Business

Potomac’s Willco Cos. has regained control of a site near Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, having sold and then subsequently foreclosed on it, and now must decide what to do with it, in the context of major surrounding redevelopment under way or slated. The parcel comprises about 3.5 vacant acres just northwest of the intersection of Josiah Henson Parkway (formerly Montrose Parkway) and Towne Road. It has preliminary plan approval for three residential towers totaling some 565 units, plus a bit of retail.

Workforce development for life-sustaining careers and a stubborn digital divide remain two of Maryland’s biggest access-related challenges to solve. On Thursday, Maryland Tech Council’s 2023 Annapolis Day Advocacy Summit convened technologists and organizations from around the state to listen to panel discussions on the life sciences workforce and equitable internet access, among other issues. “This has been a growing passion project for me, to see this industry grow and succeed in the state,” said Brad Stewart, the life sciences panel moderator, who is also SVP of business development at the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.

Morgan State University has lost the chance to win a lucrative partnership with the United States Air Force that could have brought billions of dollars to Baltimore. The Air Force instead choose to work with Howard University to build a university-affiliated research center, or UARC, to develop new engineering and technology innovations for the military. The Air Force will funnel $12 million a year over five years to Howard to fund faculty, research, and student stipends around tactical autonomy. The university will receive an additional $2 million a year from both the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering for the center.

Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped to 4% in December 2022, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The department also announced that the state’s number of total jobs remained effectively stagnant, decreasing by just 200. The mining, logging and construction sector experienced the most growth with an increase of 2,200 jobs. Other sectors adding jobs include other services (1,600), education and health services (1,100), and government (400). Sectors that experienced a decline were professional and business services (1,200), trade, transportation and utilities (1,200), information (1,000), financial activities (800), manufacturing (700), and leisure and hospitality (600).

Maryland could see a massive increase in the enforcement of laws fighting black market cannabis under a new regulatory body once recreational cannabis kicks off in the summer. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission will combine into a single organization by July 1 as part of the referendum legalizing recreational cannabis. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission currently lacks any power to prosecute youth possession or illicit cannabis sales sincethey do not employ any law enforcement officers, MMCC Executive Director Will Tilburg said.

The Eagles will play through their 1976 album, “Hotel California,” at CFG Bank Arena in April, adding to a list of major performances at the newly renovated venue. The Los Angeles rock band, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, will be accompanied by an orchestra and choir during its Baltimore stop Saturday, April 8, according to a news release from Live Nation announcing the additional leg of the band’s “Hotel California” tour.

The Mississippi-based parent company of Baltimore County’s Chesapeake Beverage Co. is set to expand into Florida.Mitchell Distributing Co., which bought an Anheuser-Busch distributor now known as Chesapeake Beverage in 2014, is poised to finalize a deal for Burkhardt Sales & Service at the end of January. The Florida distribution company has two operations, one in St. Augustine and another in Gainesville. “It came on the market and [we]thought it was a great addition to the Mitchell companies,” said Steve Kimble, Chesapeake Beverage sales director.

A new Mexican restaurant that will mix food with live music is scheduled to open its first Baltimore location this year, with its owners aiming to revive the former Bond Street Social space in Fells Point. The Wave Group, a Virginia- and D.C.-area restaurant partnership, will open Baja Tap at 901 S. Bond St. by August. The former occupants of the space, Bond Street Social, abruptly packed up and left in early 2022. Partners in the Wave Group include former Le Diplomate head chef Greg Lloyd and D.C.-area restaurateur Scott Parker, who operates Nighthawk Brewery & Pizza and Poppyseed Rye in Virginia. The group will open its first Baja Tap location in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of D.C. by March, with the Fells Point space to follow by August.