Business

The Kennedy Krieger Institute is building a research center focused on how adverse childhood experiences, such as poverty, unstable housing, and other social factors stemming from inequality, impact brain development. The Baltimore health care institution is planning a $15 million renovation to its building at 707 N. Broadway to become the home of the Center for the Neuroscience of Social Injustice. The building currently serves as an inpatient center and also holds other research areas and facilities. CEO Dr. Bradley Schlaggar said there will be no displacement of patient care, since the renovations will be taking place at the building’s research floors. He added that the center is more of a reflection of an institutional research focus, rather than a physical building location. The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $2.5 million grant for the center on Wednesday.

Amid vendors offering caskets, urns and other tools of the trade at the Baltimore Convention Center, Sam Sieber enthusiastically described how, through a scientific process, heated water can rapidly decompose a human body. Sieber, vice president of research at Bio-Response Solutions, was one of many people this week at the National Funeral Directors Association convention discussing developments, products and trends in the industry. For much of the populace, talk of death can be morbid, grim or unsettling. But those at the convention view “death care” as a business, a passion and a necessary, noble profession. “You have to have a calling for it,” said Dorota Marshall, who owns Maryland Cremation Services. “It’s not a job. It’s a vocation.”

Thomas Gross has been living paycheck to paycheck working as a grill cook at Northeastern University’s dining hall since 2017. He lives with several family members in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, where rents are increasing. But life is about to get more comfortable for Gross, following a union contract victory that increases Northeastern dining workers’ hourly pay by $9.32 over the next 4.5 years. Gross, who will be making more than $30 per hour by early 2026, in addition to other union members and leaders interviewed by The Business Journals, said student support was critical to landing the contract.

Maryland, in a reflection of a nationwide slowdown, had a quiet third quarter of venture capital deals in 2022. Maryland only saw $171.48 million invested through 32 VC deals, the smallest dollar amount invested in area companies since Q4 of 2017, according to the Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. In Baltimore, the number of deals also declined, with local companies raising $68.54 million in 13 deals, down from $130.15 million in 23 deals in Q3 of 2021. The country as a whole also suffered from a slowdown, with the lowest fundraising amount since Q2 of 2020.

A potential railroad strike impacting CSX-owned commuter trains in the Baltimore area is on the horizon again after the third-largest railroad union rejected a tentative agreement. When a previous negotiation deadline approached in September, the Maryland Transit Administration told commuters on the Camden and Brunswick Maryland Area Regional Commuter trains to expect disruptions from a strike. Tracks on those lines are owned and operated by freight railroad CSX. The Penn line that runs from Washington to Perryville in Cecil County runs on Amtrak tracks and would not be affected by a strike.

Workers at Apple in Towson, who won national attention after becoming the first of the tech giant’s U.S. employees to unionize, are headed to bargaining amid complaints that the store’s workers are being excluded from new benefits rolling out companywide. Apple informed retail and corporate staff that it will expand benefits for health care and educational classes, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. The story, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter, said employees will be given additional funds for courses, while workers in some states will have access to new health plans.

The Harford County Association of Realtors will host a community-wide shred day on Saturday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. The event will be held at the association’s office located at 2227 Old Emmorton Road, No. 117, in Bel Air. Members of the public will be able to bring items to be shredded by Chesapeake Shredding. During the event, HarCAR’s Voter Registration Task Force will be registering voters and assisting with any voting needs.