Business

TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corp., has expanded its Maryland Innovation Initiative program to include Bowie State University and is investing $500,000 over the next two years to help students there commercialize their business ideas. Bowie State will get $250,000 this year and next to implement programs that promote entrepreneurship and innovation. The school is contributing an additional $50,000 each year to the effort.

The words mergers and acquisitions — or M&A as it’s affectionately called — conjure up images of corporate moguls sitting around a conference room in cutthroat negotiations. Think “Succession,” “Barbarians at the Gate” and other classic Hollywood takes on mergers and corporate takeovers. But M&A doesn’t have to be about billions of dollars, evil private equity investors or corporate intrigue.

Last spring, the Prince George’s County Council passed emergency legislation capping rent hikes at 3%, in part moved by complaints from seniors and other residents that some apartment complexes were increasing rents by hundreds of dollars per month. In some cases, the rent hikes were increasing faster than Social Security and other forms of income. In the immediate aftermath, there were reports of some apartment complexes trying to impose other new fees that aimed to get around the actual rent, while others began looking for other loopholes.

Plans to convert a vacant corner in Midtown into a busy complex anchored by a marketplace and apartments moved forward on Thursday before a city design panel. The five-story building would add a new gateway to the University of Baltimore’s urban campus and act as an extension of the ongoing renewal of Penn Station a block away, the city’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel, or UDAAP, was told by officials of BCT Design Group during the nearly two-hour meeting. BCT is designing the project for developers Zahlco and the University of Baltimore.

Frontier Airlines is making it easier for Baltimore travelers to visit the west coast of Florida, with new frequent flights starting this fall. The Denver-based airline announced Thursday that it will add daily flights between Tampa and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport starting Nov. 16. Introductory fares start at $39, according to a press release from the airline.

Johns Hopkins University is planning to build a life sciences center in East Baltimore, but graduate students are concerned about how the demolition of several academic buildings to make way for the center could impact their working conditions. Hopkins is demolishing the Hampton House at 624 N. Broadway and two nearby facilities to make room for the new building. A university spokesperson did not disclose the estimated size of the upcoming building or its cost but confirmed that demolition will start in 2024.

A proposed office-to-residential redevelopment in North Bethesda is moving ahead, with final land use applications now headed for planning agency consideration. Missing Middle Jefferson LLC owns the empty 139,000-square-foot, 1980s-era office building located on 5.6 acres at 2115 E. Jefferson St. about half a mile west of the Pike & Rose mixed-use project. Montgomery County’s land use regulatory agency on Aug. 21 formally accepted the company’s preliminary and site plan applications to raze the office and replace it with 86 townhomes.

Prince George’s Community College has become an Amazon Career Choice program partner and the corporation’s employees are eligible to enroll at the college this fall. Career Choice is an educational enrichment benefit that covers tuition and mandatory fees for credit-bearing undergraduate degrees and certificates.