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Recent Articles from Ellie Heffernan
Maryland startup addresses small businesses’ inventory challenges
A College Park-based startup says its product may help small businesses compete with Amazon. Ovalz, a digital inventory service co-founded by CEO Marvin Harris, addresses challenges small businesses face auditing manually. Harris’ experiences as a social entrepreneur and the alumnus of a historically-black college have influenced his outlook on business, he says. Ovalz was one […]
Pandemic has Md. businesses singing the wedding bell blues
Maryland’s wedding industry faces unique challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Statewide social distancing guidelines still prohibit large gatherings, and, unlike restaurateurs and retailers, wedding vendors and venues must schedule everything around a specific date. Venues say they have used their space in new ways and hosted smaller weddings at partial capacity. And they […]
University System of Maryland to require COVID-19 testing this fall
The University System of Maryland announced Thursday that students, faculty and staff returning to all of its campuses must be tested for COVID-19 within 14 days prior to arrival. Students and employees must also submit official confirmation of a negative result to university officials. USM’s 11 universities, which are typically home to over 170,000 […]
Pandemic’s impact on traffic, transit, may outlast outbreak
The coronavirus pandemic has slashed Maryland traffic and transit ridership, but it also has led to some unexpected consequences and may be reshaping commuting patterns for years to come, local experts say. Since Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency on Mar. 5, Maryland Transit Administration ridership has been down by an average of […]
Maryland nonprofit releases wealth of COVID-19 data
A local nonprofit organization announced Thursday it has launched an online website to help policymakers understand and track the impacts of COVID-19 in the state. The Baltimore Regional Recovery Dashboard, which was created by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, features data and visualizations that detail unemployment claims, impacted industries and transportation ridership. The dashboard prese[...]
TEDCO announces new CEO, new seed fund investments
One of Maryland’s top sources of funding for early-stage, technology-based businesses announced new leadership Wednesday. Troy LeMaile-Stovall will lead the Maryland Technology Development Corporation as chief executive officer/executive director, effective. Sept. 7. LeMaile-Stovall has over 25 years of experience in higher education, telecommunications, management consulting, investment, te[...]
Baltimore faces twin crises: Heat waves and COVID-19
For many Baltimore residents, this week’s heat wave would pose challenges even without a global pandemic. But the COVID-19 outbreak and the imperative of avoiding large gatherings of people in close proximity to each other has complicated city officials’ usual strategy of using cooling centers to help residents who don’t have air conditioning. Officials and […]
Hopkins researchers give Md. high marks on school resumption plans
Maryland is one of 13 states and territories that have the most comprehensive K-12 school reopening plans in the nation, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. The Reopening Policy Tracker, which was launched Thursday as part of JHU’s eSchool+ Initiative, uses visualizations to show whether state education officials are assessing 12 critical categories in […]
For Md. young adults, summer jobs, internships a casualty of coronavirus
Historically high unemployment rates triggered by the coronavirus pandemic are taking a toll on summer jobs for teens and young Marylanders. Maryland’s local governments and their partner organizations are adjusting internship and summer youth employment programs to hire as many people as possible, but some young adults are still left scrambling to find alternatives to […]
Maryland company, 2 partners, get $34.6M to fight COVID-19
A Gaithersburg-based global life sciences company announced Wednesday it will partner with two other organizations to work on a preventative COVID-19 product after receiving $34.6 million from the U.S. Department of Defense. Emergent BioSolutions will collaborate with the Mount Sinai Health System, based in New York City, and ImmunoTek Bio Centers, based in Louisiana, […]
Md. businesses, employees caught in the middle on masks
Maryland businesses and their employees find themselves increasingly caught in a battle zone, expected to enforce the governor’s order that store customers wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic even as some patrons are bridling at following that order. Employees and managers are having to persuade balking and sometimes angry customers that they need to […]
City museums, art groups aim to bring resources to students
A Baltimore-based nonprofit has organized a collaborative effort among the city’s most influential cultural organizations to help students access the arts this summer. Arts Every Day, along with a group of 22 artists and organizations, is hoping to distribute Baltimore Summer Arts Passports to 10,000 students. Participating organizations include the Baltimore Museum of Art, the […]
