Hello all!
I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Ben Lighter, and I am the new Social Media Director for Shukoor's campaign! I'll get to what that means in just a bit. First, a little about myself.
I am a lifelong Bowie resident, and went through 3 different Prince George's County schools (Kenilworth Elementary, Benjamin Tasker Middle School and Bowie High School, for those keeping score). I'm just about to enter my sophomore year at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, as a Religious Studies major. One day, I hope to become a minister. When I'm not bloggin' up a storm, I can usually be found reading, social networking, or catching up on my sleep. I should also mention I'm a proud brother of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
I came onto this campaign because I believe in Shukoor's candidacy. He is one of the most hardworking, honest, and caring individuals I can think of. I know he'll make a great delegate because of his character and ability to listen, and I'm proud to work alongside him.
As Shukoor's Social Media Director, I'm his right-hand man for all things internet. That includes Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and quite a few more things. We have come up with quite a few exciting ideas that we hope to see playing out in the coming weeks. It's gonna be great.
Speaking of great, we opened the Bowie Blade today to find a very flattering letter to the editor about Shukoor, referring to him as a "good listener", who asks "pointed questions". The letter can be seen on
http://www.hometownbowie.com/ under "Reader's Views, 7/29/10", or in your local Blade. Special thanks to Don Pollock for his views.
Finally, a very happy birthday to Shukoor! He turns 48 today. Forgot a card? No worries! You can send your greetings to him on our fan page on facebook! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shukoor-Ahmed/292774924789)
That's it for today. I apologize if I was a tad long-winded, We just had a lot to cover!
Ciao!
Ben
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Shukoor Ahmed for Maryland House of Delegates 23A Update
Dear Friend/Supporter -
I hope you had wonderful 4th of July weekend. I wanted to update you with the progress of our campaign has made. These are some highlights:
1) We have signed a lease for office space and currently are in the process of setting up our office at 6915 Laurel Bowie Road, Suite 250 G. We should be functional by July 12th.
2) Our website is up and running (www.shukoor.com) and we are fixing a few minor tweaks.
3) We are in the process of launching a website which will allow any citizen to make his/her own sample ballot (www.pgballot.com). We hope to roll out by middle or the end of next week. This will be a Democratic Sample Ballot for Prince George’s County.
4) We are also working with couple of smart computer programmers to build an iPhone application which will allow citizens to find polling location; verify their voter registration status and track their absentee ballot request statewide.
5) We are helping David Murray and Edward Burroughs (School Board candidates for District 1 and District 8).
6) We held a fundraiser for them and raised about $ 900 each.
7) Our sign are all over the district. We are now getting into placing smaller yard signs in the next week or so.
8) We will have a Campaign Manager and a Field Director by the end of next week.
9) We had two letters to the editors in all 3 local newspapers (Bowie-Blade News, Bowie Gazette and Laurel Leader). We have about 5 of our supporters ready to write letters to the editor.
10) Our campaign had the highest Fan/Supporters 866 and the next candidate has about 730.
11) We have assisted 6 constituents in identifying job opportunities so far.
12) We have 4 confirmed fundraisers and are on target to raise needed money to win this campaign.
13) We will have a Phone Bank by the end of next week in our office.
14) We were interviewed by Prince Georges Community Television and it was aired on 7th of July.
15) We will be opening up a lot of information about our campaign to bring transparency and empower citizens.
16) We are the most active campaign in disseminating information and opening up opportunities for several businesses to get political customers.
17) We are waving about twice a week for the last 3 weeks. We hope to begin waving 3 times a week from next week.
18) We knocked about 2100 homes already and doing an average of about 90 homes each day.
Thank you very much for all your support. Let us get the word out to all our friends and families who live District 23A.
Have a good weekend and I hope to campaign back after the Soccer Final today in an hour.
Sincerely,
Shukoor Ahmed
Democrat for Maryland House of Delegates 23A
I hope you had wonderful 4th of July weekend. I wanted to update you with the progress of our campaign has made. These are some highlights:
1) We have signed a lease for office space and currently are in the process of setting up our office at 6915 Laurel Bowie Road, Suite 250 G. We should be functional by July 12th.
2) Our website is up and running (www.shukoor.com) and we are fixing a few minor tweaks.
3) We are in the process of launching a website which will allow any citizen to make his/her own sample ballot (www.pgballot.com). We hope to roll out by middle or the end of next week. This will be a Democratic Sample Ballot for Prince George’s County.
4) We are also working with couple of smart computer programmers to build an iPhone application which will allow citizens to find polling location; verify their voter registration status and track their absentee ballot request statewide.
5) We are helping David Murray and Edward Burroughs (School Board candidates for District 1 and District 8).
6) We held a fundraiser for them and raised about $ 900 each.
7) Our sign are all over the district. We are now getting into placing smaller yard signs in the next week or so.
8) We will have a Campaign Manager and a Field Director by the end of next week.
9) We had two letters to the editors in all 3 local newspapers (Bowie-Blade News, Bowie Gazette and Laurel Leader). We have about 5 of our supporters ready to write letters to the editor.
10) Our campaign had the highest Fan/Supporters 866 and the next candidate has about 730.
11) We have assisted 6 constituents in identifying job opportunities so far.
12) We have 4 confirmed fundraisers and are on target to raise needed money to win this campaign.
13) We will have a Phone Bank by the end of next week in our office.
14) We were interviewed by Prince Georges Community Television and it was aired on 7th of July.
15) We will be opening up a lot of information about our campaign to bring transparency and empower citizens.
16) We are the most active campaign in disseminating information and opening up opportunities for several businesses to get political customers.
17) We are waving about twice a week for the last 3 weeks. We hope to begin waving 3 times a week from next week.
18) We knocked about 2100 homes already and doing an average of about 90 homes each day.
Thank you very much for all your support. Let us get the word out to all our friends and families who live District 23A.
Have a good weekend and I hope to campaign back after the Soccer Final today in an hour.
Sincerely,
Shukoor Ahmed
Democrat for Maryland House of Delegates 23A
Thursday, July 1, 2010
City of Bowie, Business Leaders Plan Incubator Help for Start-Ups
Shukoor Ahmed has been a very active board member and Treasurer of Bowie Business Innovation Center. He is actively mentoring many businesses and entreprenuers and extended technical help from V-Empower, Inc. to build their website www.bowiebic.com.
Here is an article from today's Gazette:
As many as 10 local startup companies could soon be doing business in leased office space with access to services, as organizers move closer to opening a business incubator at Bowie State University this fall.
The center is an initiative by the city of Bowie in an attempt to develop its entrepreneurial culture and also diversify its business base, which right now relies heavily on retailers and commercial and residential real estate.
To date, the city has committed close to $200,000 to the project, with $109,930 paid to consultant Angle Technology Group for a 2007 feasibility study and subsequent services through February, according to the city manager's office. In March, the City Council extended the Angle contract to run from March 1 through Sept. 30 at a cost of $30,360.
The city has also budgeted an additional $50,000 for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Money coming in for the project so far is a $25,000 grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, a state entity in Columbia that focuses on the commercialization of technology and helping startups.
Creation of the Bowie Business Innovation Center, the nonprofit set up to oversee the center, enables the board to solicit corporate contributions to the program, and talks with businesses about support are already under way, said Lisa Smith, a consultant with the Angle Technology Group who has been working with local organizers to get the incubator up and running.
The board plans to look for professional service companies as tenants, said James Harris, a Bowie attorney who heads the BBIC board, at a public informational meeting about the project Friday at City Hall.
"That's unusual, because most incubators focus on technology," Harris said. "We wanted to have a niche, and also represent underrepresented companies."
Service companies could run the gamut from information technology, finance and telecommunications to government contractors, construction companies, home-based businesses and businesses connected to Bowie State.
Still to be resolved is how much BBIC will pay the university for the space on the second floor of BSU's Center for Business and Graduate Studies building, which opened in 2007, Harris said.
Once that is known, probably by the end of July, the board can decide how much to charge the incoming entrepreneurs for the office space and the services that will be provided by a paid staff, he said.
Services for tenants could include such things as business plan evaluation, market research, financial forecasting and access to office equipment and a conference room, according to organizers.
The BBIC program also plans to accept a number of affiliate, or non-resident, companies, who would pay a lower fee for access to services, but they would not have a space in the building.
The fees to be charged, along with the qualifications for applying, will be posted on the center's website at www.bowiebic.com as decisions are made and information becomes available this summer, organizers said.
"The goal is to select companies that are innovative, growth-oriented businesses," said Smith, who added that the board expects to start soliciting applications by September.
There are no preferences being given to minority-owned businesses or students, who would be considered along with anyone else who met the criteria, Smith said. Depending on their stage of development, student businesses might instead be served by the center's affiliate program, which would still provide mentoring and training but not office space.
Bowie State sees the center as a benefit for its business students, who will have access "to entrepreneurs and their real-world business examples for case studies, class projects, lectures, and seminars," wrote Anthony Nelson, dean of the College of Business in an e-mail.
Students will also have opportunities for internships and part-time and full-time jobs, as well as "an early introduction to entrepreneurship and an opportunity to develop their own businesses," he wrote.
In return, the start-ups will have access "to subject matter experts among BSU faculty and staff, well-educated undergraduate and graduate students, and state-or-the art offices and meeting spaces," Nelson wrote
Here is an article from today's Gazette:
As many as 10 local startup companies could soon be doing business in leased office space with access to services, as organizers move closer to opening a business incubator at Bowie State University this fall.
The center is an initiative by the city of Bowie in an attempt to develop its entrepreneurial culture and also diversify its business base, which right now relies heavily on retailers and commercial and residential real estate.
To date, the city has committed close to $200,000 to the project, with $109,930 paid to consultant Angle Technology Group for a 2007 feasibility study and subsequent services through February, according to the city manager's office. In March, the City Council extended the Angle contract to run from March 1 through Sept. 30 at a cost of $30,360.
The city has also budgeted an additional $50,000 for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Money coming in for the project so far is a $25,000 grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, a state entity in Columbia that focuses on the commercialization of technology and helping startups.
Creation of the Bowie Business Innovation Center, the nonprofit set up to oversee the center, enables the board to solicit corporate contributions to the program, and talks with businesses about support are already under way, said Lisa Smith, a consultant with the Angle Technology Group who has been working with local organizers to get the incubator up and running.
The board plans to look for professional service companies as tenants, said James Harris, a Bowie attorney who heads the BBIC board, at a public informational meeting about the project Friday at City Hall.
"That's unusual, because most incubators focus on technology," Harris said. "We wanted to have a niche, and also represent underrepresented companies."
Service companies could run the gamut from information technology, finance and telecommunications to government contractors, construction companies, home-based businesses and businesses connected to Bowie State.
Still to be resolved is how much BBIC will pay the university for the space on the second floor of BSU's Center for Business and Graduate Studies building, which opened in 2007, Harris said.
Once that is known, probably by the end of July, the board can decide how much to charge the incoming entrepreneurs for the office space and the services that will be provided by a paid staff, he said.
Services for tenants could include such things as business plan evaluation, market research, financial forecasting and access to office equipment and a conference room, according to organizers.
The BBIC program also plans to accept a number of affiliate, or non-resident, companies, who would pay a lower fee for access to services, but they would not have a space in the building.
The fees to be charged, along with the qualifications for applying, will be posted on the center's website at www.bowiebic.com as decisions are made and information becomes available this summer, organizers said.
"The goal is to select companies that are innovative, growth-oriented businesses," said Smith, who added that the board expects to start soliciting applications by September.
There are no preferences being given to minority-owned businesses or students, who would be considered along with anyone else who met the criteria, Smith said. Depending on their stage of development, student businesses might instead be served by the center's affiliate program, which would still provide mentoring and training but not office space.
Bowie State sees the center as a benefit for its business students, who will have access "to entrepreneurs and their real-world business examples for case studies, class projects, lectures, and seminars," wrote Anthony Nelson, dean of the College of Business in an e-mail.
Students will also have opportunities for internships and part-time and full-time jobs, as well as "an early introduction to entrepreneurship and an opportunity to develop their own businesses," he wrote.
In return, the start-ups will have access "to subject matter experts among BSU faculty and staff, well-educated undergraduate and graduate students, and state-or-the art offices and meeting spaces," Nelson wrote
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