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The state Department of Business and Economic Development will lay off three employees, abolish 11 vacant positions and reduce funding in several programs for fiscal 2009 as a result of Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget cuts approved this week by the Board of Public Works.

The Nano-Biotechnology Initiative program saw a 25 percent, or $600,000, reduction. The Maryland Industrial Partnership Program will be cut 30 percent, from a little over $2 million to $1.4 million. A DBED spokeswoman said the agency is reviewing the impact of the cuts.

Other programs that saw cuts included the Maryland Tourism Development Board, Partnership for Workforce Quality Grants, and the Military Reservists and Service-Related No-Interest Loan Program.

AAI receives

$242.1M contract

AAI Corp., a Hunt Valley operating unit of Textron Systems, has won a Pentagon contract for $242.1 million for 17 additional unmanned aircraft systems. Thirteen systems will be delivered to the Army, with four for the Marine Corps.

Deliveries are expected to begin in December 2009 and end in November 2010. To date, AAI has contracted for a total of 113 systems and delivered 71. The vast majority of the systems' flight hours have been in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to AAI information.

Greenbelt company

honored by NASA

ASRC Aerospace Corp., a technical services company in Greenbelt, has been named the 2008 Small Business Contractor of the Year by the NASA Kennedy Space Center.

ASRC provides technical and engineering support for NASA's transition from its Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program, the next generation of human exploration spacecraft, according to company information. The company also supplies services to the space shuttle, International Space Station, Expendable Launch Vehicle and other NASA programs.

ASRC employs more than 800 people in Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico.

NextGen Healthcare

to buy PMP of Baltimore

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc. of Horsham, Pa., which provides ambulatory health care information systems and connectivity services, plans to acquire Practice Management Partners of Baltimore, a health care management company.

PMP provides physician billing and technology management services to hundreds of health care providers, primarily in Mid-Atlantic region. PMP employs about 200 and generates about $16 million in annual revenue, according to NextGen information.

EMentum wins

$23M contract

EMentum of Bethesda, a woman-owned management and information technology consultancy to federal agencies, has been awarded a $22.7 million contract by the Justice Department.

The company will provide ongoing strategic and technical program oversight, plus security engineering support for the agency's identity management services initiatives. The contract has a one-year base period, plus two one-year options.

Calverton research firm

wins $3.9M contract

Macro International of Calverton has won a $3.9 million contract with the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Through the five-year Abledata contract, Macro will continue providing research on assistive devices for more than 5 million people with disabilities, as it has done since 1992.

"Under Macro's stewardship, Abledata has grown to be a one-stop resource for information on assistive products and disability issues, providing people in need with information they can use to improve their quality of life," Katherine Belknap, project director, said in a statement.

Prince George's Classic

draws more than 10,000

This year's Prince George's Classic Week boasted a turnout of more than 10,000 at its various events, said M.A "Mike" Little, president of Prince George's Classic Inc. Most of the events drew more attendees than last year, including 4,000 at the Bowie State-Lincoln University football game Saturday in Bowie, Little said.

The event, with a budget of $500,000, broke even, Little said. "We're continuing to grow our attendance and hope to create more opportunities to showcase young people," Little said.

The Classic is held in partnership with the Prince George's Black Chamber of Commerce and numerous businesses.

CapitalSource delays IPO

CapitalSource Inc. of Chevy Chase, citing "unprecedented market volatility," has delayed its initial public offering of a minority interest in its subsidiary, CapitalSource Healthcare REIT.

CapitalSource will continue to own and operate its health care net lease business, pending completion of the IPO, which will be held "when appropriate," the company said in a statement.

When it announced the IPO in August, the investment company said it expected to sell $300 million in common shares. As of Dec. 31, the REIT had $1.0 billion in direct real estate investments, comprising 186 health care facilities that were leased to 41 tenants, according to the company's annual report.

FDA selects C-TASC

to improve review process

Clinical Trials & Survey Corp. of Baltimore will assist the Food and Drug Administration's Centers for Quality Assurance and Biostatistics develop new methods and procedures for evaluating new drug applications.

C-TASC will standardize how clinical trial data for new therapies will be presented and reviewed, according to company information.