Cost Savings Program

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Speed, reliability, and special savings for Maryland Tech Council members—it’s that simple!

We understand that time is of the essence; the more time you have to devote to your work, the more life-changing analysis and products you can deliver.

So what did we do to help YOU?  MTC has done the homework for you, saving you time and effort, by partnering with UPS to bring members shipping solutions that offers up to 70% off UPS Next Day Air® Services and up to 65% off UPS Worldwide International Services.

Members currently enrolled in the expired FedEx program can expect to see additional savings of 10-20% just by switching to UPS. Existing UPS customers must enroll to take advantage of this exclusive offer.

UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company, and reaches more U.S. ZIP Codes by 8:00AM than FedEx.  Speed, reliability, and special savings for members—it’s that simple!

For specific information about the UPS cost savings program, contact Joseph Walat jwalat@ups.com or membership@mdtechcouncil.com

To learn more, enroll and see the actual member savings, visit our website at  http://www.mdtechcouncil.com/membership/savings-mtc.php

Capital

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University System of Maryland Launches $25 Million Fund to Back Start-Up Companies Formed from Campus Research

The University System of Maryland (USM), has launched its own $25 million early-stage investment fund, called the Maryland Momentum Fund. USM Vice Chancellor J. Thomas Sadowski stated in the system’s press release that the new Maryland Momentum Fund will “…help our entrepreneurs address funding gaps, gain access to other sources of investment capital and gain marketplace footing, further enhancing the system’s high impact on the Maryland economy.” Sadowski also stated, “The endeavor to build on USM’s success in new company creation brings more national prestige to the system.”

The press release goes on to explain the objectives and requirements for the fund:

The fund has a $10 million commitment from the USM in place, and the system is collaborating with UM Ventures and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) to reach out to area venture capitalists and angel investors for an additional $15 million. UM Ventures is a joint initiative of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) to commercialize technologies and expand industry collaboration.

As it approaches the $25 million level, the Maryland Momentum Fund will leverage this financial support to achieve several objectives:

  • Accelerate the success and profitability of USM start-ups
  • Attract promising entrepreneurs and innovators to USM institutions
  • Seize the opportunity to commercialize valuable USM intellectual property
  • Develop long-term financial returns that can be reinvested in future start-ups affiliated with the USM

Eligible companies must be in Maryland. Eligible companies must also be based on USM-owned intellectual property; founded by USM faculty, students, or alumni; or in USM incubators, research parks, or RISE Zones.

Individual investments will range from $50,000 to $500,000 per company. Select investments will require at least a one-to-one match by outside investors.

An external investment board, comprised of successful investors, will set policies, make investment recommendations, and refer potential opportunities. The external investment board will consist of six-to-eight leaders from the private sector, including venture capitalists.

The USM accelerated its efforts in technology commercialization during fiscal year (FY) 2014, when the USM Board of Regents approved the Policy on Investments and Loans to Maryland‐based Businesses that License University Intellectual Property (Policy No: VIII – 14.00). The policy helped establish investments and loans totaling $400,000 in five start-ups during FY 2015 from UM Ventures.

Workforce Development

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Where to Find Employees Online

Expanding your reach among potential job candidates can be a challenge; some resources seem to be too local, while others don’t really target effectively. According to Zane Benefits, the average amount of money that a U.S. company spends to fill an open position is about $4,000 and the process takes approximately 52 days. And, this doesn’t include the time it takes to train new recruits. Social media has taken the lead in recruiting during the last 5-7 years, but that doesn’t mean online recruiting has fully taken a back seat. There are still some very viable options that offer unique tools for hiring managers. Below is a list of the old, the new, and the specialized in online hiring sites.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor is unique in that it not only provides an online space for people to look for jobs, it also gives them insight into companies through employee-provided company reviews, CEO approval ratings, salary reports, interview reviews and questions, benefits reviews, office photos and more. For employers, Glassdoor offers recruiting and employer branding solutions via Glassdoor for Employers. The company says that it has a community of 34 million candidates and it uses data to track recruiting efforts. After you set up an account, Glassdoor offers enhanced profiles, job advertising, and display advertising. Prices are only available through their sales team, but estimates have annual costs for a 500+ employee company at about $8,500.

Source: www.glassdoor.com

Indeed.com

Indeed says that in 2010 it passed Monster.com to become the highest-traffic job website in the United States with over 200 million visits each month. Indeed is a single-topic search engine that is available in over 60 countries and 28 languages. The site aggregates job listings from thousands of websites, including job boards, staffing firms, associations, and company career pages. In 2011, Indeed began allowing job seekers to apply directly to jobs on Indeed’s site and offering resume posting and storage. Indeed also says that it is the number one external source of hiring and provides five times more hires than any other job site. Since over half of job applicants search on mobile, Indeed touts itself as being mobile-friendly for both employers and job seekers.

Source: www.indeed.com

Monster

Monster is the “OG” if you will, of online hiring and has been in the business for over 20 years.

They say they’ve, “…expanded their roots as a ‘job board’ to being a global provider of a full array of job seeking, career management, recruitment, and talent management products and services.” Some recruiters say that Monster has been eclipsed by the newer sites and that it is no longer a preferred option, while others say that Monster has more “active” job seekers who are looking to accept a new position relatively quickly. The site claims that every minute on Monster, 7,900 jobs are searched, 29 resumes are uploaded, and 2,800 jobs are viewed. One of the nice features of Monster is that it conveniently segments its employer solutions for enterprise, staffing, healthcare, government, military veterans, and emerging workforce.

Source: www.monster.com

CareerBuilder

Another pioneer of online hiring is CareerBuilder. Having been around since 1995, the company has only gained more prominence and holds the largest share of online job seekers. According to their Wikipedia page, the company holds its identity to be an “end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping employers find, hire, and manage great talent. Combining advertising, software, and services, CareerBuilder leads the industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human capital management. It also operates top job sites around the world.” The CareerBuilder site states that their products and services deliver 24 million job applications per month, 80 million job applicants, 60 million resumes, and 4 million aggregated job openings. Their resources for employers include resume database search, job distribution technologies (i.e., job listing tracking), and candidate engagement software (i.e., solutions to keep job candidates connected until they are ready to apply). They also offer background checks, screening software, and supply and demand data.

Source: www.careerbuilder.com

Clearance Jobs

ClearanceJobs was founded by a couple who lived in Northern Virginia in the 1990s. They didn’t launch the site until they moved to Atlanta in 2002 and were spurred on by the need for qualified cleared talent following 9/11. The site operates like other job hiring sites, but its differentiator is apparent in the company’s name. ClearanceJobs serves individuals with active federal security clearances and provides a secure forum for employers to recruit cleared employees. It is the largest career site focused exclusively on candidates with active or current U.S. government security clearances.

Source: www.clearancejobs.com

New Scientist Jobs

New Scientist jobs is an offshoot of New Scientist magazine that was started in 1956 and covers science, technology, health, and public policy. The site offers basic job posting services

and charges $465 for each post which includes a company logo, email alerts that are sent to candidates whose job criteria matches your vacancy, and a reporting dashboard. Jobs can be posted within disciplines such as chemistry, clinical, earth, environment & energy, engineering, life sciences, math & IT, operations, and physics. New Scientist job postings cover North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Oceania.

Source: www.jobs.newscientist.com

Government Relations

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FINAL COUNTDOWN: Legislature Must Act On The Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit

Important Legislation Strengthens Maryland’s Thriving Cybersecurity Industry

Hogan Administration Calls On Legislators To Pass The Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit

The Hogan Administration Is Calling On The Legislature To Pass The Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit; Failure To Pass This Common Sense Bipartisan Proposal Would Be A Blow To Maryland’s Thriving Cybersecurity Sector.

Under Governor Hogan, Maryland Is Regarded As A National Leader In Cybersecurity 

Governor Hogan: “Maryland is becoming the cyber capital of America. We are home to one of a kind federal assets like the NSA, the U.S. Cyber Command, and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. We already have 1,200 cyber companies and more and more are choosing to locate in Maryland.” (Governor Hogan, Maryland Jobs Initiative, 1/5/17) 

  • Maryland Ranks Third Nationally For Research And Development Intensity. (Michelle Jamrisko and Wei Lu, “Here Are The Most Innovative States In America In 2016,” Bloomberg, 12/22/16)
  • Maryland Ranks Second Nationally For Concentration Of STEM Employment.(Michelle Jamrisko and Wei Lu, “Here Are The Most Innovative States In America In 2016,” Bloomberg, 12/22/16)
  • Maryland Ranks Fourth Nationally In The Number Of Science And Engineering Degree Holders. (Michelle Jamrisko and Wei Lu, “Here Are The Most Innovative States In America In 2016,” Bloomberg, 12/22/16) 

Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit

Governor Hogan’s Proposal Will Grow And Continue Maryland’s Standing As A Cyber Security Leader; Current Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit Is Underutilized, The Governor’s Proposal Makes The Tax Credit Available To Investors, Rather Than Cybersecurity Companies. “Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection and subsections (d) and (f) of this section, for the taxable year in which an investment in a qualified Maryland cybersecurity company is made, a qualified investor may claim a credit against the State income tax in an amount equal to the amount of tax credit stated in the final credit certificate approved by the Secretary for the investment as provided under this section.” (“Senate Bill 318,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/14/17)

Government Relations

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Harnessing Maryland’s Experienced Investors to Help TEDCO

Sometimes small changes hold the key to creating a better entrepreneurial environment.  That is why MTC has spent some time this month in Annapolis talking to legislators about a small but significant change to the State’s primary start-up funding entity, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).

TEDCO was launched in 1998 to help commercialize the results of scientific research from higher education institutions, federal laboratories, and private sector organizations.  It is a quasi-public entity providing investments for early stage technology businesses.  It also funds technology business incubators.  TEDCO has a financial interest in over 400 Maryland companies.

Currently, the Maryland ethics law has a blanket prohibition on a State official having a financial interest in any entity that has a contract with the State.  This directly impacts TEDCO’s Board of Directors.  This provision makes it almost impossible for TEDCO to attract experienced angel investors and venture capitalists to their Board.  TEDCO needs these experienced Marylanders to direct their operations in order to keep TEDCO on track toward its objectives.  Since TEDCO is often the first outside funding a startup receives, Maryland investors on the Board are “walled off” from helping these companies later grow beyond their early stage.

Senate Bill 973 and House Bill 1073 make narrow changes to current Maryland law allowing Board members to still be subsequent investors in TEDCO companies.  They maintain other ethics protections including not allowing Board members to use their Board position to influence TEDCO investment decisions.

Workforce Development

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Premium Processing for H-1B Visas Suspended

Whether you are involved in recruiting technology workers or not, you’ve most likely heard of the H-1B visa. These visas are a way for specially skilled foreign workers to attain employment at U.S. companies and work in the country for a period of three years, and in some cases longer. The total visas allotted is capped at 85,000 per year and other criteria apply for both the employee and employer. If you had to guess how many Maryland H-1B applications were processed for Maryland companies in one year what would that number be? Five thousand? Eight thousand? If you’re thinking above 10,000, then you’re correct. According to the United States Department of Labor Foreign Labor Certification the numbers for 2015 show that 10,780 H-1B applications were processed and the top three cities requesting the visas were Baltimore, Columbia, and Rockville. Visas were requested most often for Computer Systems Analysts, Computer Programmers, Software Developers (applications), Computer Occupations (all others), and Software Developers (systems software). For an average wage, if you’re interested of $79,727.65. For comparison, California had 112,277 applications processed while our neighbors in Virginia had 18,821 applications processed.

Now, if you are involved in the visa process, you probably know that there are changes coming to premium processing. According to ICE, starting on April 3, 2017 USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions which may last up to six months. While H-1B premium processing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service or a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker which requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification.

According to the ICE website:

Why the Suspension?

The temporary suspension will help them to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, they say they. “will “be able to process long-pending petitions which have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the last few years. Additionally, they will look to prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240-day mark.

Who Is Affected

The temporary suspension applies to all H-1B petitions filed on or after April 3, 2017. Since FY18 cap-subject H-1B petitions cannot be filed before April 3, 2017, this suspension will apply to all petitions filed for the FY18 H-1B regular cap and master’s advanced degree cap exemption. The suspension also applies to petitions that may be cap-exempt.

Requesting Expedited Processing

While premium processing is suspended, petitioners may submit a request to expedite an H-1B petition if they meet the criteria including:

  • Severe financial loss to company or person
  • Emergency situation
  • Humanitarian reasons
  • Nonprofit organization whose request furthers the cultural and social interests of the United States
  • Department of Defense or national interest situation (These particular expedite requests must come from an official U.S. government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to the government.)
  • USCIS error
  • Compelling interest of USCIS

ICE says that they will notify the public before resuming premium processing for H-1B petitions, so check their website for updates – bit.ly/2mkUwQk.

Sources:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – bit.ly/2mkUwQk

United States Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification – bit.ly/2lUgQnD 

Capital

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Crowdlending – Another Source of Funding for Small Businesses

Now you really can do almost everything on the Internet. With the rise of crowdsharing, crowdfunding, and crowdsourcing comes crowdlending. Most often called peer-to-peer lending, it’s a way for individuals and businesses to get loans online relatively quickly and easily. Online lending platforms facilitate funding the loan through institutions directly and from individuals who’ve decided to invest, so they eliminate the middle man—the banks. After the borrower submits an application, it’s graded and then some platforms post the application for a few weeks to let investors review it to determine if they want to invest. Other companies have a pool of blind investors that they draw money from which expedites the process. The draw of online lending is that the borrower pays lower interest rates than they would from traditional lending institutions, while the lenders receive fixed returns at higher rates. Peer-to-peer lending may be right for funding your business or may even help with personal loans as well. Loan amounts vary but average between $3,000 – $500,000 and terms are typically about 3-5 years.

Here is an overview of some of the top platforms.

Kabbage – http://www.kabbage.com/

  • Should be in business for one year and have $50,000 in annual revenue or $4,200 per month over the last three months
  • Offers unsecured small business loans, secured small business loans, industry-specific loans, and minority loans
  • Offers business lines of credit up to $100,000  

Lending Club – http://www.lendingclub.com/

  • Focused on small businesses that have been in business for at least two years
  • Offers business loans and lines of credit from $5,000 – $300,000
  • Loans are funded as fast as two days but typically take a week or two

Upstart – http://www.upstart.com/

  • Offers business and personal loans from $1,000 – $50,000
  • Terms are offered at 3 and 5 years
  • Consideration based on FICO score, years of credit, education, area of study, and job history 

Prosper – http://www.prosper.com/

  • Offers one of the lowest beginning APR rates available
  • Loans are capped at $35,000
  • Offer a variety of personal options for debt consolidation, home improvement, auto, green, adoption, and military loans

Funding Circle – www.fundingcircle.com

  • Focused on small businesses that have been in business for at least two years
  • All loans are secured and range from $25,000 – $500,000 over 1-5 years
  • Loans are funded in about 10 days

Does it sound like it’s for you? Since many of the platforms require minimum FICO scores of about 600, it’s often a good alternative to asking friends and relatives for money, using traditional bank loans, or using credit cards. Many of the platforms are transparent about their terms, and if you have questions most of them offer multiple options for contacting their customer service representatives.

 

Mentoring Services

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Grow your future with the Maryland Tech Council Venture Mentoring Services Program (MTC VMS.) Get involved with our team-based mentoring program modeled after the highly-successful MIT Venture Mentoring Service (now implemented in more than 60 communities around the globe).

The ultimate goal of our program is to bring employment opportunities and capital to our area in the technology and life sciences fields by mentoring early stage companies.

We seek an intern to contact MTC VMS entrepreneurs and their mentors to schedule face to face meetings of the teams. The intern will also assist in gathering and organizing entrepreneur data, collecting and updating metrics, social media postings and preparing for monthly mentor breakfast meetings.

The intern will have the opportunity to network with local technology and life science CEO mentors and entrepreneurs. Due to the competitive nature of information collected and discussed at mentor-mentee meetings, all information collected, including information on the companies, topics of discussion, and content and individuals in attendance at meetings, is confidential and a signed confidentiality agreement may be required.

For more information about the program, visit our website at http://mdtechcouncil.com/careers/mentor-opportunities-new.php

Member Spotlight

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MagBio Genomics

MTC member MagBio Genomics recently launched two new products, so we visited with their CEO, Hyacinth Ntchobo, at their office in Gaithersburg.

Give us an overview of MagBio Genomics.

Our company develops and commercializes magnetic bead-based products for nucleic acids isolation including biomarkers as tools for liquid biopsy.

We’re focused on products that allow both safeguarding integrity of bio-samples and efficient isolation of circulating biomarkers from biological samples for human genetic research including cancer studies and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Our core platform allows efficiency in the nucleic acids sequencing methods including Sanger and Next Generation Sequencing in both manual and automated work flow. Our customers are academic and private genomics research institutions and clinical genomic research institutions around the world.

The company just launched two new products, tell us about that and some of your other products.

Yes, we launched the Blood STASIS 21-ccfDNA tube for venous whole blood collection and room temperature stabilization of circulating cell-free DNA. The tube is a direct draw whole blood collection system that contains a proprietary reagent that prevents post-collection release of genomic DNA from white blood cells. It allows room temperature transport and storage of blood for 21 days and epithelial cell for 8 days. Other blood stabilization systems contain potential formaldehyde-releasing compounds, making them unsuitable for many liquid biopsy applications and limiting room temperature blood stabilization to only 10 days. Another feature of our product is that the tube is plastic, which makes it less susceptible to breakage. The features of Blood STASIS 21-ccfDNA tube significantly expand the range of liquid biopsy applications such as NIPT and cancer genomic assays and improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance outreach for receiving samples on local and international levels.

We also just launched the cfKapture 21 system. This is a circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) isolation kit which includes a proprietary reagent that prevents post-separation degradation of plasma and ccfDNA fragments for up to 21 days at room temperature. This feature allows laboratories to safely transport and process samples within a much longer time frame without the need for extensive cold chain, which in turn reduces cost, improves efficiency, and increases outreach for both local and international samples. cfKapture 21 is the only kit on the market able to provide this level of flexibility for processing plasma samples in a high throughput setting.

The cfKapture 21 kit is compatible with any whole blood collection tube. However, it is best used in combination with our Blood STASIS 21-ccfDNA tube to ensure recovery of the highest quality ccfDNA suitable for most liquid biopsy applications.

We also sell products in the categories of next-generation sequencing kits, Sanger sequencing kits, DNA/RNA purification kits, and magnetic separation devices.

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Give us some insight into the company.

The company started five years ago, and we really turned a corner in 2015. We’ve been in high growth mode since that time. We moved into our Gaithersburg office in June of last year, and now we are getting into R&D so that we can bring more products to the market.

Currently, we have seven employees, and we will be looking to expand our sales team within certain channels in the near future. Like I mentioned, we are in a high-growth mode, so we are looking for an experienced sales executive to lead the team.

20170227_115513Who should members contact with questions?

They can call me directly at (301) 302-0144 x311 or email me at h.ntchobo@magbiogenomics.com.

 

Cost Savings Program

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Have you checked out the Cost Savings Program? It’s open to ALL MTC MEMBERS in good standing. There is no charge to use the program and you can use one, some or all of the special pricing arrangements offered through the program. Every company type and industry can benefit from the available savings.

ILLUMINA  |  UPS  |  VWR  |  CHUBB  |  OFFICE DEPOT  |  BUSINESS WIRE
AON  |  UNIFIRST  |  UNICLEAN  |  CLEANHARBORS  |  SHAREVAULT
AIRGAS HEALTHCARE  |  NIKON

The discounted prices and value added features available to you are based on the total volume of the program, giving you the purchasing power of the largest companies in your industry.

Your exact savings will depend on which programs you use as well as other factors, such as product mix, frequency and volume of purchases.

  • You decide which individual programs make sense for your company. Use one, some or all of the programs. The choice is yours.
  • The individual cost-savings programs do not restrict your purchasing selection to a short list of obscure “close out” items. In most cases, the full selection of products and services offered by a supplier are available to you at a discounted price. You do not have to change the way you do business to enjoy discounts and other benefits. In fact, you can request a pricing analysis of your current spend to determine the most economical alternative for your company, without any obligation to join the program.
  • I already use one of the preferred suppliers. How do I get the discounted pricing? Simply contact the Maryland Tech Council or the provider and inform them that you would like to enroll and take advantage of their cost-savings program. A previous customer relationship with the partner does not affect your eligibility to use our program.

To learn more, enroll and see the actual member savings, visit our website at  http://www.mdtechcouncil.com/membership/savings-mtc.php