Babst Calland recently named Katrina N. Bowers a shareholder in the Firm.
Katrina Bowers is a member of the Corporate and Commercial, Litigation, and Energy and Natural Resources groups. Ms. Bowers currently serves as General Counsel to the West Virginia International Yeager Airport, and as general counsel and advisor to airports in West Virginia, on day-to-day legal and business matters, such as compliance with West Virginia and federal law, employment and litigation matters, corporate governance, and contract negotiations.
Ms. Bowers’ practice also includes representing oil and gas companies in litigation concerning a variety of matters including trespass, negligence, property damage, royalty payments, toxic torts, title disputes, breach of contract, preliminary and permanent injunctions, and fraud as well as advising them regarding proposed, pending, and enacted safety, health, and environmental regulations. Ms. Bowers has also represented coal operators in cases alleging adverse treatment, deliberate intent, and wrongful termination. Further, she has represented clients against civil penalties and violations issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Ms. Bowers is a 2013 graduate of West Virginia University College of Law.
Babst Calland recently named Mary H. Binker, Michael E. Fink, Jennifer L. Malik and Cary M. Snyder shareholders in the Firm.
Mary Binker is a member of the Corporate and Commercial, Energy and Natural Resources, and Real Estate groups. Her practice focuses primarily on corporate and transactional matters, including negotiation of commercial contracts and real estate transactions. Ms. Binker advises businesses of various sizes and complexity, in a broad range of industries including chemical, energy and real estate development, in their corporate contracting needs. She counsels clients on their day-to-day contracting needs such as procurement and service agreements. Ms. Binker also has experience assisting real estate clients in acquisitions, leasing, and management agreements. She is a 2010 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Michael Fink is a member of the Corporate and Commercial and Emerging Technologies groups. Mr. Fink focuses his practice on assisting high-tech start-up ventures with both fundraising and general corporate or governance matters. He also counsels clients with technology transactions and licensing, and he works on both the buy-side and the sell-side in mergers and acquisitions in the technology, real estate, energy, and healthcare sectors. Entity selection and formation, preparation and programming of capitalization tables and distribution models, and corporate governance counseling are additional services Mr. Fink routinely provides clients. He is a 2011 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Jenn Malik is a member of the Public Sector and Energy and Natural Resources groups. Ms. Malik’s practice focuses primarily on municipal and land use law, with an emphasis on zoning, subdivision and land development, and municipal ordinance construction and enforcement. She represents the Firm’s municipal clients on a wide array of local government issues, including developing and implementing zoning and land development ordinances, reviewing and overseeing the processing of Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code applications, such as applications for conditional uses and special exceptions, analyzing and responding to Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law record requests, navigating public bidding procedures, assisting to identify and enforce property maintenance and zoning violations, and counseling clients to ensure compliance with both the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act and the Pennsylvania Public Official and Employee Ethics Act. Additionally, Ms. Malik represents corporations, and businesses before local governing bodies, zoning hearing boards, planning commissions and private landowners. In doing so, Ms. Malik assists private-sector clients in analyzing municipal zoning ordinances, obtaining land development approvals, filing Right-to-Know Law requests, defending against Notices of Violation, challenging the procedural and substantive validity of municipal zoning ordinances, and appealing the issuance or denial of local permits. She is a 2011 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center.
Cary Snyder is a member of the Litigation group. He primarily works in the areas of complex commercial litigation and appellate practice. Mr. Snyder has experience in all stages of litigation, from drafting complaints through dispositive motions, discovery, settlement, and trial. He also represents clients in matters before federal and state appellate courts. He is a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.
TRIBLive
JULIA FELTON | Thursday, Sept. 30
A Pittsburgh-based company dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship will receive $250,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The grant is part of a $36.5 million grant pool that benefited 50 entrepreneurship-focused organizations, nonprofits, institutions of higher learning and state government agencies nationwide. The grants were announced Thursday by Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo.
The grants are part of the “Build to Scale” program, which aims to accelerate technology entrepreneurship by increasing access to business support and startup capital. The program is administered by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA).
“The ‘Build to Scale’ program strengthens entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country that are essential in the Biden Administration’s efforts to build back better,” Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said. “This work is critical in developing the innovation and entrepreneurship our country needs to build back better and increase American competitiveness on the global stage.”
Founded in 2002, Idea Foundry is a global investor with over 250 companies and projects in their portfolio.
The company says it has generated more than $1 billion in economic impact and created more than 1,000 jobs in the region.
It works to strengthen entrepreneurship in Pittsburgh through a model that emphasizes hands-on development and a variety of investment vehicles that enable entrepreneurs to develop and scale their ideas into growing enterprises.
It not only helps to match entrepreneurs with capital, but also to help keep them “alive, growing and in Pittsburgh,” said Michael Matesic, Idea Foundry’s president and CEO.
The company was awarded the 2021 Venture Challenge Grant. It’s intended to “increase access to capital in communities where risk capital is in short supply by providing operational support for early-stage investment funds, angel capital networks or investor training programs that focus on both traditional and hybrid equity-based models,” the Department of Commerce wrote in a press release.
Idea Foundry will provide more than $400,000 in local matching funds. Part of that match is coming from Babst Calland, a Pittsburgh-based law firm that is offering their facilities, time and legal expertise to help investors feel comfortable investing and to help companies show they’re worthy of investment. The law firm has worked with Idea Foundry for about a decade, said Chris Farmakis, a shareholder and chairman of the board at Babst Calland.
“Our law firm has a very growing and robust emerging tech practice, and we’ve had a longstanding relationship with Idea Foundry,” he said, adding that the grant provided an ideal opportunity for a sustainable partnership.
“We feel that this will be a way we can really expand our programs and offer more investment into growing companies,” Farmakis said.
The grant is “significant,” Matesic said, and validates the work the company strives to do in helping entrepreneurs to build and grow their ideas.
“It’s a quilt, and every patch in the quilt makes it a complete blanket,” he said. “This is one more patch to sew into the quilt to give us full coverage for the region so that we not only are noted for the success in starting companies, but we are noted for the ability to grow them locally.”
Julia Felton is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, jfelton@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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