TEDCO Insights

TEDCO's 2024 Legislative Technology Showcase wasn't just networking – it was a microcosm of Maryland's thriving innovation ecosystem. 

Katherine Hill Ritchie, Senior Director of TEDCO’s Venture Funds, spoke on WEAA’s Today with Dr. Kaye, providing some vital information about TEDCO and the different investment opportunities available.

A few months into my role at TEDCO as the Digital Marketing Coordinator, I was encouraged to write about one of the organization’s five core values – accountability, collaboration, integrity, respect, and stewardship – and why I think this value is so essential to Maryland’s ecosystem; I decided to focus on collaboration. 

Eight years have moved by quickly for STEER Tech CEO Anuja Sonalker, not just in the growth and success of her autonomous vehicle company but in cities and states embracing the industry as a catalyst for growth in infrastructure.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to – hopefully, I don’t need to finish this lyric.

The textbook definition of respect is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem. Like this definition, typically you may think of respect gearing outwards & providing others with it. However, this article isn’t going to do that – as tech entrepreneurs, the respect I want to talk about is the respect within.

Floriculture is a lucrative, international industry that involves the cultivation, production and management of flowers. Tom Precht, Ph.D., and Sarah Daken, research scientist and attorney, pivoted the hustle of climbing the corporate ladder to establishing Grateful Gardeners in 2018 – a flower farm based in Poolesville, Maryland, just inside the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve. Precht and Daken’s desire to foster change in the floral industry is evident in the foundational tenet of their business model — to grow organically, eliminating the use of herbicides and pesticides, and to be regenerative about the use of soil to ensure positive impacts on the environment and the planet.

Located in the heart of central Maryland, Howard County (HoCo) is comprised of innovative technology startups committed to advancing consumer services germane to their respective fields. Because of this, it is no surprise that TEDCO’s support and investments have touched several companies that call HoCo home. 

Dr. Arti Santhanam realized she’d have to try something different. It was fall 2022, and the former executive director of TEDCO’s Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) was looking for a way to promote commercialization efforts for universities with limited research budgets.

What resulted was a series of investments outside of the MII’s regular parameters — including a unique event that blended elements of a hackathon with those of a business pitch competition.

At TEDCO, respect is defined as:

“We uphold a culture of respect at work, within our communities, and nationally. We embrace diversity, equity and inclusion while also valuing our employees for their individuality and the unique perspectives that they bring to the organization.”

This idea of maintaining a mutual respect and supporting authenticity in the workplace, holds a pivotal role in the creation of a positive professional environment. 

The poultry industry is a major component of Maryland’s economic activity, particularly in the Eastern Shore. As significant as the poultry sector is, it also comes with a major challenge – vacant, unused poultry houses. Major distributors often cut contracts with farms that are old or outdated, leaving the farmer with an unused house, a high mortgage and lost income.