News Summary - 10/16

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Oct 16, 2007

Info on product recalls

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced his office has devised a way for consumers to have easy access to all the federal Web sites that post the latest information on product recalls. A new link on the attorney general office's Internet site, www.oag.state.md.us, leads directly to the Product Recall Clearinghouse Web site. Gansler said the Web site will be updated weekly or as needed, depending on the number of recalls issued. Consumers with questions or concerns about recalled products may call the attorney general office's consumer hotline, 410-528-8662, or toll free, 1-888-743-0023, or visit the Consumer Protection Division's Web site at www.oag.state.md.us/consumer/index.htm.> Under Armour's sponsorship

Under Armour Inc., of Baltimore, a manufacturer of performance athletic apparel and footwear, announced it has signed a three-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the ESPNU High School All- American Game debuting Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The game is an annual all- star football competition spotlighting more than 80 of the country's top prep football prospects. It will be broadcast live to most of the nation on ABC at 2 p.m. with a tape delay to the West Coast.

Immunization information

The Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition, a coalition of 25 national public health, medical, patient and parent groups spearheaded by the Bethesda-based National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, said it has issued the new report, "Improving Childhood Influenza Immunization Rates to Protect Our Nation's Children," available online. In addition, the coalition developed a new Web site, www.PreventChildhoodInfluenza.org, designed to help educate health care professionals as well as parents, guardians and other caregivers about the serious nature of influenza and the importance of annual immunization for children.

Ripken going to China

Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., named two months ago a special envoy for the State Department, will go to China at the end of this month to talk baseball with coaches from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the department said Sunday. A department statement said Ripken leaves Oct. 28 and returns Nov. 6. His hosts will be 12 baseball coaches from those cities who visited the United States in July for training at baseball academies run by Aberdeen-based Ripken Baseball and Major League Baseball.

Prometric's new owner

Prometric, previously a unit of The Thomson Corp., said its previously announced acquisition by Educational Testing Service has been completed. In its statement, Baltimore-based Prometric did not rehash financial details of the transaction; however, when the acquisition was announced in early July, a price of $435 million was disclosed. Both Prometric, a provider of computer-based testing and assessment services, and Princeton, N.J.-based ETS said at the time that Prometric would remain in Baltimore and operate as an independent subsidiary of ETS. Prometric has about 400 employees in Baltimore.

More work for Optivor

Optivor Technologies LLC, of Ellicott City, which designs, installs and supports telecommunications infrastructure, said it has been granted a multimillion dollar contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. The multi-year contract will provide the VAMC's telecommunications system with support services. Details of the award were not disclosed. Optivor serves clients in 46 states and 16 countries.

County commission ... or not

The five members of the St. Mary's County Commission are expected to vote today on whether to change the county's form of government to a charter -- the third time the issue has come up in some form in 35 years. Fifteen volunteers have been studying the issue as a task force since March, after commissioners determined growth in the county might require a change. Currently, St. Mary's and seven other counties are governed by commissioners, the form of government that all Maryland counties began with. Nine counties have changed to the charter form of government and six have changed to the code form.

Smith School listing

Undergraduate and MBA programs of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park are rated among the top in the nation for entrepreneurship, according to a ranking by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review. The ranking, which will be published in the November issue of Entrepreneur, rates Smith's undergraduate program No. 14 and its MBA program No. 18 in the nation. The fifth annual "Top Entrepreneurial Colleges for 2007" is a list of 50 schools: 25 undergraduate and 25 graduate. The Smith School was similarly recognized by Fortune Small Business in that magazine's September issue.

Bullis high on wind power

Clean Currents LLC, a Rockville-based clean energy business, announced that it brokered an arrangement with The Bullis School, a private school in Potomac, to switch the school to 50 percent wind power in an effort to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage energy independence. Bullis' purchase will offset approximately 4.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, according to the company's announcement.