Business

In the last week before Gov. Larry Hogan left office, the Department of Commerce announced expanded enterprise zones in both Hagerstown and Salisbury. Now, the business development program, which started in 1982 to provide tax incentives to companies locating in the state’s most economically distressed communities, has come under scrutiny. “The enterprise zone program is one of the most expensive business tax credits in our state,” said Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, sponsor of a bill to alter the program, during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Thursday in Annapolis. “It’s not working as intended.”

After facing strong criticism on social media, a Towson bar says it will no longer host a fundraiser for people who were arrested for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. In an email Monday evening, leaders of the Charles Village Pub & Patio in Towson said they had decided not to provide a venue for the Republican Women of Baltimore County and the Patriot Club of America to host the fundraiser, which was scheduled to take place at the pub Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass says he’s determined to push harder to attract and retain businesses — and on Monday, he announced a “road map” to boost the Maryland county’s economic development. During a news briefing, Glass explained he had moved to split one of the county council committees, making the Economic Development a free-standing panel. Glass said his next steps would include seeking a review of compliance issues to ease regulatory burdens, especially on small and minority businesses.

The first major bill outlining what the recreational cannabis market in Maryland might look like was introduced in the General Assembly on Friday. The 88-page bill goes into detail about most elements of the new legal market, from licensing to the tax structure. Here are five things business owners should know about the proposal, which is set for a hearing in the House of Delegates on Feb. 17. The House version of the bill, House Bill 556, was sponsored by Dels. C.T. Wilson, D-Charles County, and Vanessa Atterbeary, D-Howard County. An identical bill was cross-filed in the senate as Senate Bill 516, which is sponsored by Sens. Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, and Antonio Hayes, D-Baltimore.

The curtain is about to go up on a new show for the long-abandoned Mayfair Theatre, a once glamorous North Howard Street venue that closed in 1986. With its three back walls since demolished and its glorious beaux-arts facade the sole reminder of far better days, it looks like a relic of the World War II bombing of Berlin. But that’s about to change. An ambitious young developer, Yonah Zahler, who hails from Toronto and has lived in Baltimore for 19 years, and his company, Zahlco Development, is the inspiration behind a $25 million project that will be named Mayfair Place. It will be a mixed-use project of 95 residential units, commercial space and parking.

The Pandora jewelry company is planning to open a new store in Harbor East, the Harbor East Management Group announced Friday. The approximately 2,300-square-feet jewelry store will be located at 1011 Fleet St. in the same building as Sephora and Lululemon stores. The store will be Pandora’s flagship location in Baltimore and is expected to open in April. The news comes a little over a month after Pandora announced that it would be moving its North American headquarters from downtown Baltimore to New York City’s Time Square.