County Business Accelerator Wins $50K from Federal Agency

The Howard County Economic Development Authority has won $50,000 in the first Growth Accelerator Fund competition sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The county’s Accelerator for the Commercialization of Technology was selected from over 800 applicants competing for grants from the SBA. The Howard County accelerator is the only Maryland program to win.

“We are really excited that our partners at the SBA recognize the tremendous work being done through our Accelerator for the Commercialization of Technology,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman in a news release. “We created the ACT with the goal of launching businesses that would produce 21st century jobs for Howard County and Maryland, and this award from the SBA will go a long way toward helping us reach that goal.”

In accepting the cash awards, the accelerators commit to quarterly reporting for one year. They will be required to report jobs created, money raised, startups launched and corporate sponsors.

“We couldn’t be more proud of ACT Director Valerie Gaydos and the team at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship where the program operates,” said Howard County Economic Development Authority CEO Lawrence F. Twele. “Since the program was launched we’ve signed our first ever memorandum of understanding with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and two companies have agreements to license technology.”