Business

A robot dog and the “soul” displayed by local voices helped woo a conference dubbed the “Super Bowl of meetings” to Baltimore. The American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting & Exposition, a major conference for trade group and association executives, will come to the Baltimore Convention Center in 2033.

The landlord of a federally subsidized Baltimore County glove factory that never opened is trying to recoup $1.3 million, according to recent court filings. Tradepoint Atlantic filed a lien against United Safety Technology last month, court records show. It followed up with a complaint alleging the proposed glove manufacturer has not been paying rent.

SpaceX pulled off its first spacewalk in the early hours of Thursday morning, in a historic first for a company. The marquee event of the private Polaris Dawn mission went smoothly, with two of the crew members — Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis — stepping outside of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule “Resilience.” It’s the first time civilians, and not government astronauts, have performed a spacewalk.

Lexington Lofts apartments could fit easily into one of downtown Baltimore’s trendier areas. Units come with soaring ceilings and windows, granite finishes, free Wi-Fi and Under Armour gym memberships. The glass-front building with sleek professional offices on the street level sits about a mile from the Inner Harbor. But the renovated six-story building occupies a block in downtown’s west side, where anticipated redevelopment has met with false starts for decades.

Howard County saw a 7% increase in visitor spending in 2023 over the previous year, as the number of tourists finally met pre-pandemic levels, according to a report from the county’s tourism bureau through Tourism Economics, a data and research company. Visit Howard County reported that the number of tourists reached around 3 million people, with those visitors spending a total of $790.4 million last year, up nearly 20% from before the pandemic.

Under Armour Inc. is closing a 1.2 million-square-foot California distribution center as the company doubles down on its cost-cutting measures. The Baltimore-based sportswear maker announced late Monday it will close its Rialto, California facility by 2026 as part of an updated restructuring plan. CEO Kevin Plank announced in May that Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) would lay off employees and cut costs as part of a plan initially expected to cost the company $70 million to $90 million.

The city of Frederick on Thursday annexed two properties on its northwest side, a step forward for two housing development projects that could mean more than 540 new units. The Christoff property is 54.16 acres that straddle Opossumtown Pike near the intersection with Bloomfield Road. The project could add 228 total units with a maximum density of four units per acre.