maryland that makes them so resistant to change and hostile to risk-taking? Time after time, state residents have rebelled against visionary public projects. Time after time, they were proved wrong.The football-stadium controversy is the latest incarnation of this bizarre trend. It's a rip-off of the taxpayer, foes shout. It's an outrageous handout to a businessman. It's another sign of government's corruption.Those same denunciations were made about Oriole Park, about the first and second bay bridges, about the rebuilding of Memorial Stadium for baseball, about Harborplace.

OXFORD, England -- What university would turn down a gift of $34 million for a new business school? Hardly any -- except, that is, Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.The dons of Oxford, to which the bright and the well-born have flocked since the 12th century, recently said no to the money of Wafic Said, a Saudi billionaire of Syrian origin.The Daily Telegraph, a conservative paper, called the 259-to-214 vote Nov. 5 against the offer an elitist bias against business.

Sorry, Baltimore, but Annapolis couldn't be happier at your bad news. This week's announcement that the city will be home to a new mega-utility created by a merger of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Potomac Electriccer of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. "It's quite a prize."In Baltimore, BGE's departure is being viewed as another example of the exodus of businesses from downtown. Just the opposite is true for Annapolis, where local business leaders say the move will bring more jobs, money and prestige to the city.

After a decade of mounting alienation between the state and its business community, Gov.-elect Parris N. Glendening will ask senior business executives to take the lead in reshaping the state's drive to develop and attract jobs.He and top legislative leaders also plan to cut selected business taxes and start trimming the nation's highest real estate closing costs in this legislative session.They also promise to begin work this year toward broader tax and regulatory reform, although enactment of those would not occur until next year and later into their four-year term.

The empty parking lot and hand-lettered "closed" signs on the windows make Buell's Restaurant look even more surreal than usual -- a quaint anachronism at the corner of U.S. 40 and Rogers Ave.The restaurant, an Ellicott City landmark for 54 years, closed and was sold for an undisclosed sum last week. The building will be remodeled as a Szechuan restaurant to open in the fall.Such a place could not be built today. The slopes out back are too steep. The back yard is virtually unchanged from the days when the Buells raised pigs and chickens there.

Beverly Byron's life took a dramatic turn 15 years ago when she took over her husband's Western Maryland congressional seat following his sudden death. Now she is making another major career change: She's entering the world of business.The seven-term congresswoman has formed a partnership with George S. Wills, president of Wills & Associates of Baltimore. They are combining their skills to serve as consultants and provide public relations, government affairs and corporation communication services to clients in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Carroll's commissioners should quickly forget the idea of waiving or capping building and inspection fees and permits as a means of attracting new business to the county. This idea, which jTC surfaced at a recent commissioners' meeting, has not been well thought out.When it comes to making decisions about plant and office locations, the amount of money spent on fees and permits is an incidental consideration for most businesses. Quality of work force, access to transportation, the property tax rate, the cost of energy, responsible and responsive local government and the quality of life are much more crucial to a business in determining where it will locate.

Greg and Colleen Orendorff, owners of Luigi Petti restauran of Columbia, have found that starting a new business can have additional obstacles besides trying to pack in patrons every night.This week marked the fourth time that burglars have broken into their restaurant since it opened in May, they said.Between 10 p.m. Monday and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, burglars forced their way into the restaurant, at 7185 Columbia Gateway Drive in Gateway Plaza, and stole $5,000 to $6,000 in valuables. Among items taken were a stereo, $500 worth of alcohol, a fax machine, CDs, cash from a jukebox and shrimp, the couple said.

It's hard to see a silver lining when you're out of work. But some unemployed workers believe getting a pink slip was a blessing in disguise, according to a new survey by SnagAJob.com, which focuses on hourly jobs. Of 584 workers who have been laid off since the start of the recession in December 2007, four in 10 saw the positive in getting the ax. And 26 percent who do not see their layoff as a blessing expect it will eventually become one. "Once they got over the initial shock, they were able to refocus on themselves, spend more time with their families, their hobbies, their volunteer work," says Cathy McCarthy, a senior vice president and marketing director at SnagAJob.

2 Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to announce today the appointment of Christian Johansson, a Harvard University-educated entrepreneur who has run a Baltimore-based business and government alliance, as the state secretary of business and economic development. Johansson, who must be confirmed by the Senate, would replace David W. Edgerley, who resigned in December to pursue a career in the private sector or education. O'Malley has sought to reorganize the Department of Business and Economic Development, a process that emphasized efforts for the biotechnology industry and international trade and consolidated some functions.

Technology council to host 2 seminars The Howard Technology Council will be host for a seminar, "Taking Advantage of Social Media to Gain Customers and Become a Thoughtful Leader," to be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Oct. 15 at the Center for Business and Technology Development, 9250 Bendix Road North, Columbia. Jared Goralnick, president of SET Consulting and author of the blog, Technotheory.com, will discuss using social media to achieve business objectives. He will discuss building relationships, connecting with customers and promoting a brand through blogs, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, brand-monitoring and other social media.

2 business management classes at Belmont Howard Community College's Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development will offer two business management classes Oct. 29 at the college's Belmont Conference Center, 6555 Belmont Woods Road, Elkridge. "Managing Multiple Priorities," a program on focusing on what's important rather than simply pressing, will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Participants will learn to use a "Time Dividend" to increase their job effectiveness.

Acquisitions *Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, a Sparks-based consulting engineering company, has acquired Kupper Associates, an engineering services company based in Piscataway, N.J. Terms weren't disclosed. The combined company has a staff of more than 700 with offices in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Appointments *Nicholas J. D'Ambrosia, owner/broker of GMAC Real Estate/Real Estate Center in Largo, has been named chairman of the state Real Estate Commission.

One Republican candidate from Eldersburg is giving the three incumbent Carroll County commissioners a run for their money. Doug Howard, an entrepreneur whose Sykesville- based company helps establish small businesses in the county as well as in two other states, has raised more than any other challenger: $9,800 since announcing his candidacy in September. Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge, a four-term incumbent, has also raised about $9,800 since the election cycle began in 2003, according to campaign finance records.

Seeking to capitalize on the government's desire for better technology to intercept e-mails, cell phone calls and other communications related to terrorist activity, CompuDyne Corp. of Annapolis has purchased Signami LLC, a Severna Park-based company that makes software and hardware that gathers such intelligence. It's a small acquisition, worth only a few million dollars, said CompuDyne Chief Executive Officer Martin Roenigk. But it's one with big potential, he said. "I think we're going to make a mark on this field," he said.

Awards Lallie Inc., a Millersville-based designer and maker of social stationery for private and corporate clients, received six print quality awards from the Printing and Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic. Manekin LLC has been awarded a Green Leadership award by the local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council for development of three green building projects. Kudos Kevin Shepherd, co-chairman of the real estate group of Venable LLP, was elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. reported yesterday a 32 percent jump in net income in the second quarter, as the Baltimore-based energy company signed on new customers in the wholesale and retail electric markets. Constellation, the parent of utility Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., also raised its earnings projection for the year. The energy company earned $128.2 million, or 76 cents per share, in the three months that ended June 30, compared with $96.8 million, or 58 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2003.

16 small businesses approved for loans from county group Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.'s Arundel Business Loan Fund approved 16 small-business loans this year for a total of $2.1 million. The fund offers Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans of up to $300,000 to qualified applicants who do business in the county. The money can be used to acquire, expand or retain a business or to relocate a business to the county. Businesses receiving loans from the ABL fund this year are: Anchor Inn, $150,000, a full-service restaurant with 14 boat slips on Tar River in Pasadena.