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All signs of the former Shoney's in Hillandale are gone, replaced by a 55,000-square-foot office building nearing completion by The Duffie Cos., which has its headquarters next door.

The property, in the northern end of Silver Spring at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and the Capital Beltway, features silver LEED certification and a 24,000-square-foot garage. Duffie, which owns the neighboring Hillandale Shopping Center, acquired the vacant Shoney's in 2004.

Silver Spring chamber

hosts networking

A business after-hours sponsored by the Silver Spring chamber will be held 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at Pyramid Atlantic's Community Arts Store, 924 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring. Cost $10 for nonmembers; members admitted free. Call 301-565-3777.

Information meetings on health insurance subsidies

Maryland Health Care Commission and Maryland Chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses will hold informational meetings at the end of August for small business owners to discuss Maryland's new health insurance partnership, which is offering a subsidy of up to 50 percent of the cost of premium for eligible small businesses.

According to a Report on the Patterns of Insurance Coverage in Maryland (MHCC, January 2007), there are about 780,000 uninsured Maryland residents (14.5 percent of total population). Small businesses have a disproportionate share of the uninsured workers with small firms (under 25 employees) having 42 percent of the uninsured employees (but only 25 percent of all workers), according to a news release from the commission.

The enactment of the Working Families & Small Business Health Coverage Act, which became effective July 1, calls for the creation of a subsidy that would encourage more small business employers to offer health insurance to their employees and expands Medicaid to cover parents with incomes up to $20,500 for a family of three, 116 percent of the federal poverty level. 

Under the Health Insurance Partnership, a small business that has two to nine full-time employees, has not offered health insurance to its employees during the previous 12 months, and has an average wage below $50,000 is eligible to receive a subsidy of up to 50 percent of the premium. The total subsidy is divided between the employer and the employee based on the contribution each makes toward the cost of coverage, according to the release.

The partnership is expected to enroll more than 1,500 businesses in its first year. Beginning Sept. 1, insurance agents and brokers will begin enrolling small businesses in health plans offered by CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, Coventry Health Care, United HealthCare and Aetna. All health plans eligible for a subsidy will encourage wellness by offering a health risk assessment and by providing employees with incentives for preventive care, wellness activities, or disease management.  Coverage will begin October 1.

The meeting for the Montgomery County area will be held 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. today at the Maryland Technology Development Center, 9700 Great Seneca Highway, Rockville.

For questions about meeting locations, dates and times, contact Angie Berkey, NFIB, at 202-314-2003 or Angie.Berkey@NFIB

.org or Nicole Stallings, MHCC, 410-764-5593 or nstallings@mhcc.

state.md.us.

County sponsors capital cost symposium

Montgomery County will sponsor a free symposium on techniques in estimating and containing capital costs and planning for contingencies 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 15 at American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.

Attendees will join county government's senior leadership, capital project managers, engineers, architects, cost estimators and capital budget staff to learn about the capital cost estimating practices used by government agencies and the private sector.

The workshop is aimed at cost estimators, engineers, architects, capital budget analysts and coordinators, capital project managers and procurement specialists.

Experts from the General Services Administration, management consulting firms and the development community will identify best practices in cost estimating and:

ïDiscuss cost-estimating methodologies

ïIdentify causes of cost rises

ïPresent strategies to contain costs

ïAddress budgeting for "risk" and contingencies

ïOffer practical advice on minimizing time delays and containing costs

ïDescribe the capital project process, including cost estimation, timing of funding commitments, and facility planning and design.

Registration by Sept. 3 is required and space is limited to the first 300 registrants. Register online at http://recweb.montgomerycountymd.gov for course number 227412.

For more information, contact Beryl L. Feinberg at 240-777-2768 or beryl.feinberg@

montgomerycountymd.gov.

Items appropriate for Business Notes may be mailed to The Gazette, 13501 Virginia Manor Road, Laurel, MD 20707. They may also be sent by fax to 240-473-7501 or by e-mail to flewis@gazette.net.