Business

A local trucking company has won $25 million in federal funding to build charging infrastructure for electric trucks near the Port of Baltimore. Sparrows Point-based Capital Logistics will use the money to electrify its own fleet and build a commercial charging hub for companies that ship into and out of the port zone. The exact location has not been chosen yet, but the company is looking to build close to the port.

The owners of a Bel Air auto dealership have donated $20 million to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, the largest gift in the organization’s history. The donation from Jones Junction owners Danny and Gail Jones will support the behavioral health program and several capital projects at the Harford County health system.

Three former mayors support a plan to raze the city’s Inner Harbor pavilions in favor of an ambitious redevelopment. One former mayor hates it. In a post on social media Saturday, Martin O’Malley called it “a terrible developer grab of public waterfront parkland.” O’Malley’s post came two days after a press release from Baltimore for a New Harborplace, a group that has been rallying support for MCB Real Estate’s vision of a new Harborplace.

It’s time for Disney parks to swap pumpkins for poinsettias. In the thick of its busiest season, Disney’s domestic theme parks have already begun to transition from Halloween decorations to Christmas colors. The transformation starts to take shape practically overnight, with warm autumn banners traded out for festive green garlands. The full metamorphosis takes about six weeks.

Like any entrepreneur, Emmett Harris’ first priority was getting his business out of the red. His secondary goal was to make enough money to finance his growing collection of Lego Minifigures. Through his business, called E’s Beads, 10-year-old Harris sells artwork made from beads that he assembles in various configurations on a peg board. An iron is used to fuse the beads together, creating designs like Super Mario Bros. characters or Minecraft swords.

When two hurricanes hit the South this fall, the U.S. Small Business Administration warned Congress it would likely run out of money for loans. Ten days later, the department was tapped out. That has left some of the small businesses seeking loans after the March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in a lurch. Even though the SBA funds are depleted, requests for financial help from those affected by the bridge disaster continue to roll in, including 500 new applications in the last month.

Three former Baltimore mayors have announced their support for a ballot measure that would allow a private company to redevelop the aging Harborplace pavilions at the Inner Harbor. Former Mayors Kurt Schmoke, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Bernard C. “Jack” Young encouraged voters to say yes on Question F.