The Central Region office of the Maryland Small Business Development Center has opened its doors at University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business. A new agreement will broaden access to the center's resources for small area firms in various stages of development, from idea to start-up to growth. The center will be joined not only with the School of Business, but with UB's highly touted Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center, a real-world focused repository of talent and energy for students, business owners and educators to support innovative ventures in Baltimore.

Accounting and entrepreneurship are disciplines that the Merrick School of Business has invested considerable resources during the last few years. It should come as no surprise that in turn, our most recent faculty hires are from those areas. New to the faculty are Vikram Desai, David Lingelbach and Naqiong “Amy” Tong. Both Desai and Tong are assistant professors of accounting, while Lingelbach serves as an assistant professor of marketing and entrepreneurship.

In an effort to make a difference in the community, members of the Merrick School of Business family decided to raise funds for Baltimore chapter of the American Heart Association by participating in the 2010 Start! Heart Walk.  The Heart Walk helps to support heart disease and stroke research and education.

 “Unfortunately, too many of us have a loved one affected by heart disease or stroke,” said Danielle Giles, director of communications in the Merrick School of Business.  “So when Dean Smith approached me to lead the effort, I didn’t hesitate—it is a cause I believe in.”

Over a period of a few months the team grew to 23 people including students in the School’s accounting, finance and information systems honor society, Beta Alpha Psi. The students used the Heart Walk as a service project.  

The walk was held on October 23.