Business

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.

An Owings Mills medical device company, IZI Medical Products, will now have new owners from across the pond after a $153.5 million deal. IZI Medical will be a standalone subsidiary within Halma plc, a British conglomerate involved in several “life-saving technology” sectors, from smoke detectors to medical devices. The deal with Halma, a company with a market capitalization over $8 billion, closed on Sept. 30. Halma is not the first firm outside of Maryland to acquire the 90-person medical device company. IZI was acquired by Illinois radiation company Landauer Inc. in 2011, before becoming a portfolio company of private equity firm Shore Capital Partners in 2016.