Business

Kondwani Fidel says he began wearing New Balance sneakers right “out of the womb.” They’ve always been one of his go-to brands, along with Nike’s Air Force 1 shoes. Most of his friends wore them, too. They enjoyed the versatility of the shoe — whether that be wearing them with a suit jacket or to play hoops. “You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t fresh with New Balance,” he said. “That’s how we put fits together.”

A printing company with a nearly century-long history in the Baltimore area is leaving the city, a move that potentially puts 144 people out of work. BC Graphics, which produces direct mail, is not renewing its lease on a South Baltimore industrial site and will shift its operations to facilities in Western Maryland, Virginia and Kansas, according to a company spokesperson. Edge Direct, a sister company based at the same facility, is also leaving Baltimore.

Bank of America announced it has raised its U.S. minimum hourly wage to $24 per hour in Maryland and nationwide, the latest step in the company’s commitment to a $25 hourly minimum wage by 2025. The announcement was made by Sheri Bronstein, Bank of America’s chief human resources officer. With the increase, the minimum annualized salary for full-time employees in the U.S. will rise to nearly $50,000.

Chef Maynard McMillan has been a regular at farmers markets around the area for years, but he didn’t see himself operating a brick-and-mortar until an opportunity arose with the reopening of one of Baltimore’s historic public markets. McMillan’s Nafasi Catering will be one of the new vendors joining the renovated Hollins Market, which will celebrate its grand reopening on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Outreach meetings for a new planning initiative that will focus on commercial and employment hubs in Frederick County are scheduled to begin this week. Earlier this year, the Livable Frederick Planning & Design Office and the Frederick County Division of Economic Opportunity started gathering information to inform the Investing in Workers and Workplaces Plan.

An internationally renowned equestrian competition is aiming to break even this year and wants to continue bringing out-of-staters to Cecil County. The 2024 Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, one of the most prestigious horse eventing competitions in the world, will return to Cecil County for the fourth time next month after bringing more than $11 million in direct spending to the state last year.

A flurry of major central banks will hold monetary policy meetings this week, with investors bracing for interest rate moves in either direction. The Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated two-day meeting, which gets underway on Tuesday, is poised to take center stage. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to join others around the world in starting its own rate-cutting cycle. The only remaining question appears to be by how much the Fed will reduce rates.