Business

The Maryland Food Bank has launched pilot programs targeting unemployment and underemployment, two of the leading causes of food insecurity, and increasing access to healthy, shelf-stable items, the organization said Tuesday. Using a grant from the group Feeding America, the Workforce Development Partnerships program connects Baltimore-area residents with social services and job training in industries such as IT and healthcare that “provide family-sustaining wages and are not at risk of automation,” the organization said.

Starbucks baristas in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood voted Monday to unionize, becoming the giant coffee chain’s first Maryland workers to organize amid a fast-growing national movement. Workers at the North Charles Street coffee shop voted unanimously to join Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU. The vote was 14-0, said Stephanie Hernandez, an organizer with Workers United.

Baltimore’s Avenue Market is slated to undergo a $9.6 million redevelopment to improve the historic structure and bring healthy food and business growth opportunities to the city’s Upton neighborhood and surrounding areas. The project was announced Monday along with a new $2 million federal investment secured by a team of government leaders that include U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman Kweisi Mfume.

Despite overwhelming support from the DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable, a state bill designed to create a commission to study the health effects of the airport on the surrounding community failed to pass the General Assembly during this year’s session. Ever since the 2015 implementation of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, airplane noise has been an issue in Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties, said Mary Reese, of the BWI Roundtable, a liaison group between BWI Marshall Airport and the surrounding community.

Continental Realty Corp. has sold Merritt Manor, an expansive shopping center on Dundalk’s busy Merritt Boulevard, for $11.9 million. The buyer, Columbia-based Abrams Development Group, picks up an 88,332-square-foot retail center that is 96% leased. The property is anchored by a Gold’s Gym and counts GNC, Chicken Rico and Hair Cuttery among its tenants. Continental acquired the center at 1119-1211 Merritt Boulevard in 2013 when it was 83% leased, the company said in announcing the deal Monday.

Maryland gambling officials hope to bring mobile betting to the state in time for the kickoff of the National Football League’s 2022 season. If regulators are successful, fans will be able to bet on professional and collegiate events on their phones, an advance that is certain to super-charge the state’s new, and still relatively sleepy, sports betting industry. In virtually every state that has legalized sports gambling, mobile has left bricks-and-mortar betting in the dust, accounting for approximately 90% of the handle. Also true just about everywhere: The big-name firms, those with the massive advertising budgets, rake in the lion’s share of the action — and, therefore, the profits.

The city of Baltimore wants to renew and expand an expiring tax break for developers and businesses that costs tens of millions of dollars annually. A quarter of Baltimore — about 13,500 acres — is considered within an “enterprise zone,” meaning that developments and businesses in those areas are eligible for certain tax breaks from the city and state. The tax breaks hinge on improvements to the property and hiring benchmarks. Developers and real estate brokers say the program can attract business to Baltimore and generate more tax revenue over the long term.

Josh Levinson wasn’t sure Charm City Run was going to make it during the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. But over the tumultuous two-year period, a resurgence in running, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and loyal customers not only kept the running retailer afloat but spurred an expansion. Charm City Run celebrates 20 years in business with the planned June 4 opening of a new store in the Kentlands development in Montgomery County. The Baltimore chain will now have seven stores — one each in Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Harford and Frederick counties.