HCEDA Welcomes Chuck Bubeck as Executive Director of the Innovation Center
November 13th, 2019 – Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA) is excited to welcome Chuck Bubeck as the Executive Director of the Innovation Center. Chuck will bring a new and strategic approach to the activities and programs within the Innovation Center and further accelerate innovation in the region.
“Chuck was selected because he possesses the industry experience that is required to lead the Center – he has seen ventures both succeed and fail, and he brings those lessons-learned to our start up community. But more importantly, he has deep roots in the region and brings with him the dedication to build the Innovation Center into an asset that will benefit all in the community,” said Lawrence Twele, CEO of HCEDA.
With over 40 years in the technology industry, including a decade at Apple, Chuck’s experience as a serial entrepreneur resulted in several successful startups and subsidiaries. During his time with Apple, Chuck helped launch the original 1984 Macintosh and later was one of the companies first Regional Systems Engineering Managers.
In 1993, Chuck founded Ease Technologies, Inc. a regionally recognized Managed Services Provider. EaseTech spinoffs included one of the first commercially available FIX digital trading systems on the market, as well as a legal document management system. Since its inception, Ease has successfully marketed and sold its spinoff products to over 100 investment banks, as well as top legal firms nationally. The company has been regularly recognized among the fastest-growing Managed Services Providers in the U.S. EaseTech was recently acquired by Thrive Networks, a leading NexGen MSP headquartered in Boston.
“The newly launched Innovation Center will provide a wide canopy to nurture, enhance and highlight the wealth of innovation in the county, state, and region. I look forward to bringing the innovation community together in the country’s most promising location for tech,” said Bubeck.
Chuck is a Wilde Lake alumnus and later studied Computer Science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the University of Maryland, College Park.
“HCEDA’s mission to lead the technological and entrepreneurial ecosystem of Howard County and Maryland will be better served through the addition of Chuck Bubeck to our team. Chuck’s experience as a serial entrepreneur and technology leader is exactly the caliber of talent that drives innovation forward and we look forward to building upon the success of the newly-renovated Innovation Center together,” said Twele.
Chuck has received a number of awards throughout his career in technology and entrepreneurship, including being recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (1997), a Fast 50 Winner (1997), and a National Fast 500 Winner (1998).
Chuck’s new role as the Executive Director of the Innovation Center will be pivotal to the forward-moving direction of HCEDA. It is with great excitement that we welcome Chuck to the team!
About HCEDA and the Innovation Center: HCEDA is a public-private partnership whose primary goal is to promote economic growth and stability by supporting new and existing businesses and attracting innovative, high-growth potential companies to Howard County. HCEDA launched the Innovation Center in response to County and Statewide initiatives to cultivate an active cyber and technology innovation community in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Phase One of construction, completed in late May 2019, brought a newly designed interior with an abundance of meeting, co-working and gathering spaces as well as the relocation of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, the County’s only business incubator. Phase Two of construction has commenced and will yield updates to the lobby, conference and meeting spaces, and HCEDA’s administrative offices. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Innovation Center will be hosted in 2020.