Business

Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Wednesday pledged to include a “labor peace” agreement when the state next awards a contract to run the concessions operations at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. Moore made the public commitment, which has been long sought by labor leaders and many lawmakers and other stakeholders, as the Board of Public Works voted unanimously to extend the contract of the current airport concessionaire on a month-to-month basis.

Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA), a Bethesda biofuel company that manufactures and distributes wood pellets that are burned to produce heat and energy, said Wednesday it is raising $250 million in a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, deal. The PIPE transaction is being led by affiliates of Enviva’s two largest shareholders: Riverstone Holdings LLC and Inclusive Capital Partners, both of New York. Rio de Janeiro’s BTG Pactual is also participating, according to the Bethesda company.

Transamerica on Wednesday announced fee reductions on the four share classes of the Transamerica Floating Rate mutual fund. Contingent upon share class, these reductions range from 0.12% to 0.22% annually. These expense reductions will become effective on or about March 1, 2023. Transamerica routinely reviews fund fees charged and is consistently looking for ways to maximize value.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that restaurants throw out a ton of food. “It’s endless amounts of waste and it’s really depressing,” said Safa Batniji, who has spent years working in food service both in front and back of the house. Every day, she sees food from people’s plates — unused ingredients, wrong orders — all tossed. Especially at larger businesses that serve up to thousands of meals per week, “It really, really adds up.”

The Cordish Companies, Live Casino & Hotel Maryland and the Anne Arundel County Local Development Council (LDC) awarded more than $18.4 million in local impact and community grants to organizations in Anne Arundel County for fiscal year 2023. This year’s grants bring the total funds generated by Live Casino & Hotel in support of Anne Arundel County organizations to more than $200 million since the casino opened nearly 11 years ago.

Two data center providers are moving forward with updated proposals to redevelop a combined 1,600 acres in Prince William County.

Thirteen Greater Baltimore firms have earned a spot on Inc. Magazine’s ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the mid-Atlantic region. The regional ranking, a spin-off of the popular Inc. 5000 franchise, was released Tuesday and shows which companies had the highest percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2021. Overall, the 142 mid-Atlantic companies had a median growth rate of 149% and $3.9 billion in revenue.