To Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, the future of development and economic vitality in the county lies with the life sciences and technology industries. But to get a stronghold in those industries, the county must have an economic and development landscape more like Northern Virginia, Elrich said Tuesday evening at an event sponsored by the business platform Bisnow in Bethesda.

The director of Montgomery County’s Office of Food Systems Resilience knows that the area is expensive and access to high quality (yet affordable) food can be lacking. That’s why her agency is planning on giving local families a helping hand. “It’s just very expensive to live here and putting food on the table is often a choice to do that or pay rent,” said Heather Bruskin.

Weeks after a strike authorization vote, union hotel workers at Baltimore’s downtown Hilton hotel could not reach an agreement with the company before their contract’s end Thursday. According to Unite Here Local 7 President Tracy Lingo, “without a deal that works for everybody, a strike is possible at any time.”

 

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will sit down Thursday for their first major television interview of their presidential campaign as the duo travels in southeast Georgia on a bus tour. The interview with CNN’s Dana Bash will give Harris a chance to quell criticism that she has eschewed uncontrolled environments, while also giving her a fresh platform to define her campaign and test her political mettle ahead of an upcoming debate with former President Donald Trump set for Sept. 10.

Donald Trump is scheduled to campaign Thursday in Michigan and Wisconsin as the former president ramps up battleground state travel heading into the traditional Labor Day turn toward the fall election. Trump’s intense focus on recapturing states he won in 2016 but lost narrowly in 2020 continues with stops in the middle of Michigan and western Wisconsin.

Two Baltimore Ravens legends who know one bad play can ruin a season have invested in a new cleat company that they hope can reduce serious sports injuries. Todd Heap, who spent 10 seasons with the Ravens, and fellow former Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta are investors in Caddix, a cleat company started by Baltimore native Jack Rasmussen, a former college punter.

Even though the Maryland Green Party first won official recognition in the state in 2000, party chair Brian Bittner was happy to call it the “new” party in the state this week. That’s because state election officials certified that the party had collected more than the 10,000 petition signatures needed to be officially recognized by the state as a political party, a designation that allows it to place candidates on the ballot without having to go through a petition process for those.

Paul Benkert has seen that famous scene in “The Bear,” where the ticket machine goes haywire with orders and the staff at Chef Carmy’s Chicago beef shop find themselves on the hook for 78 slices of chocolate cake, 99 french fries, 54 chickens, 38 salads and 255 beef sandwiches — all set for pickup in the next eight minutes.

Dollar General shares tumbled on Thursday after the discount retailer slashed its sales and profit guidance for the full year, suggesting its lower-income customers are struggling in this economy. Shares of the retailer which caters to more rural areas tumbled 20% in premarket trading following the earnings report.

U.S. Economic Development Administration officials advised local tech industry leaders to develop a stronger strategic focus during a visit Wednesday that came about a month after the region lost out on a round of federal grant money. The Greater Baltimore Tech Hub Consortium, comprised of 38 partners, including the Greater Baltimore Committee and Johns Hopkins University, was one of 31 communities across the country to receive the federal designation last year as a “Tech Hub.” But its application for a $70 million grant was rejected.