Dundalk Eagle
The tiny drops of drizzling rain coming down on a wet October afternoon were larger than the product of the Holabird Business Park’s newest tenant, Pixelligent Technologies, LLC.
Pixelligent announced its new venture at the sprawling business park during a press conference which also included remarks by Baltimore City mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
“Baltimore is ready for new ventures like Pixelligent,” Rawlings-Blake said at the Oct. 13 event. “We want to attract young, innovative businesses.”
The new business could generate up to 150 jobs in the next several years, according to Pixelligent CEO Craig Bandes, who opened the press conference.
“Since moving to Baltimore in June 2011, Pixelligent has increased its workforce by 50 percent,” Bandes said on Tuesday. “Growing to 18 employees, and we’re on pace to grow by 100 per cent over the next several months.”
Pixelligent specializes in nanotechnology which is used for everything from making your golf ball go farther and faster to making motor oil more efficient.
The new tech business is also producing NanoAdditives that will be used in a number of applications, such as improving the performance and the production of semiconductors, creating corrosion-resistant coatings for metal surfaces which will increase the useful life of numerous industrial products, and improving the efficiency and brightness of LED’s for flat-panel displays.
“Nanotechnology is the next great opportunity the United States is going to have to rebuild its long and proud position as a leading global manufacturer,” Bandes said. “To give you an idea of the size and extent of the expected impact, over the next five-to-seven years, sales of nanotechnology-enabled products are expected to increase from $250 billion to more than $3 trillion.”
Baltimore City officials played a key role in attracting Pixelligent to Baltimore by providing funding and helping the company locate its manufacturing facility, a 10,500-square foot, state-of-the-art pilot manufacturing building, in the 6400 block of Beckley St, and helping with a $200,000 grant from the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC).
“We were able to find a facility that already had the equipment and space we needed for our new pilot manufacturing facility,” Bandes said. “Pixelligent had many options when it came to relocating our company. We have received tremendous support from the Mayor’s office, the state and the local investment community, which made this move very easy.
“Baltimore has world-class universities, a highly skilled and educated work force, great proximity to the interstate, the airport and the harbor, competitive tax and employment incentives, and a pro-business mentality.”
October 26, 2011