Co-founder and CEO Ron Steptoe is passionate about his Ellicott City-based company, Warrior Centric Health, and not just because of its leading-edge health solution platform; for Steptoe, an eighth generation military veteran, it’s personal. Steptoe formed a company focused on creating healthcare equity for the millions of Americans who have served or are serving the country today.
By aligning ourselves with integrity, TEDCO strives for fair and transparent processes, ensuring our evaluation process remains as consistent and balanced as possible. This begins with an application, an application that every one of the hundreds of portfolio founders seeking investment funding from TEDCO has answered. These responses undergo the same scrutiny from the collective of our investment team, helping us to remain as consistent and fair as possible.
When “Top Gun: Maverick” was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar, engineers in Southern Maryland had cause for celebration: the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) engineers and technicians had a major role in the film. NAWCAD test engineers helped to customize the film’s aircraft, conducting wind blast tests and doing the camera set-up to ensure excellent shots of the cast of war fighters while also prioritizing actor safety.
As residents of Southern Maryland know, the work at NAWCAD and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) extends far beyond movie making. Located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS PAX), NAVAIR and NAWCAD are the United States Navy’s centers for naval aviation. In fact, it’s often said that “anything that takes off and lands from an aircraft carrier and its supported technologies pass through NAVAIR and NAWCAD.”
As I said earlier, music is personal, generational and emotional. The songs we select on our personal playlist are reflective of our individual journeys; so, asking for just two songs allows for more transparency into who are, the journey we have been and the journey we are on now. These playlists should give a small glimpse into the journey of our leadership team.
One of the challenges facing many companies is how to connect with the DoD labs to develop and test their products or to license technology developed by the DoD – this is where the Maryland Defense Technology Commercialization (DefTech) Center comes in. Supported through a partnership between TEDCO and the Maryland Department of Commerce, DefTech is a program that specializes in connecting Maryland companies with DoD labs and resources to help bring their innovations to the commercial market.
Singerman was hired in September 1999 to take TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, from the conceptual, as enacted by the state legislation, to fruition. He was TEDCO’s executive director until 2005, setting the organization up for sustained success and laying the groundwork for the successors that would follow him over the years.
Renee Winsky helped to shape TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, in its formative years. As the organization continues their 25th anniversary celebration, Winsky recalls her time at the helm with pride.
“The marvel of TEDCO is it works both with innovators and entrepreneurs. It will make sure what’s being developed has the right business acumen behind it,” Winsky said.
The innovation ecosystem is an intricate concept that comprises big companies, founders, startups, venture capitalists, and other organizations. Every party within the larger ecosystem has its expertise, and collaboration across the board is the key to a successful open innovation program. By themselves, these organizations are likely to plateau, finding themselves unable to grow efficiently.
To me, integrity means always striving to do the right thing, despite the situation and regardless of whether or not anyone else is watching; it means simply doing the best you can, listening to your instincts, and choosing to do what is right, even when it’s difficult.
How can you define an organization's character? Troy LeMaile-Stovall, TEDCO CEO explains how he defines "character," how he's seen TEDCO's character grow, and the essential and unwavering guide that we all abide by to support the Maryland ecosystem.