Business

F.N.B. Corporation announced Tuesday it is making a $2.5 million equity commitment to Black Tech Nation Ventures (BTN.vc), a majority Black-owned venture capital fund based in Pittsburgh, which provides funding and resources for Black-led technology startups and firms with diverse founders and teams, with a goal of enabling wealth creation for underrepresented entrepreneurs in Maryland and throughout FNB’s seven-state footprint.

The Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce has hired a new president to lead the still-nascent organization. Aisha Bond, who spent six years as head of D.C. nonprofit development group North Capitol Main Street, will head the regional organization, which had just launched in the summer of 2019 before taking a pause during the pandemic.

Baby formula maker Abbott said Monday it has reached an agreement with U.S. health regulators to restart production at its largest domestic factory, though it will be well over a month before any new products ship from the site to help alleviate the national shortage facing parents. Abbott did not immediately detail the terms of the agreement with the Food and Drug Administration, which has been investigating safety concerns at its Sturgis, Michigan, plant since early this year. The consent decree amounts to a legally binding agreement between the FDA and the company on steps needed to reopen the factory.

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced Monday it will grant $7,067,409 in award funding to innovative research that will strengthen and advance stem cell treatments and technologies in Maryland. Awardees submitted proposals to the Commission in response to its Request for Applications (RFAs) for its second round of funding cycle in 2022. Recipients include 24 scientists accelerating research at Johns Hopkins University, Britecyte, Inc., RenOVAte Biosciences, Inc., RoosterBio, Inc., and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

A judge has upheld a National Labor Relations Board ruling that gives disabled janitors working in Sinai Hospital of Baltimore’s Vocational Services Program, or VSP, the ability to unionize. In response to the May 10 decision, 1199 SEIU has reached out to VSP management about the court’s decision and has made a request to begin negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. Individuals in the program for disabled workers voted to unionize by a vote of 28 to 13 in December 2019.

Baltimore Farmers’ Market shoppers picking up fruits and veggies can stick around for performances once a month with a new extension of the market debuting in June. “The B-Side” will bring entertainment including a drag show, funk concert and cover bands to the market space under the Jones Falls Expressway overpass at Holliday and Saratoga streets downtown, market organizer the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts announced Monday. The monthly programming will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 3:30 p.m.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter is a 6-5 favorite in the morning line for the 147th Preakness, where he will try to reclaim his status as the top horse in this year’s 3-year-old class. Epicenter went off as the Derby favorite and appeared in perfect position to win until 80-1 long shot Rich Strike passed him shortly before they hit the wire. The 1-2 finishers were on track for a Preakness rematch until Rich Strike’s owner, Rick Dawson, announced the Derby champion would skip the $1.65-million race in favor of resting up for the Belmont Stakes.