Business

Towson Apple store workers, who became the first of the tech giant’s U.S. employees to unionize, will start contract negotiations with the company next month. Employees at the Towson Town Center store voted 65-33 in June to join the Washington-based International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers through a newly formed Coalition of Organized Retail Employees. The union on Thursday said negotiating committee members will start contract talks with Apple management Jan. 11 and continue on several dates through Feb. 2. The union and the company agreed to set dates that would not interfere with the holiday shopping season.

Towson University has tapped its provost, Melanie Perreault, to be the school’s interim president in the wake of Kim Schatzel’s departure. Schatzel, who has been TU’s president since 2016, announced last month that she was leaving to be president of the University of Louisville. Perreault, who also served as the university’s chief academic officer since 2019, will begin her interim role Feb. 1, the same day that Schatzel starts as the 19th president at Louisville.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued to block Microsoft’s planned $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, saying it could suppress competitors to Microsoft’s Xbox game console and its growing games subscription business. The FTC’s challenge could be a test case for President Joe Biden’s mandate to scrutinize big tech mergers. The commission voted 3-1 to issue the complaint after a closed-door meeting, with the three Democratic commissioners voting in favor and the sole Republican voting against.

The state labor department will have to refund some unemployment claimants who were forced to repay benefits they were overpaid during the pandemic, according to a settlement agreement effective Wednesday. The agreement ends a federal class action lawsuit filed against Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson in November 2021. Lawyers for six Marylanders, who say the agency mishandled their unemployment claims during the pandemic, filed the suit on behalf of tens of thousands who struggled to get their benefits.

A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge Wednesday denied a request to disqualify the attorney he appointed to represent Orioles owner Peter Angelos in the family feud over his fortune, rejecting allegations of conflicts of interest. Benjamin Rosenberg will continue to represent the interests of Angelos, 93, and incapacitated by illness, in the lawsuits that have pitted his younger son, Louis, against Peter Angelos’ wife, Georgia, and older son, John, the chairman and CEO of the Orioles.

The Johns Hopkins University’s first vice president for economic development is leaving the role for the JP Morgan Chase philanthropy team. Alicia Wilson, who took the inaugural role in 2019, will become the managing director of JPMorgan Chase’s North American regional philanthropy team by the end of the year. During her time at Hopkins, Wilson led and helped with several initiatives. She oversaw the HopkinsLocal program, which supports local and minority-owned businesses and helps increase the hiring of city residents.

Maryland has awarded nearly $25 million in grants to more than 300 businesses across the state as part of a program designed to fill retail and commercial spaces left vacant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The state announced the list of recipients for its Project Restore grants Tuesday after opening applications in July. This is the second iteration of the program that Gov. Larry Hogan first announced in summer 2021. The first round of grants, announced in late 2021 and early 2022, saw 353 businesses get nearly $24 million in funding.

Baltimore Center Stage has hired Adam Frank as the theater’s managing director. Frank comes to Center Stage from Waterwell, a nonprofit theater and education program based in New York where he has been managing director since 2018. Frank will begin his new role on Dec. 13. With an MFA and MBA from Yale, Frank has been active in theater across the country including New York City’s Public Theater and Los Angeles Music Center among others. At Center Stage, he will join artistic director Stephanie Ybarra to build a slate of performances for the upcoming years.