Betamore shakeup: tech anchor announces new leadership, nonprofit status

As it marks two years in Federal Hill serving as a home for budding startups and web designers, Betamore is preparing to move into 2015 as a nonprofit with new leadership.
The incubator and educator is merging with the defunct nonprofit Greater Baltimore Technology Council (gb.tc), as was previously announced, as Betamore itself prepares to become a nonprofit. As part of the shift, Betamore cofounder and CEO Mike Brenner is stepping down and Jen Meyer, a former gb.tc interim leader who currently serves as COO for the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, will take over Jan. 5. Brenner will remain on the new nonprofit’s board.
“We saw a lot of overlap between our two organizations,” Brenner told Technical.ly Baltimore.
The new nonprofit doesn’t have a name yet. The tech council will be changing its name to something that will be announced in January, Brenner said. Betamore, however, is staying Betamore, and is staying put in Federal Hill. In fact, Brenner said, an additional location may be in Betamore’s future.
Meyer wasted no time after her hiring was announced Thursday at Betamore’s holiday party, retreating into the incubator’s office space to discuss putting up new glass partitions to accommodate resident company Citelighter’s growing staff.
Betamore cofounder and gb.tc chair Greg Cangialosi told Meyer, a longtime friend, about the opening.
“When Greg talks to you about something, you listen, so it wasn’t too hard,” Meyer said.
Though Meyer appeared to get right to brass tacks (well, glass walls), she said she doesn’t yet have big ideas ready. For that, she said, she’ll talk to public- and private-sector leaders, entrepreneurs and the public before she makes her first big move.
“We’re still figuring it out,” she said.