Thursday, October 24, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Elon Musk seeks to reassure advertisers on Twitter after chaos

Elon Musk sought to reassure big companies that advertise on Twitter that his chaotic takeover of the social media platform won’t harm their brands, acknowledging that some “dumb things” might happen on his way to creating what he says will be a better, safer user experience.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
How D.C. area’s closest Amazon fulfillment center is ramping up for the holidays

“We have done a good job of getting people in early so that they’re trained,” Fisher said. “We find that that’s the best because when things start to kind of ramp up and get a little crazier, the more familiar they are with the building, it’s better from a safety standpoint and a quality standpoint.” BWI2 opened as Maryland’s first fulfillment center in 2015 and one of the first robotics centers in Amazon’s network, spokeswoman Rachael Lighty said during a tour of the facility on Nov. 8. The building is massive, with four floors totaling 1.2 million square feet.

taking sinovac covid-19 vaccination injection
Novavax says its Omicron-specific vaccine candidate works as a booster

Novavax Inc. is out with new data that makes a case for its Omicron variant-tailored Covid-19 vaccine candidate — and less so for another shot it’s also been testing to attack two strains simultaneously. The Gaithersburg biotech had conducted a phase 3 trial of two experimental Covid vaccines — one designed to protect against just the Omicron variant known as BA.1 and another bivalent shot to protect against both the original and Omicron strains — and compared their results with that of the company’s existing Covid-19 vaccine now on the market. That test showed that the BA.1 variant vaccine provoked a stronger immune response in people not previously exposed to Covid, compared with people who received Novavax’s existing vaccine, which was developed based on the original version of the virus and is now available in the U.S. for primary, secondary and booster doses.

Frontier Airlines to offer nonstop service from Dallas to BWI

Low-cost air carrier Frontier Airlines announced Tuesday introductory fares for new nonstop routes from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and four other destinations. Joining Frontier’s lineup of new nonstop routes include flights to Orange County, California (SNA), New York City (LGA), Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (RDU) and Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ). With the new service, Frontier will serve a total of 19 destinations from DFW.

In a shift, U.S. says companies are pivotal to climate talks’ success

With war, inflation and electoral chaos preoccupying world leaders, the Biden administration is looking for corporations to take center stage as the U.N. Climate Change Conference gets underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. At the summit, known as COP27, the administration and its partners will unveil a plan for private companies to finance the energy transition of developing countries, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussions. While government action typically dominates these talks, political paralysis and public pressure are pushing companies to step up with their own emission pledges — and money to help poorer countries bearing the brunt of climate change’s impacts.

Many bosses plan to clamp down on hybrid workers

Many employees remain reluctant to return to the office — even on a part-time basis as part of a hybrid workplace — and many managers plan to step up enforcement of attendance policies. That’s according to a new survey by technology firm Capterra, which found 74% of managers said they will factor office attendance into employee reviews. Another 46% said they have already cut or plan to cut pay or benefits for employees who did not comply with office attendance policies. Experts have warned employers about the risks of being too rigid with their hybrid setups due to the tight market for talent, but many believe companies will increase their focus on in-office time if the economy turns south after previously embracing a more laid-back approach during the hybrid shift.

Maryland seafood industry to get help with temporary worker visas

Producing crab meat isn’t just a profitable industry in Maryland — it’s an art. That art, mastered by seafood processors along the Maryland shore, is threatened by a lack of workers, according to Jack Brooks, president of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association. “We’re food manufacturers. You know, we were declared essential during the pandemic, provided we had staffing, but it’s very, very difficult to operate like this,” said Brooks, who is also the co-owner of J.M. Clayton Seafood Company. For years, Brooks said, employers in the seafood industry have struggled to obtain enough H-2B visas — temporary nonagricultural worker permits — to properly staff crab and seafood businesses.

Morgan State awarded $9M to advance AI, cybersecurity and machine learning research

The Office of Naval Research awarded Morgan State University a five-year, $9 million grant to address a critical Department of Defense (DoD) need for research in building diverse knowledge bases related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially with respect to cybersecurity. The resources will be administered through Morgan’s Division of Research and Economic Development (D-RED) to fund collaborative research conducted by the newly launched Center for Equitable Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Systems (CEAMLS) and the Cybersecurity Assurance & Policy Center. The centers will study the development of formal standards and best practices to test and design new AI and ML innovations that mitigate algorithmic bias.

5 tax credits every business owner should know about

The Covid-19 pandemic and the rescue programs that came with it have driven a surge of interest in tax credits, with small-business owners increasingly scouring for opportunities they may have overlooked in the past. The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, which gave out 11.3 million forgivable loans worth about $786 billion, as well as the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and others, made it to clear to small-business owners they should pay attention to government programs and apply for the ones that fit them, said Brent Johnson, co-founder of Clarus Solutions, which helps businesses access federal employment tax credit programs.

Morgan Stanley will expand in Harbor Point

Morgan Stanley plans to expand its presence in Baltimore’s Harbor Point, the landlord for the global financial services firm said Monday. Armada Hoffler said it has finalized a lease extension and expansion with Morgan Stanley at the company’s Thames Street Wharf office building. The firm leased an additional 46,000 square feet, bringing its total office space to 242,000-square-feet, and extended until 2035. Thames Street Wharf is now 100% occupied. A representative of Morgan Stanley could not be reached Monday. The company’s website describes the Baltimore office as one of its largest in the U.S. outside the New York headquarters. Morgan Stanley opened its Baltimore office in 2003 with 60 people, a number that has grown to close to 2,000 employees, according to the website.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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