Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Gaithersburg’s Vector BioMed launches with $15M to manufacture gene therapy technology

A new Gaithersburg biotech has launched with millions of dollars in new financing to make a key technology for gene therapy companies. The firm, called Vector BioMed Inc., raised $15 million in late 2022 and is now putting that money to work — to speed up its commercial operations and bring customers on board. It plans to manufacture lentiviral vectors, a type of therapy used to deliver genes into human cells in cases such as cancer and rare disease, and to supply those vectors to other biotechs developing and commercializing treatments that use them, Vector BioMed co-founder and CEO Boro Dropulić told the Washington Business Journal, a sister paper to the Baltimore Business Journal.

Soaring egg prices take toll on restaurants, shoppers, economy

When Kelly Simmons bakes her signature butter crunch cookies, she uses flour, butter, baking soda, water — and, of course, eggs. But after egg prices skyrocketed, Simmons, owner of Aunt Kelly’s Cookies in Mount Vernon, raised prices by 20% just to stay afloat. Now sales are down, revenue is dropping, and she’s been forced to cut staff. “We are in a position where we’re going to have to figure out alternative ways of turning a profit,” she said. Business owners like Simmons are feeling the weight of rising egg costs, and the pain is also hitting shoppers at the grocery store. Though overall grocery prices have increased, the jump in egg prices is one of the most impactful examples of inflation.

Tessemae’s, Baltimore-based organic salad dressing maker, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Tessemae’s, a Baltimore-based organic salad dressing maker, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure debts and stop what it called costly and distracting litigation by a former lender. The seller of dressings and condiments sold at dozens of national and regional retailers filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy reorganization Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore. The filing lists liabilities in a range of $10 million to $50 million. The Chapter 11 process will allow the manufacturer to preserve its assets, obtain new capital to fulfill customer demand and stop litigation, the company said.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
100 us dollar bill
Coppin awarded $4M to broaden high-speed internet access

Coppin State University is among 12 minority-serving colleges and universities that will receive $33.5 million in federal money to expand broadband internet access to underserved communities, officials said Monday. Federal, state and university officials made the announcement at a ceremony at Coppin, which will receive nearly $4 million as part of the program. “The internet and mobile technology are critical tools for accessing and sharing information every day,” said Coppin State University President Anthony L. Jenkins. “Socioeconomic status should not determine access, or opportunities for individuals or our communities, in Baltimore or anywhere else.”

Sunstone Credit lands $20M Series A funding round

Baltimore-based Sunstone Credit Inc., a technology-enabled clean energy financing platform that helps businesses go solar, Tuesday announced an oversubscribed $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by an affiliated fund of Greenbacker Capital Management LLC, which provides flexible capital and best-in-class guidance for growth-stage clean energy companies. Sunstone is on a mission to help more businesses go solar by providing simple and cost-effective loan financing. Even as a confluence of factors drive business demand for clean energy, including tax incentives, customer preferences for sustainability, and a need for resilient power access, most companies have not had access to loan financing for solar installations in the past.

Bed Bath & Beyond to close 87 more stores, including three in Md.

Three Maryland stores are among 87 more namesake Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. outlets the retailer said Friday that it will close, in addition to the 150 locations already on the chopping block. Bed Bath & Beyond also said it will shutter all of its Harmon Face Values health and beauty stores. The company has 50 Harmon stores, located in New Jersey, New York, California, Nevada, Florida and Connecticut. Also slated for closure are five stores under the company’s BuyBuy Baby brand.

Trammell Crow buys more land in Elkton to expand industrial footprint

National industrial developer Trammell Crow Co. is growing its footprint again on the Interstate 95 corridor. The developer recently acquired 20 additional acres in rural Elkton to expand its ongoing Elkton Commerce Center industrial project near the Maryland-Delaware line. Trammell Crow’s deal for the 20 extra acres in Elkton will add to the company’s plan to develop the commerce center off Route 40 in Cecil County that kicked off in 2021. The entire logistics and warehouse complex will now total 319 acres. The first warehouse, which stretches 766,000 square feet, is already complete. A second facility of 330,000 square feet is now in the works, said Chris Rodriguez, a Trammell Crow principal, on Monday.

Three baseballs sit in a field of turfgrass at Camp Nubability's annual kids camp for limb different children. This image was taken by one of the camp coaches, Caitlin Conner.
Orioles facing one-time lease extension deadline as wait for long-term agreement continues

In March 1984, less than two weeks before Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was born, the National Football League’s Baltimore Colts bolted for Indianapolis in the middle of the night. Scott is confident the city won’t have a repeat when it comes to the Orioles. “Baltimore knows what it feels like when a team is disinvesting in and going to leave, right?” Scott said at a news conference earlier this month with Orioles CEO and chairman John Angelos seated beside him. “It happened 11 days before I was born, if you were counting. This isn’t that. The Orioles have continued to make deep investments in the community.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Sinclair sports subsidiary may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports

Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., may be headed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Diamond, the TV home for more than half of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams, is likely to skip a $140 million interest payment in February on the company’s $8.6 billion in debt. According to Bloomberg, Diamond Sports is preparing for a possible Chapter 11 restructuring of debt the company used in 2019 to buy regional sports networks.

Offshore wind will need major investments in transmission, supply chain, reports say

Achieving the aggressive offshore wind power goals of the federal government and individual states will require billions of dollars in spending on transmission infrastructure, “unprecedented” cooperation between grid operators and federal and state agencies, and would be aided by major buildout of a domestic supply chain, per a pair of recent reports. Coastal states across the country, from California to Louisiana to Maine, are pushing for offshore wind projects, but the reports see potential bottlenecks looming, both in the supply chain to build and install turbines as well as in the ability to bring the electricity ashore

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