After four incredible years serving the Hogan administration, I made the difficult decision to return to the private sector. I left with my head held high for all that our great state was able to accomplish during my time as Maryland’s first Secretary of Commerce. The past four years were filled with plenty of challenges following Gov. Hogan’s spectacular rise to office. Click here to read more at the Baltimore Business Journal. 

Evergreen’s Rick Kohr, Chief Executive Officer to be featured on AHA Business Radio

Tuesday June 11^th, 2019

6-7 pm on 1300 WJZ-AM

AHA! Business Radio provides information to help you run your business and guide your decision making. The more you know the better decisions you make. This show is produced by Allan Hirsh Advisors. Allan T. Hirsh III, Executive Leadership Advisor, is an experienced business owner, CEO, entrepreneur and a community leader with a passion for strengthening and growing organizations and developing leaders.

Listen live each Tuesday from 6PM – 7PM on CBS 1300 WJZ-AM.  You can also listen to previous shows and view show videos by:

Follow AHA Business Radio on twitter @AHABizRadio and “like” on Facebook. Call 410-481-1300 to join the conversation.

Evergreen Advisors Capital is pleased to announce the publication of our Q1 2019 Digital Health Market Update. The update provides industry and insights on notable transactions, a detailed look at M&A and private placement activity, and data on valuation metrics and stock price performance.

Read More or Download here:

Digital Health Market Update Spring 2019

Join Evergreen Advisors and thousands of other industry professionals at the RSA Conference 2019 in San Francisco, California. The conference will be held at the Moscone Center and will take place March 4^th -8^th 2019.

Top information security professionals and business leaders will discuss emerging cybersecurity trends and formulate best strategies for tackling current and future threats. At this year’s event, attendees will have access to more than 500 exhibitors, more than 400 expert-led sessions, and invaluable networking opportunities to learn more about new approaches to info security discover the latest technology and interact with top security leaders and pioneers.About Evergreen Advisors

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Evergreen Advisors, a middle market Investment Bank and Corporate Advisory Firm, with offices in both Columbia, MD and Mclean, VA, is pleased to announce the addition of Steve Prichett as a Managing Director in our Columbia office.

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Evergreen Advisors Capital, a middle-market investment bank, is pleased to announce that Global Technology Associates, LLC (“GTA”) has been acquired by Kelly Services (“Kelly”).  Evergreen Advisors Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to GTA. Lacki & Company, LLC provided legal advice to GTA.

GTA is a leading provider of high-value engineering, technology, and business consulting services to the telecommunications industry – assisting clients with maximizing infrastructure potential and evolving networks and services to address market opportunities.   Bridging the gap between business and technology, GTA provides a wide range of services tailored to address client needs across the telecommunications value chain – from the network edge to the network core, and the enabling technologies being developed and deployed to deliver next-generation services.

“We explored several strategic alternatives to address our future growth opportunities. Kelly’s brand recognition and size support GTA’s growth objectives,” said Farzad Ghassemi, Executive Chairman of GTA, “The partnership with Kelly is a great outcome for our employees and clients. ”

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The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland Inc (CAMI) has elected its 2019 Executive Committee and Board of Directors with Gina Abate, President & CEO of woman-owned, Elkridge-based Edwards Performance Solutions, serving a second term as Chairperson. The 2019 slate of officers are as follows: [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors, LLC is pleased to announce that Shelley Lombardo, Chief Operating Officer, has been elected to the board of the Cyber Association of Maryland (CAMI). CAMI was established in 2015 to generate sales and jobs through Maryland’s cybersecurity industry. CAMI is Maryland’s only organization dedicated 100% to the growth of Maryland’s cybersecurity industry.   [Read more…]

Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving subject matter for businesses. Like the computer viruses that are generally associated with the term, the issue itself has proven infectious for corporations both in its reach and impact as it grows over time.

Many organizations have learned the hard way that it is also a very costly subject matter. A study produced by IBM and the Ponemon Institute suggests that the average cost of fixing or resolving a data breach is more than $3.86 million. That number is only expected to grow. [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors Capital, a middle-market investment bank, is pleased to announce that Dunbar Cybersecurity  (“Dunbar”) has been acquired by ControlScan.  Evergreen Advisors Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Dunbar.

Founded in 2012, Dunbar Cybersecurity offers tailored solutions to enable the safety and enhanced protection of client networks, cloud infrastructure, and end users. The acquisitions includes their well-established Security Operations Center (SOC) and powerful SIEM platform, Cyphon.  The Cyphon platform streamlines incident management through a single platform. It receives, processes and triages events to provide an all-encompassing solution for analytic workflow — aggregating data, bundling and prioritizing alerts, and empowering analysts to investigate and document incidents. These advanced capabilities add to the best-in-class service ControlScan delivers to their mid-level enterprise clients.    [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors Capital, a middle-market investment bank, is pleased to announce that Chesapeake Electrical Systems, Inc. (“Chesapeake”) has been acquired by Aldridge Electric (“Aldridge”).  Evergreen Advisors Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Chesapeake.

Chesapeake provides the full range of electrical contracting services to a wide variety of clients in the commercial and industrial sectors. Founded in 1993, Chesapeake has completed contracts on some of the region’s most recognizable landmarks, including Dulles and Reagan International Airports, the Raven’s M&T Bank Stadium, D.C.’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and the Washington Beltway Express Lanes. [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors, LLC is pleased to announce that industry leader and financial services veteran Sam DiPaola will be joining the firm as president. DiPaola recently departed his position as SunTrust Bank’s Maryland market president.

DiPaola brings more than twenty years of experience working in financial services, corporate development, and strategic sales to Evergreen. He excelled in SunTrust Bank’s Investment Banking, Aerospace, Defense and Government Services sector for 7 years before becoming the bank’s Maryland market president in 2013. Throughout his career, he has successfully closed investment banking transactions ranging between $50 million and $1 billion. During his time as Maryland market president, he led his team to produce four consecutive years of growth, and while increasing the average transaction size and asset quality.

Evergreen Advisors is a middle market investment bank and corporate advisory firm focused on excellence in servicing and supporting organizations throughout their financial life cycles to drive successful outcomes. DiPaola’s extensive network of professional relationships, comprehensive sector knowledge, and deal experience will help to accelerate Evergreen’s burgeoning growth.

For DiPaola, it was Evergreen’s community involvement, focus on long-term relationships, and proven track record of sustainable growth that attracted him to the firm. The local community is of the utmost importance to DiPaola, and Evergreen Advisors is deeply rooted in it, with involvement in organizations such as the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, ETC (Emerging Technology Centers), Howard County Economic Development Authority, University of Maryland System, bwtech@UMBC, and the Salvation Army. [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors is a proud sponsor of TEDCO’s 8th Annual Entrepreneur Expo & Stem Cell Symposium on October 30, 2018. The event will bring together all of Maryland’s entrepreneurial resources from across the state into one place, at one time.

You can expect to see 800+ of the region’s top entrepreneurs, small and large business executives, angel and venture capital investors, federal and state economic development officials, university leaders and legislators. Speaker include: Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution, LLC; Freeman Hrabowski, President UMBC; Julie Lenzer, Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Maryland; Cyndi Gula, Managing Partner Gula Tech Adventures; Deborah Tillet, President Emerging Tech Centers.

Evergreen Advisors is a proud sponsor of Howard County Economic Development Authority’s Annual Meeting and celebration of 25 years as an organization! The Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA) is a public-private partnership whose primary goal is to promote economic growth and stability by supporting existing businesses, targeting new businesses and attracting corporate and regional headquarters. Its role, central to its mission, is to be a catalyst for economic growth and sustainability in Howard County. Quality economic development is critical to the County’s future to ensure an adequate tax base that will maintain and sustain the high quality of life that its residents have come to expect and deserve. 

 

This year, the meeting will look at the history of Howard County’s economy, share an update on the current economy, and look at the new technologies on the horizon that will transform our future.

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Evergreen Advisors Capital is pleased to announce that it was the exclusive financial advisor to Four V Systems LLC, an SRC Company, and cybersecurity firm in connection with its sale to OPAQ Networks.

FourV Systems, located in Baltimore, MD, is dedicated to helping organizations manage business risk aligned with IT operations. risk.  OPAQ Networks is the premier network security cloud company that enables partners to deliver security-as-a-service to midsize enterprise customers. OPAQ Networks’ cloud-based platform empowers organizations to simplify security management, centralize policy enforcement, and reduce costs. Based in Northern Virginia, OPAQ is privately held and is funded by Columbia Capital, Harmony Partners, and Zero-G, Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

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Rick Kohr, the founding member and Chief Executive Officer of Evergreen Advisors LLC, has been named Board Chair of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore (EAGB).

Kohr will serve a two-year term and succeeds August J. Chiasera, President, Greater Baltimore/Chesapeake, M&T Bank, who has served as EAGB Chair since 2015.

“I am honored to succeed Augie Chiasera,” says Kohr. “We are participating in a fast-paced and ever-changing world which requires a new way of thinking and solving problems. Thanks to Augie and our Board Directors, we are confident in our ability to drive inclusive growth opportunities throughout Greater Baltimore.”

The EAGB is the only public-private organization convening industry, government, education and philanthropic leaders to foster inclusive economic development in Greater Baltimore.  As part of its efforts, EAGB will continue to advocate for a more collaborative leadership model that will drive an effective and simplified approach for economic competitiveness across the region. [Read more…]

Location, location, location.

 

The high value-added services of a location strategy consultant are not reserved for large companies, in fact, middle size companies typically benefit most from the expertise of a location strategy consultant.

 

In addition to the physical real estate, companies rely on location strategy consultants to assist them with:

• optimization of supply chain
• logistics
• cost minimalization
• tax structure
• workforce
• return on investment

A quality location decision is not solely a real estate decision. Whether it is a headquarters, back office, distribution center, manufacturing, laboratory, call center, or data center facility there are many factors to consider before coming to a final location decision. The critical factors of a location project are uniquely tailored to the business needs of the company as it relates to such considerations as the company’s culture, existing network, customer base, workforce, supply chain, and facility type. Making a location decision without consideration to one or more of these critical factors can lead to misalignment between the facility and the community, unexpected costs, high cost operation, underperforming facility and network of facilities, high workforce turnover, and the inability to attract top talent.

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Evergreen Advisors Capital, a middle-market investment bank, is pleased to announce that Chesapeake Medical Staffing, LLC (“Chesapeake”) has been acquired by American Surgical Professionals (“ASP”).  Evergreen Advisors Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Chesapeake.

Chesapeake Medical Staffing is one of the largest and most respected health care staffing agencies in the mid-Atlantic region. CMS has focused on sourcing the highest quality health care professionals from nurses to administrative personnel to physicians to complete management of the agency process.  The Company is Joint Commission certified and their client list includes hospitals, institutional care providers, management services organizations (MSO), home care and individual patients

“CMS explored numerous options to enhance our future,” said Jeff McClure co-founder and CEO of CMS. “ASP’s combination of business strengths and culture were exactly in line with our intended direction.” Terri Weller, co-founder and CNO said, “We are excited to be teaming with another high quality Joint Commission certified group of established clinicians. Helping our clients by providing experienced clinical professionals in a user-friendly manner has always been my passion. This merging of talent will take us to a new level in meeting the continuum of care needs of our current and future clients.”

Joseph Bradley of Evergreen Advisors Capital noted, “This transaction represents the combination of two outstanding organizations and management teams, with common vision, passion and purpose.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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Evergreen Advisors Capital is pleased to announce the publication of our 2018 Cybersecurity Market Update. The update provides industry and insights on notable transactions, a detailed look at M&A and private placement activity, and data on valuation metrics and stock price performance.

Print or Download Report here:

Evergreen Cybersecurity Update 012018

 

 

 

 

 

2018 has the makings for a strong year for venture capital

 

With a robust M&A market, liquidity in the public capital markets, corporate cash, and continuing earnings growth in many sectors, the next two years should turn in strong performance for Venture Capital. As 2017 closes, capital invested is over $44 Billion, up almost 18% from the $37 Billion invested in 2016. For the Mid-Atlantic Region, even though the area saw 1,266 deals funded year to date in 2017 down from the 1,367 deals funded in 2016, total capital invested to date in 2017 reached $9 billion which exceeds the $8.9 billion invested in 2016.

For our region, one of the highlights in 2017 was the opening of AllegisCyber, an affiliate of Allegis Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that is collocated with DataTribe in Maple Lawn, Maryland. DataTribe applies an investment element to its model, by providing seed financing of up to $1.5 million to its cohort companies. Both firms are expanding their investments into Maryland cyber companies in the coming year.

Two of the most active regional (D.C., Maryland, & Virginia) investors in Cyber overall in 2017 were NEA with 9 cyber investments including local company Zerofox and Blu Ventures who invested in local deals including ID.me, Trackoff, Huntress Labs, NS8, Bandura Systems, DarkCubed, Fischer Block, GroupSense, PFP Cybersecurity, PacketSled, and Cybrary. Gula Tech Adventures also made a number of investments in 2017 working with the next generation of cyber security start-ups assisting with their product roadmaps, participating in their capital raises and helping them build their companies. [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors announced today that Shelley Lombardo, Chief Operating Officer of Evergreen Advisors, has completed the professional development program dedicated to building a better Maryland by harnessing the strength of its local business and community leaders. Leadership Maryland honored Lombardo, a resident of Ellicott City, and the entire Class of 2017 at its 25^th annual graduation ceremony held December 5 at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. 

Lombardo was one of 52 applicants chosen by committee to complete Leadership Maryland’s eight-month hands-on learning program focused on the state’s most vital social, economic and environmental issues.

“It was an honor to be a part of the Class of 2017. The program is a powerful vehicle to explore Maryland’s challenges and opportunities from healthcare, education, economic development, to the environment with a diverse group of Maryland’s best and the brightest executives.” Remarked Shelley Lombardo. [Read more…]

On September 27, 2017, the Republican led congress in conjunction with the White House released its long-awaited framework (the Framework) outlining the current legislative effort on comprehensive tax reform. Although many significant details have yet to be defined, major provisions such as a lower corporate tax rate for both C corporations and pass-through entities (S corporations, LLC’s and partnerships) will have a significant impact on the cash flow capacity and valuation of these entities.

According to the Framework, the top marginal tax rate for C corps could be reduced significantly from 35% to 20%. The pass-through entity tax rate (S corporations, LLC’s and partnerships) would be reduced to 25%, with some restrictions. Currently, income generated by such entities are taxed at the individual shareholder’s personal tax rate. If voted into law, the Trump Administration’s version of tax reform will likely have a significant impact in the following key areas: [Read more…]

Cyber security is a constantly evolving subject matter for businesses. Like the computer viruses that are generally associated with the term, the issue itself has proven infectious for corporations both in its reach and impact as it grows over time.

Many organizations have learned the hard way that it is also a very costly subject matter. A study produced by IBM and the Ponemon Institute suggests that the average cost of fixing or resolving a data breach in 2015 was more than $3.75 million. That number is only expected to grow.

The Effects of Cyber Security Attacks

The increasing level of connectivity has served as perhaps the predominate economic theme of the past quarter century. It has also created substantial new risk to the security of sensitive information. Moore’s Law of Computing states that overall processing power for computers will double every two years. Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Combine the two theories together and you have a pretty good explanation of the future impact of cyber security on businesses. [Read more…]

Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore is holding their 2017 Annual Meeting on December 12, 2017. The meeting will be held at M&T Bank Stadium from 4:30-8pm.

EAGB’s Annual Meeting is a celebration of the events and people that make the region a world-class place to live, work, learn and invest.
As they celebrate their 20th Anniversary, they will be taking a look back at the success and growth that the region has experienced over the last two decades, while also featuring Greater Baltimore’s future as a global leader. As we celebrate the results of longstanding partnerships that have led to Baltimore’s economic success, we look forward to celebrating the visionaries and leaders who will shape our tomorrow.

Join Evergreen and the EAGB by purchasing your tickets now.

http://www.greaterbaltimore.org/events

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Evergreen Advisors Capital is pleased to announce the publication of our Q3 2017 Healthcare Market Update. The update provides quarterly overviews for each sector within the healthcare services industry and insights on notable transactions, a detailed look at M&A and private placement activity, and data on valuation metrics and stock price performance.

Print or Download Report Here:

Evergreen Healthcare Market Update Oct 2017 

Amazon set off a buzz around the country last week with their announcement of placing a second headquarters somewhere in North America. Cities across the U.S. are strategizing on how to come together to meet the request for proposal regarding Amazon’s required critical location factors.

Location is one of the most important decisions a company makes. While made infrequently, location selection has an impact on fixed and variable costs, including taxes, transportation, utilities and labor. Once in place, it is difficult to change. When choosing the optimal location for a facility, a company must consider key factors, such as supply chain, logistics, compatibility of the local labor force, political landscape, tax structure and real estate. In Amazon’s case, for example, they have requested land near an international airport, major highways, and a public transit system, in a metro area with at least one million people and a stable business environment. It might, therefore, be the case that they have decided to settle for a new location somewhere like Los Angeles. For instance, it is relatively easy to find trucking companies in los angeles that would be more than happy to take on the logistics side of running the business.

While there are many more factors a company needs to consider in addition to the ones listed, these considerations are some of the most commonly overlooked. To complicate the matter further, each type of facility has a different list of requirements and prioritization of key factors. Finally, and most importantly, the decision-makers must consider the business’s unique mix of equipment, infrastructure, processes, procedures, and especially people – the most critical element in making a business successful. Navigating the highly customized and complex landscape of location strategy is crucial to a company’s short- and long-term success.

There are many situations when companies should consider utilizing location strategy services. Other events, besides a move or addition of a new facility (like Amazon), where location strategy can add value to the company are: [Read more…]

Evergreen Advisors, a boutique middle market Investment Bank and Corporate Advisory Firm, with offices in both Columbia, MD and Tysons Corner, VA, servicing organizations throughout their financial lifecycles to drive successful outcomes, is pleased to announce the addition of Vicki Horton and a new service, Location Strategies. Evergreen’s Location Strategies will be a part of the larger practice group, Corporate Advisory.

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Columbia, MD – Evergreen Advisors, a boutique middle market Investment Bank and Corporate Advisory Firm, with offices in both Columbia, MD and Tysons Corner, VA, servicing organizations throughout their financial lifecycles to drive successful outcomes, is pleased to announce the addition of Patrick Lowry and Patuxent Valuation Group (PVG). PVG has decades of experience producing well-documented, comprehensive valuations for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, business ownership transitions, mergers and/or acquisitions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), estate and gift tax planning, shareholder disputes, divorce and business litigation.

[Read more…]