A company in North East, Md. Last week won a $100,000 grant in a contest in that state.
I-lighting was one of three winners in the first InvestMaryland Challenge of the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development. According to the state, 250 companies applied for the grant.
“Tonight we’re fulfilling the need we saw to connect our entrepreneurs with the resources and the experts that turn great ideas into reality,” Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development Secretary Dominick Murray said.
CEO Scott Holland of i-lighting, which manufactures easy-to-install LED lighting, said his company’s $100,000 win in the general industry category will allow for greater expansion.
“Now that we have more capital, I’m looking forward to moving the company farther faster. We have the right people, we just needed the funding, and now that we have that, we can move on and up,” Holland said.
At the awards event, Gov. Martin O’Malley, praised Maryland’s innovative companies and said he believed they would play a role in solving worldwide problems.
The contest began as the brainchild of former-DBED Secretary Christian Johansson and Governor Martin O’Malley. Company submissions from across the United States began flowing in in September 2012. Participants were narrowed down from over 250 to 60, then 33 and finally nine, to include three finalists in each of the general industry, life sciences and information technology categories.
At the awards event, Gov. Martin O’Malley, praised Maryland’s innovative companies and said he believed they would play a role in solving worldwide problems.
“One of the biggest problems facing our state, our country and possibly our planet is how do we create more jobs and more prosperity even as populations grow and our bio capacity remains finite. The only way to do that is through innovation and through developing the skills of our people, innovations in the security of our people and innovations in sustaining our way of life … To see all of you here tonight, I cannot tell you how good that makes me feel that we’re hitting those goals,” O’Malley said.
