Business

Gaithersburg biotech Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS) said Tuesday it is significantly reducing its contract development and manufacturing business in a cost-savings measure that will result in about 400 layoffs. Emergent said the move is being made to focus on its core products business, which includes medical countermeasures and opioid overdose antidote Narcan.

This summer marks the 50th year of YouthWorks, with almost 7,900 jobs offered to Baltimore youth. YouthWorks, originally called Blue Chip, dates back to 1973. The five-week job opportunity gives young people from 14 to 21 an opportunity to make money, a chance to learn valuable skills and so much more. Students working on a mural Tuesday earn $13.25 an hour, and it’s money that comes in handy. Isis Queensbury, a Realtor’s assistant, is in her second year working for YouthWorks.

Plans for a $155 million mixed-use redevelopment of Baltimore’s so-called Superblock downtown took a step forward Tuesday after a city panel voted to allow the demolition of five historic buildings. Tuesday’s hearing was the third time this year the proposed Superblock redevelopment went before the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded 10 regional banks and put six other lenders on notice that they are under review, the latest blow to an industry still reverberating from the March banking crisis that led three firms to collapse. The targeted banks remain vulnerable to nervous depositors and investors, risks from higher interest rates, and a weakening commercial real estate market, Moody’s said.

Tensions rose in contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Stellantis on Tuesday with the union president accusing the company of seeking concessions in contract talks when the union wants gains, as a September strike threat looms. UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that Stellantis has broken a pledge not to seek givebacks in this round of talks, in which the union is seeking more than 40% general pay raises over four years, restoration of pensions for newer hires, cost-of-living increases, an end to wage tiers, and other benefits.

With Montgomery County’s office vacancy rate hovering above 16% —a 5-percentage point increase since the start of the pandemic—local planners say the time may be right for developers to consider converting or redeveloping offices into living spaces. County planner Bilal Ali points to one such completed project in a recent post on The Third Place, the county planning department’s blog: In downtown Silver Spring, a former office building on Fenwick Lane was converted into 102 condos in 2015, providing affordable housing for first-time homebuyers.

The Maryland Stadium Authority has tapped an employee with more than 30 years of experience at the agency as its new chief financial officer. Dawn Abshire took over as the new CFO on Aug. 1, the authority announced at its meeting that same day. She replaces her longtime coworker David Raith, who was the chief financial officer of the Stadium Authority for 20 years. Raith in 2017 was recognized as one of Maryland’s best CFOs by the Baltimore Business Journal as part of the Best in Finance Awards.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has filed a lawsuit against numerous companies, alleging they knowingly polluted the environment with “forever chemicals.” WSSC said damages received would go toward the cost of updating water treatment methods. In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, the utility names nearly 20 companies — including 3M, Dupont and Chemours — for their manufacturing of fire-suppression foams that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl, or PFAS.