Ventures

It wasn't James Piper Bond's old-Baltimore name that lured Ravens coach Brian Billick onto the board of the Living Classrooms Foundation. It was a fateful combination of Bond's moxie, the arrest of Ray Lewis and one unusually large wooden chair. Billick and his wife, Kim, were looking for an organization to support, and many were looking to sign them up, too. But on a chance visit to the Living Classrooms' waterfront campus in Fells Point to speak to another group, Billick found Bond, the president, steering him through the carpentry shop where young men in trouble with the law - men whose lives resembled those of some of his players - carve a future in wood.

Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. said yesterday that its revenue in the fourth quarter rose 30 percent, although the company still reported a loss. Revenue from continuing operations for the Baltimore-based education services company rose to $98.9 million in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, up from $76.2 million the year before. The company lost $8.3 million, or 22 cents per share, from continuing operations in the quarter, a loss due to its venture capital subsidiary Sylvan Ventures. In the fourth quarter the previous year, the company lost $17.2 million, or 34 cents per share.

One is immediately struck by the awards -- more than 80 of them, many pyramidlike -- displayed on dust-free cherry cabinets that take up almost an entire wall. They aren't mentioned. To do so would be superfluous. The message is clear: The Bozzuto Group has staying power and is widely recognized. It is also successful. In its 18 years, the company has never failed to post a profit, a remarkable achievement, considering that the real estate business often claims victims at an alarming rate.

LISSIE, Texas - On a rice farm west of Houston, in a pasture littered with cow droppings, Jim Akkerman is immersed in the work of the future. Flanked by industrial gas tanks and wearing a straw hat, he rummages through his 1978 Ford Club Wagon van for pliers as a crop-dusting plane drones overhead. The retired NASA engineer pays it no mind. He's too busy connecting copper tubing to the 27-foot propulsion system of his homemade spaceship. That's right, spaceship. Amid the dusty plains, the inventor, hands stained with oil, is preparing to test the system of Mayflower, a 35-foot winged rocket that he believes will revolutionize space flight.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has repeatedly promoted its efforts to develop Iraq's private-sector economy as an engine of job creation and hope for the country's beleaguered population and a model for an economically backward region. But if Iraq's experience with one of its earliest and most important private business ventures - a mobile telephone network - is any indication, progress in grafting a free-enterprise system onto what had been a state-controlled economy will be slow and rocky.

Sylvan Learning Systems Inc., the Baltimore education services company, told investment analysts yesterday that it is moving closer to spinning off its growing division of international universities as a separate stock. The company, meanwhile, reported losses for the fourth quarter and the year, largely related to losses in its venture-investing subsidiary. Sylvan reported yesterday a net loss of $796,000 for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a gain of $14 million for the corresponding period in 2000.

There will come a time — no one is sure when — that Ray Lewis will retire from the National Football League. When he does leave the grueling training and game schedule, he'll turn to running an eclectic collection of companies trading on the strength of his name and brand. The 15-year Baltimore Ravens veteran, one of the most fearsome linebackers ever to play the game, recently launched a real estate firm and a clothing line. He's developing an entertainment complex in Hunt Valley, featuring bowling lanes and a sushi bar, that could evolve into a national chain.

Entrepreneur Brian Le Gette rose to Baltimore business prominence with 180s, a performance apparel company he co-founded. Its flagship product — earmuffs that wrap around the back of the head — shook up the market for that winter standby. Then after selling his share of 180s five years ago, he took some time to relax and travel, engage in philanthropic pursuits and dabble in startups. Now he is back. He has narrowed his focus to two ventures: Big City Farms, an urban farming business, and ZeroChroma, which makes cases for mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone and iPad, and Amazon's Kindle.

Interstate Ventures is building the 70-home community of Mayfield Woods in the Randallstown-Windsor Mill region of Baltimore County. Customized to fit buyers' tastes, the homes come in three basic styles -- rancher, first-floor master bedroom and two-story Colonial. Homes can be customized in at least 50 floor plans and square footages. Prices range from $200,000 to $300,000. Thirty-five homes are left to build in the development, which is slated for completion in two years. To get to Mayfield Woods, take Interstate 695 to Liberty Road.

Reg Murphy, former publisher of The Sun, last week severed his ties with Southeast Publishing Ventures Inc., a media investment company in which he had a small interest and on whose board he sat.Southeast has a minority investment position in ESS Ventures Inc., which recently purchased Baltimore Magazine. Although Southeast did not invest any money directly in the purchase of Baltimore Magazine, Mr. Murphy said he resigned to avoid any appearance that he was financially involved with a publication that competed with The Sun.