2024 Hall of Fame Inductees
Presented By: Venable LLP
Kevin Anderson
Secretary
Maryland Department of Commerce
Kevin is the current Secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce. He has had an impressive and impactful career. He is the Founder & CEO of Cardinal Atlantic Holdings, an economic and community development firm targeting scaled social impact and investment in urban centers. With specializations in real estate and education technology, CAH advises funds, corporations and governments on economic and community development strategy and projects.
Kevin previously served as Senior Vice President for Global Partnerships at EVERFI, Inc., an educational software company for financial literacy and life skills education, where he led government relations and conducted business development. Kevin helped create and launch the company’s diversity content while securing public and corporate partnerships to support digital innovation in school districts across America. A SaaS company, he helped lead EVERFI’s growth from 32 employees to over 600, and from $6 million in revenue to more than $120 million during his tenure.
Ken Malone
Co-Founder & Executive Officer
Early Charm Ventures
Ken is a key member of the Baltimore region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. He has founded and launched many companies through his Early Charm Ventures group. Prior to forming Early Charm, Malone had careers in the heavy chemical industry working for Georgia Gulf Corporation and Atochem, and in academia working for the University of Southern Mississippi. He has a Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering and a BS in biochemistry and chemistry. Besides his work with the companies in Early Charm, he impacts our community by mentoring students at MICA and the University of Baltimore, helping them win to business plan competitions and then transition to successful businesses. He truly is an integral part of the thriving Baltimore entrepreneurial community.
Fred Nichols
President
Nichols Contracting
Fred is a serial entrepreneur who for more than 30 years has built, operated, grown and sold contracting firms and multiple specialty spinoffs in the private and public sector in addition to several real estate development projects and other businesses. He currently owns or controls over 40 entities, including serving as president of Nichols Contracting. Fred’s impact on the regional community and beyond is incredible, and his commitment to helping build a solid foundation for this region is unwavering.
Bill Niland
Former CEO, Harpoon Medical
CEO, ReGelTec, Inc.
Bill served as Chief Executive Officer, Board Member and President at Harpoon Medical, a company he co-founded in 2014 and sold in December 2017. A true entrepreneur, Harpoon Medical was Bill's fourth medical device startup over a 25-year career in the medical device industry. He founded and was the Chief Business Officer of Vapotherm, a noninvasive ventilation company that pioneered a new treatment modality now known as "high flow nasal cannula therapy." Earlier in his career Bill also started and successfully managed two other healthcare companies: Mobile Metabolic Associates and National Sleep Technologies. Both companies were eventually sold to Mediq Mobile X-ray and Vital Signs. Bill was also the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, Board Member and Director at Secretome Theraputics, Inc. Bill is a board member of Coaptech, Sonavex and NeuroIntact, all local medical device companies. He holds 28 patents for medical devices.
Bob Storey
Managing Partner
LaunchPort, LLC
Bob is Managing Partner of LaunchPort, LLC, a for-profit venture and manufacturing center for emerging-growth medical device companies that he founded with his partners in 2018. Appointed as Vice-Chairman of Maryland's Life Sciences Advisory Board, he is active in the development of a high-value medical device hub in the Capitol Region and serves on a number of venture capital and private company boards. An Executive in Residence at Johns Hopkins University, Bob has been appointed as Evaluation Director for the NIH Blueprint Neuroscience investment initiative and serves on Advisory Boards for the Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, the Laboratory for Computational Science and Robotics, and the Applied Physics Lab Commercialization Panel. Over the past dozen years, he has secured funding for nearly 100 Hopkins projects through TEDCO's Maryland Innovation Initiative.