Business

Amid vendors offering caskets, urns and other tools of the trade at the Baltimore Convention Center, Sam Sieber enthusiastically described how, through a scientific process, heated water can rapidly decompose a human body. Sieber, vice president of research at Bio-Response Solutions, was one of many people this week at the National Funeral Directors Association convention discussing developments, products and trends in the industry. For much of the populace, talk of death can be morbid, grim or unsettling. But those at the convention view “death care” as a business, a passion and a necessary, noble profession. “You have to have a calling for it,” said Dorota Marshall, who owns Maryland Cremation Services. “It’s not a job. It’s a vocation.”

Thomas Gross has been living paycheck to paycheck working as a grill cook at Northeastern University’s dining hall since 2017. He lives with several family members in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, where rents are increasing. But life is about to get more comfortable for Gross, following a union contract victory that increases Northeastern dining workers’ hourly pay by $9.32 over the next 4.5 years. Gross, who will be making more than $30 per hour by early 2026, in addition to other union members and leaders interviewed by The Business Journals, said student support was critical to landing the contract.

Maryland, in a reflection of a nationwide slowdown, had a quiet third quarter of venture capital deals in 2022. Maryland only saw $171.48 million invested through 32 VC deals, the smallest dollar amount invested in area companies since Q4 of 2017, according to the Pitchbook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. In Baltimore, the number of deals also declined, with local companies raising $68.54 million in 13 deals, down from $130.15 million in 23 deals in Q3 of 2021. The country as a whole also suffered from a slowdown, with the lowest fundraising amount since Q2 of 2020.

A potential railroad strike impacting CSX-owned commuter trains in the Baltimore area is on the horizon again after the third-largest railroad union rejected a tentative agreement. When a previous negotiation deadline approached in September, the Maryland Transit Administration told commuters on the Camden and Brunswick Maryland Area Regional Commuter trains to expect disruptions from a strike. Tracks on those lines are owned and operated by freight railroad CSX. The Penn line that runs from Washington to Perryville in Cecil County runs on Amtrak tracks and would not be affected by a strike.

Workers at Apple in Towson, who won national attention after becoming the first of the tech giant’s U.S. employees to unionize, are headed to bargaining amid complaints that the store’s workers are being excluded from new benefits rolling out companywide. Apple informed retail and corporate staff that it will expand benefits for health care and educational classes, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. The story, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter, said employees will be given additional funds for courses, while workers in some states will have access to new health plans.

The Harford County Association of Realtors will host a community-wide shred day on Saturday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. The event will be held at the association’s office located at 2227 Old Emmorton Road, No. 117, in Bel Air. Members of the public will be able to bring items to be shredded by Chesapeake Shredding. During the event, HarCAR’s Voter Registration Task Force will be registering voters and assisting with any voting needs.

The state is poised to spend $425 million on an extensive renovation of the busiest parts of BWI Marshall Airport. On Wednesday, the state’s spending board will consider a $332.5 million contract with a Bethesda-based construction firm to advance that massive capital improvement project at the Anne Arundel County airport. The contract with Clark Construction Group is the second construction package for the overall project that would connect the airport’s A and B concourses and improve its luggage handling by creating a new security screening system. It is the largest terminal improvement project in the airport’s history, said Jonathan Dean, a spokesperson for BWI. The project was temporarily placed on hold in April 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Law firm Baker Donelson is spearheading an innovative use of empty office space by donating an entire floor at 100 Light Street in Downtown Baltimore for use as a small business incubator. Baker Donelson is partnering with Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program for the incubator, which will be called The Light of Baltimore. The incubator will support 30 small businesses and already 26 companies are confirmed inside the space. The influx of new companies downtown is especially valuable as more and more businesses pivot to remote work or, like Baker Donelson, downsize their space.