Banking on the community

The column originally ran in Capital Business, WaPo's new local business weekly:


By Dan Beyers
Monday, March 7, 2011; 15 



Among community banks in the region, one in particular has seemed to shrug off the economic turbulence of recent years: Eagle Bancorp.

Where others reined in their ambitions, the Bethesda bank has been busy making loans, building its portfolio and racking up one record-breaking quarter after another. That kind of performance defies the current narrative on the financial industry, where supposedly the world is adjusting to the new normal.

Chairman, chief executive and president Ronald D. Paul claims the bank was just in the right place at the right time, small enough to be nimble when the downturn set in and big enough to make the sort of loans that keep law firms, medical practices, restaurants and other local businesses up and running.

I tend to be skeptical of such Goldilocks analogies, but it is hard to argue with the bank's recent run of success. The loans are performing well and institutional investors have shown a healthy appetite for EagleBank's shares. The bank, with roots in Maryland and the District, recently opened its first branch in Northern Virginia and plans several more.

I heard all about EagleBank's progress last week when Paul and Vice Chairman Robert P. Pincus invited me to a meeting of the community bank's advisory board, a group of local business leaders who serve as ambassadors to the growing bank.

One member of the panel asked Paul and Pincus whether they were worried their success might prompt a response from the larger banks.

Indeed, Pincus said, the bigger banks tend to be "kind of paralyzed" after any recessionary cycle.
"But they are going to come back with a vengeance," likely by offering better rates, he said.

EagleBank's strategy is to take advantage of the lull to ply its customers with as many products as possible, whether insurance, investments, mortgage loans or what have you, "so it is harder to leave."

"We call it stickiness," Pincus said.

And who would help the bank sell those products? Around the table sat the owner of a limousine company, a printer, a commercial real estate broker, lawyers, the leader of a nonprofit, the owner of a concierge service -- all business people who come into contact with many more business people every day, and all incentivized to make referrals.

Then it dawned on me: To be a successful community bank, it's best to tap the resources of the community.

Dead dredge

ExploreHoward reports the company dredging Lake Elkhorn is packing up and going home as a legal dispute continues:

Workers for Mobile Dredging and Pumping of Chester Pa. this week began vacating the work site at the 37-acre lake instead of resuming the work after a winter hiatus. Columbia Association board chairwoman Cynthia Coyle confirmed that CA did not extend an expired contract with Mobile.

"The main thing everybody needs to understand is the lake is not finished," she said, adding that CA is committed to completing the work. The firm, which got the $5.2 million contract in September 2009, had not finished when the contract expired in January.

Mobile Dredging filed a $1 million lawsuit against CA in November in Howard County Circuit Court for breach of contract, claiming the association had failed to pay for work performed The company argued that CA had not done surveys of the sediment before work began and could not therefore measure how much was removed. The CA board had authorized spending $1.2 million more on the job in August, claiming that heavy storms in recent years had left much more mud to be removed than estimated.

Signs of the times

The HoCo Council has approved new rules for signs downtown, allowing, for instance, "digital displays." 

Here's a summary from the Sun:

The council unanimously approved 18 amendments, plus numerous amendments to the amendments, including creation of the term "digital displays" rather than "video boards," which was the original name for electronic signs. The rules regulate the size, placement, illumination, timing and virtually every other aspect of every type of sign imaginable. The bill uses terms like "harmonic urban streetscape" to describe a plan that would make signs "an integral part of an overall development plan."

While many residents and visitors feel the lack of signs has made locating places in Columbia far too difficult, others feel the restrictions have preserved a more pleasant appearance.

Developer Howard Hughes Corp., Columbia's master developer, wants the freedom to be innovative with a rapidly changing electronic technology, while residents and some council members fear the visual clutter they've seen for years along U.S. 40 and U.S. 1 leaching into Columbia.

The Town Center Village Board, the homeowners' group that covers the downtown area, wrote to the council Friday that while the board opposed having video boards in downtown in testimony delivered December 20, the members now feel proposed amendments make the idea "more egregious."

"Ironically, new videos that are particularly attractive could be the worst distracters" for pedestrians as well as motorists, the board's letter said.

But council Chairman Calvin Ball, an east Columbia Democrat, said the members spent "an inordinate amount of hours" on the bill. "It is in much, much better shape than when it came to us," he said.

The electronic signs drew the most comment and criticism from the public, and several members praised the five pages of specific amendments controlling digital displays as compared with the original bill, which merely said that video boards are allowed in downtown.

"This five pages of criteria is the result of all of us spending more hours than we would like admit," working on it, said Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat. She offered amendments banning inflated signs in downtown, especially the "flappy guy"-style signs such as the one waving at motorists Saturday in front of the Firestone Tire store on Little Patuxent Parkway.

Ulman picks new economic development chief

From HoCo pr:

 ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced today that Laura Neuman has been selected as the County’s new Director and CEO of the Economic Development Authority.

 “I am thrilled that Laura has accepted our offer and am extremely pleased that the EDA Board agreed that Laura’s track record and experience as a technology entrepreneur is just what this County and this region needs,” said Executive Ulman. “Laura’s involvement in so many levels of business development, from entry level positions at T. Rowe Price all the way to CEO of a company that was based in Howard County before it was sold for $230 million, offers a glimpse into the drive and passion that make her the ideal leader of the Economic Development Authority.”

 EDA Board Chair Peter J. Rogers, Jr., said, “Ms. Neuman stood out from a field of more than 70 applicants, and fulfilled Executive Ulman’s chief criteria for a new director for the county’s economic development efforts. Laura is a visionary leader with deep roots in the private sector. She is someone who can speak the language of the entrepreneurial community that will help create Howard County’s future.”

 Highlights of Ms. Neuman’s professional career include:

· Entrepreneur in Residence at University of Maryland
· Director of the Chesapeake Innovation Center
· CEO of Matrics Inc.
· Vice-President of Business Development and Sales, CAIS Internet

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity,” said Ms. Neuman. “Howard County has so many things going for it, and economic development is at the top of that list. With Fort Meade, DISA and Cyber-Command all in our backyard, the innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities are endless. When Executive Ulman and I spoke, it was clear we have a similar vision on how the Economic Development Authority can solidify Howard County’s position as the premier business location in Maryland.”

 Ms. Neuman is a Maryland native who holds a Masters in Business Administration from Loyola University and she has completed the Executive Program at Stanford Business School. Laura has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named “Most Influential Marylander” and being selected one of The Daily Record’s “Maryland’s Top 100 Women.”

 As directed by the County Code, County Executive Ulman delivered his nomination of Ms. Neuman to the EDA Board, and then the Board interviewed the candidate and voted on the Executive’s selection. Ms. Neuman was chosen after an extensive, three-month nationwide search.

Schools approve $681 m. budget request

From the school board's e-letter to parents:




The Board of Education approved its fiscal year 2012 Operating Budget Request this morning. The request, in the amount of $681,171,710, will now be forwarded to the County Executive. 

In approving its request, the Board cut $1.6 million from the Superintendent's Proposed Budget. The reduction was made in response to the Governor's Budget Proposal, which provides $1.6 million less in state funding than school officials estimated when preparing the Superintendent's proposal.

The request represents a $5.8 million, or a less than one percent, increase over the current year's budget.

The Board's request
- Maintains current class sizes and all current instructional program offerings.
- Adds 46.2 positions for enrollment growth, 4.5 positions to continue ongoing programs, and 1.5 positions for program enhancement; decreases 9.0 positions to support mandatory increases.
- Adds an Allied Sports Program for students with disabilities.
- Provides planning money for an elementary World Language Program.
- Covers increases of $840,000 in fixed charges such as health insurance for new employees, retirement costs, and workers' compensation.
- Adds $250,000 to upgrade the school system's Integrated Financial System.

The request does not include costs that may result from negotiations with employee bargaining units, which are currently underway.

The mall is no home for the homeless

This ran in WaPo recently:


By Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 17, 2011; 10:21 PM 


For years, the Mall in Columbia shopping center has been a popular early morning haunt. There are power walkers, caffeine-craving commuters and, often, some of Howard County's homeless, who buy coffee if they can afford it or sometimes just stake out a spot to pass a few hours.

Now, though, the premier mall in one of the nation's richest counties has started taking a harder line against the homeless.

In recent weeks, at least two homeless people have been banned from entering the mall, and about 20 more have been told that they should stay out during the early morning, according to some homeless people and their advocates.

"I understand that the mall is private property, but it's open to the public, and when you're trying to utilize the services of some of the vendors and you're thrown out, that's almost a violation of your civil rights," said a 62-year-old woman, who said she was banned this month for what security guards said was disturbing the peace.
The mall's ownership, General Growth Properties, declined to make anyone available for questions Thursday. A spokesman issued a statement on behalf of the mall's general manager, Katie Essing.

"If anyone does not adhere to our rules and regulations," the statement read in part, "they are first issued a warning; and secondly, if their behavior does not improve, they are banned from the center."

Residents of the county's emergency winter shelter are typically dropped off each morning and picked up each evening at the mall's bus stop, which is the transit hub in Columbia. While some venture elsewhere in the county for the day, others opt to enter the mall, which counts among its tenants Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, the Apple Store and AMC movie theaters.

Many stores do not open until 10 a.m. on weekdays, but Starbucks opens at 6:30, and McDonald's and Panera Bread open at 8.

About a month ago, the mall's management contacted Grassroots Crisis Intervention, said Douglas Carl, the nonprofit group's manager of emergency and outreach homeless services. Grassroots was told that residents of the emergency shelter should not enter the shopping center before 10 a.m., Carl said.

The mall management, he said, expressed concerns about incidents involving people believed to be residents of the emergency shelter.

"I'm certainly not going to say that there are never any problems with people that stay in our shelter," Carl said, "but I have no way of knowing whether the individuals that they were referring to were in our shelters."

Sales lessons from a place called Cozumel

This ran in Capital Business, The Washington Post's local business weekly, on Monday.

By Dan Beyers
Monday, February 21, 2011; 15 

Zig Ziglar, the motivational sales guru, likes to remind people that it's easy to miss 100 percent of the sales you never ask for.

I thought about that aphorism last week after dropping in on the offices of DLT Solutions in Herndon.
DLT is a value-added reseller, meaning the company sells other people's stuff. In this case, DLT sells products from Google, Oracle, Symantec and technology companies to big enterprises.

It's a lucrative business. The privately held company has annual revenue north of $600 million, and it is growing, even through the downturn. Which surprised me, given that the company doesn't really make anything.

It's just a middleman.

"We prefer 'intermediary,' " corrected Rick Marcotte, the chairman, president and chief executive
.
DLT's specialty is the Byzantine world of government procurement, having spent the past 20 years building a sales organization dedicated to identifying contract opportunities and matching up vendors.

"That's our secret sauce," Marcotte said.

Marcotte primes his machine, now 235 people strong, with incentives. Everyone, whether in sales or not, gets a free trip to somewhere warm if his or her team meets its targets. The company has even named its conference rooms after former warm-weather destinations, to keep those enticements front of mind.

We met in Cozumel.

Marcotte said there are lots of ways to build a sales team. You can invest in a few big rainmakers and hope to land a few big deals. Or you can hustle.

DLT hustles.

In 2010, Marcotte said the company counted 3.5 million times it "touched" a potential customer. Those contacts yielded 92,000 potential leads. Those leads allowed the company to make $2.3 billion worth of quotes for new business, which turned into 29,000 new orders, representing $89 million in incremental new revenue for DLT's vendor partners.

Business the vendors themselves might not have gotten, because they didn't ask.

And then it hit me.

DLT does make something after all.

It manufactures sales.