Linux avatech software

Briefs: MD firm files with securities commission+

Sinclair tells SEC

Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. filed a $350 million universal shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will permit the company to offer and sell various types of securities from time to time, and said it intends to use the proceeds for acquisitions and debt reduction.

Georgia on their mind

Dialysis Corporation of America purchased Ty Cobb Kidney Care, in Royston, Ga., for an undisclosed price. The center has 18 treatment stations serving Royston and surrounding communities. Hanover-based DCA owns and operates free-standing kidney hemodialysis centers.

Shares redemption

Hagerstown-based Allegheny Energy Inc.'s subsidiary, West Penn Power Co., which does business as Allegheny Power, said on May 22 it will call for the redemption of all outstanding shares of its 8 percent Quarterly Income Debt Securities, Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures, Series A, due June 30, 2025, with a value of $70 million, and will pay a redemption price of $25 per share plus accrued interest.

Job opportunities

Swales Aerospace, a Beltsville-based company that provides engineering services, satellites and associated flight hardware, will recruit job candidates with top-secret clearance backgrounds in aerospace, electrical and mechanical engineering as hiring demands increase, according to Hire.com, an Austin, Texas-based talent acquisition and retention application service provider retained by Swales.

Partners for progress

NFR Security Inc., a Rockville-based manufacturer of intrusion detection and network monitoring equipment, added Stenstrom Scientific, of Marlton, N.J., a consulting and technology solutions firm specializing in risk mitigation, to its channel partner program, giving Stenstrom access to NFR's comprehensive, integrated intrusion detection technology.

Funds for SOTAS

Gaithersburg-based SOTAS Inc., which designs and manufactures products to protect telecommunications system, received a $5 million working capital line of credit from the Technology and Life Sciences Division of Comerica Inc., a commercial lender based in Detroit.

Leases for COPT

Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust executed two leases for 71,243 square feet of space at One Gateway Exchange, a newly developed, 122,889-square-foot, Class A office building in Columbia. Neither company was specifically identified; one, a mid- Atlantic health care and related services provider, leased 49,938 square feet, the other, a national financial services company, will occupy 21,305 square feet.

New job

Kathy Ordonez was named president of Rockville-based Celera Genomics Group, effective immediately. Ordonez also will remain president of Alameda, Calif.-based Celera Diagnostics' joint venture with Applied Biosystems Group, of Foster City, Calif. She has held several senior executive positions with Hoffmann LaRoche, including president and chief executive officer of Roche Molecular Systems.

New business

Norwalk, Conn.-based Applera Corp. said its Applied Biosystems Group will become the exclusive distributor of the Celera Discovery System operated by Rockville-based Celera Genomics Group, and that Applied Biosystems will integrate CDS and other genomic and biological information into a new Knowledge Business.

New product

Germantown-based Acterna Corp., a communications systems and networks monitoring company, launched the Acterna DA-3400 Data Network Analyzer, to enable network operations personnel to more easily solve complex data network and service problems that can occur during service turn-up and troubleshooting.

Red Hat in the ring

Laurel-based Digex Inc., which provides Internet access and Web site hosting services for businesses and institutions, is expanding its managed hosting offerings with the introduction of the Digex Managed Linux platform, using Red Hat Linux 7.2.

Senior housing

Since hitting a low of 82.4 percent occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2000, average occupancy rates for skilled nursing facilities throughout 2001 have stayed at or above that level, with average occupancy rates in both the third and fourth quarters of 2001 at 83.5 percent, according to data compiled by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industries, based in Annapolis.

Directory assistance

College Park-based LogicTree Corp., a provider of multi-modal voice and data access systems, and Danish software company Bo Tveden Systems A/S (BTS), a global developer of directory assistance technology, unveiled the BTS Enhanced Information Server, featuring speech-enabled and fully multimodal directory assistance.

Career move

Avatech Solutions Inc., of Owings Mills, a provider of design automation tools, training, integration services and technical support, named Scott Fischer as senior vice president, responsible for growing Avatech's professional services business and strategic growth initiatives.

New at RewardsPlus

RewardsPlus, a Hunt Valley-based benefit automation service provider, named Raymond D. Dracca and Gerri C. Davie as regional sales directors, Central Region and Eastern Region, respectively. Brian K. Leonard was hired as regional sales director, Southeastern Region, and Anthony Passananti has joined the company as vice president, sales engineering.

Jones promoted

Maureen A. Jones was promoted to the post of vice president and chief financial officer of the Adams Express Co. and the Petroleum & Resources Corp. A CPA, Jones was formerly the vice president and treasurer of both Baltimore-based companies.

Award to Gore

Gore Fuel Cell Technologies Inc., of Elkton, a developer of membranes for fuel cells, has been selected by H Power Corp., a Clifton, N.J.-based fuel cell development company, to supply membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cell applications for at least the next 18 months.