The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) hosted the 10th annual Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame (MCBHOF) earlier this year, in an annual event that honors top business leaders and raises funds to support scholarships for students who attend programs at USG each year (video below).
This year’s prestigious list of Business Hall of Fame inductees included:
The Lab for Entrepreneurship and Transformative Leadership at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) wrapped up its 1st Annual Equity Incubator program with an exciting “Shark Tank” style competition on December 7, as students and local entrepreneurs competed for a chance to win a $10,000 grand prize to fund their initiative, or an audience-selected $1,000 prize.
The Equity Incubator and Showcase events were sponsored by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation and the Blair Family Foundation.
Popular Potomac dessert spot, Sprinkles, is available for sale, according to a listing in BizBuySell. The 34-year-old family owned ice cream store and bakery can be bought for $850,000. The shop located in the Potomac Village shopping center and is described as being approximately 600-700SF. All assets will transfer with sale– including existing inventory, ice cream and frozen yogurt machines, bakery oven and equipment etc. Additional information, per the listing:
Per MCPS: Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight has recommended a $3.15 billion Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. It continues the district’s focus on preparing all students to thrive in their futures. The funding provides a high-quality education for growing student enrollment, for continuing recovery from lost learning time due to the pandemic, for new research-based innovative approaches for teaching and learning, for competitive salaries for staff, and for increased costs of goods and services.
Released Monday, Dec. 19, Dr. McKnight’s budget recommendation represents a $235.4 millionincrease—8%—over the current budget (FY 2023) and $267 million above the minimum amount required by the maintenance of effort law. The recommended increase includes more than $40 million realized in savings.
Marcum LLP announced earlier this month that Rockville’s E. Cohen and Company, CPAs of Rockville, Maryland (1 Research Ct #400) merged into Marcum, effective December 1. In conjunction, E. Cohen’s information technology subsidiary, BinaryNetworks, merged into Marcum Technology, LLC. The transactions expand Marcum’s tax, assurance, and advisory services across the Mid-Atlantic region, where the Firm currently has offices in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Rockville.
Per the press release: E. Cohen and Binary add more than 90 partners and associates to Marcum, bringing the Firm’s team to approximately 4,000 nationwide. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. E. Cohen was a full-service tax and accounting firm serving individuals and middle-market businesses. The firm’s practice was focused on construction, government contracting, hospitality, nonprofit, professional services, real estate, and wholesale distribution. E. Cohen was consistently ranked among the top accounting and advisory firms in the Capital Region and the top 300 firms nationally. In 2019, it was named the No.1 firm for women by Accounting Today. “E. Cohen was a recognized leader with deep roots in the Maryland business community and brings substantial experience to Marcum. They will not only bolster our existing presence in Rockville but will also play a key role in our expansion throughout the Mid-Atlantic region,” said Jeffrey M. Weiner, Marcum’s chairman & chief executive officer.
Per Westat: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded Rockville’s Westat (1600 Research Blvd) over a dozen tasks in 2022, including literature reviews, focus groups, cognitive interviews, pretesting, and experimental studies. This work is aimed at providing insight on consumer and health care professionals’ perceptions of, motivations toward, and attitudes about products under FDA’s oversight, and will help FDA move forward with more accurate and informative messaging.
“Westat is a natural fit for this work. We have strong, established expertise in message testing and a team that specializes in qualitative analysis and reporting,” notes Kerry Levin, PhD, a Vice President of Public Health and Epidemiology. “Our goal on these important tasks is to maintain a collaborative, collegial, client-centered relationship and to successfully execute each project to meet the needs of FDA.”
United Therapeutics, a public benefit corporation headquartered in Silver Spring, announced that the company has been named on Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2023. This award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The list of awards was announced on December 7, 2022, is available on Newsweek’s website, and recognizes the top 500 most responsible companies in the United States, spanning 14 industries.
Per the press release: America’s Most Responsible Companies were selected based on publicly available key performance indicators derived from Corporate Social Responsibility Reports and Sustainability Reports, as well as an independent survey asking U.S. citizens about their perception of company activities related to corporate social responsibility. The key performance indicators focused on company performance in the environmental, social, and corporate governance areas, while the independent survey asked U.S. citizens about their perception of company activities related to corporate social responsibility. United Therapeutics’ 2022 Corporate Responsibility and Public Benefit Report can be found at corporateresponsibility.unither.com.
Kalaii Griffin II is a 2013 graduate of Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda where he was a two sport letter winner in football and wrestling. He went on to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he played Division I football and earned his B.A. in Communications. Now Griffin is the founder and CEO of ShredSkinz, the world’s first and only single use & recyclable sauna suit, and his company made an appearance on Shark Tank earlier this week (spoilers below). ‘
Kalaii explained that he created his ShredSkinz sauna suits in a way that is convenient for those using them. He has added elastic to the bottom and the wrist area and a draw string on the hood to allow those working out in a ShredSkinz suit to maximize how much they sweat. He goes on to clarify that this is not marketed as a way to lose weight, but rather as a convenient way to maximize workouts by increasing the amount of weight, ideal for cutting weight for a fight, etc. Griffin mentions his success on TIkTok, primarily due to videos of ShredSkinz users showing their sweat fall out of the suit.
By: Laurie Boyer-Babb, MCEDC Director of Economic Development
Are you a small business owner looking for a loan to support your business’s growth? The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) and the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) have launched the newly activated Accelerating Community Excellence (ACE) Loan Fund, a state of Maryland-funded program that provides loans to small, minority and women-owned companies. Backed by an initial allocation of $1.5 million in state funds, the ACE Loan Fund is now open and accepting applications, fully dedicated to supporting and uplifting those crucial small businesses that may have struggled to secure a loan from a traditional bank or lender.
“Send blankets . . . or we’ll freeze to death” was Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko’s blunt assessment of the coming winter
Spartan Medical Inc., a veteran-owned medical solutions company headquartered at 1445 Research Blvd in Rockville, announced it has donated 700 Siren Survival Wraps and additional medical supplies to help Ukrainian civilians endure the alarmingly cold months ahead.
Executive Leader of DC-Area Govtech Company Appointed to Tech Trade Association Board
AINS, LLC, a leading provider of low-code, adaptive case management software for government, that’s headquartered at 806 W. Diamond Ave. in Gaithersburg, has announced the appointment of its CEO, Howard Langsam, to the Northern Virginia Technology Council Board of Directors. NVTC is the trade association representing the National Capital Region’s technology community. Howard joins the current NVTC Board charged with guiding the organization’s strategy and providing insight to advance its mission: to create a thriving technology ecosystem in the national capital region.