Business

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Jason W. Mitchell announced the DPW Unbundling Initiative, a program to mentor Baltimore-based diverse and small businesses and prepare them to compete on their own as general or prime contractors. The DPW Unbundling Initiative will expand the capacity of Baltimore’s local and diverse contractor community to compete as general or prime contractors for the Department’s water and wastewater utility contracts. On large DPW and other city contracts, small businesses tend to serve as subcontractors to general contractors.

Anne Arundel County’s economic development agency has tapped a top Howard County planning and zoning official as its new CEO. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman appointed Amy Gowan to lead Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp., a quasi-governmental agency funded by tax dollars. Her appointment is effective in April. Gowan makes the switch to Anne Arundel after seven years with Howard County Government, where she led the 50-person Office of Planning and Zoning for four years.

Imagine if Harborplace, the once popular tourist spot on Baltimore’s waterfront, was converted into living quarters for the elderly. What if it hosted bull riding competitions? Or was home to an arcade with a view of a Ferris wheel on a bustling boardwalk? These are all suggestions that came in after we asked readers how they envision a redeveloped Harborplace as developer P. David Bramble readies to embark on a reincarnation of the property.

Whether it was because their apartment policies restricted them from smoking in their units or their spouse didn’t like the smell of weed in their home, medicinal cannabis smokers needed a place they could smoke and relax in peace, says Venushski “Venus” Hemachandra, 33. In efforts to appease their demands, Hemachandra says, she opened Ceylon House, at 4009 Sandy Spring Road in Burtonsville.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) has disclosed plans for layoffs of 176 workers based in southern Maryland as part of a key program comes to an end.
The Bethesda contracting giant said the layoffs are effective April 27, affecting workers in its Sikorsky division supporting the heavy lift helicopter program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, according to a Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing with the state.

Bethesda-based global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries and Red 6 Aerospace, a Lockheed Martin Ventures portfolio company, Wednesday announced a new partnership that will deliver advanced 21st Century Security capabilities across a spectrum of training and combat aircraft.