Business

The Orioles are hiring a former MGM Resorts International executive to serve as the Major League Baseball organization’s executive vice president of public affairs, a move meant to bolster Baltimore’s executive team as the organization works toward a new lease for Camden Yards and plans for development around the iconic stadium.

Even as many of America’s workers returned to the office, the share of those working from home last year remained well above what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, census data released Thursday show, reflecting a lasting change that is upending downtown districts, companies and commuting patterns. D.C. and the Washington metro area showed some of the highest rates in the nation. Just over a third of the District’s residents (33.8 percent) worked from home in 2022, down from 48.3 percent the year before, when the city topped the list, according to the American Community Survey, conducted annually by the Census Bureau.

Stepping into the waiting room at Lactation Room in downtown Mount Airy, one might feel like they entered the living room of a girlfriend’s apartment. Outfitted in pink, peach and gray décor and furniture, the space offers a calm and inviting atmosphere suitable for new mothers and their infant children. The Lactation Room has three locations in the region, in North Bethesda, Herndon, Virginia, and Mount Airy, the first in Carroll County.

Pizza bar Locals Only is now open at 25 E. Cross St. in Federal Hill. The new business fills a space that was recently Pretty Awesome Live Music (P.A.L.M.) and Social Pub. Locals Only is a concept by Federal Hill hospitality veteran Andrew Wheeler. Wheeler was a partner at The Charles in Federal Hill before the ownership group sold it to a new owner in recent weeks. Wheeler also worked at Mad River in the same building.

Harris Teeter’s parent company, the Kroger Co., announced they will be selling 10 of its stores in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to C&S Wholesale Grocers, parent company of Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union, ahead of its planned merger with the Idaho-based Albertsons Companies Inc. Kroger has not identified which Harris Teeters located in Maryland are slated to be sold to C&S.

Prince George’s County is now taking applications for a new accelerator program geared to small-business owners seeking guidance on how to raise capital and effectively market and sell their products or services. The program — a partnership between M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. and FSC First, a community development lender in the county — launches Sept. 26 and will run for eight weeks.

A My Salon Suite franchise group has signed a lease with Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) for 7,000 square feet of space within Towne Square, a 126,000 square foot neighborhood shopping center located at 11029 West Colonial Drive in Ocoee, Florida. This represents the first location for the franchise owned and operated by Corey, Judith, and Terrel Corbitt, who plan to open the hair salon concept next year.