Two Maryland companies received no-interest loans through a state government program aimed at helping small business operated by military reservists and disabled veterans or those who employ them.
Jeff Haugh of National Security Solutions and Derek Swanson of Strategic Services International Inc. both received loans through a program administered through the Department of Business and Economic Development and the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.
The program was approved by the General Assembly in 2006, with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown — who was then a state delegate — introducing the legislation.
“These loans will help some of Maryland’s most innovative small businesses expand the capacity and business infrastructure that is necessary to compete,” Brown, an Army reservist, said in a statement.
The loan helps make businesses accessible to disabled veterans and others with disabilities.
Haugh, a retired Air Force captain, works with businesses, governments and schools to provide intelligence systems to respond to emergencies and threats.
Strategic Services International provides IT and environmental services to corporations and governments, and most of its management team members are naval officers who served in Iraq.
