Business

Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna held home dedication ceremonies on March 25 for two “Habi-Tech” homes, which are houses built in partnership with technical high schools and completed by Habitat volunteers, while, Amazon volunteers helped in a wall raising ceremony for a duplex the company is sponsoring. The first ceremony was held for the house built by the students of the Harford Technical High School. Harford Tech has built nine such “Habi-Tech” homes for Habitat Susquehanna, seven of which are located in Aberdeen.

Noel Acton, the founder of a nonprofit that aims to help at-risk East Baltimore youth through sports, was named as one of three finalists for the National Hockey League’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award. The Tender Bridge was founded by Acton in 2003. According to the organization’s website, he has “devoted his life to helping at-risk kids see and understand the alternative choices they have in life.” The organization manages the Baltimore Banners, an ice hockey team based in Patterson Park.

The Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation has raised more than $26 million for the “Your Health, Our Mission: Caring for Our Families Together” campaign that launched in July 2017, according to a news release from University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. The campaign is the most successful fundraising effort in the history of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, according to a foundation spokesperson.

Diabetes health care startup Ryse Health has raised $3.4 million in seed funding, with plans to expand into two additional markets over the next two years.  The 11-person company opened its Baltimore location in March, its second after the opening of an Arlington, Virginia location last July. The main backer for Ryse Health was Pittsburgh-based W Health Ventures, which invested $2 million. The company was also accepted into the second cohort of the 1501 Health incubator this spring and has received funding from the incubator’s founders, LifeBridge Health and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

A popular retail center in Harford County has changed hands. The Festival at Bel Air shopping center was sold recently to an affiliate of McLean, Virginia-based Rappaport Properties for an undisclosed price. The seller was Dallas-based CH Realty Bel Air Festival LLC, according to state records. The complex last sold in 2014 for $113 million. The center is located off Route 24 and has anchors that include ShopRite, Marshalls, Burlington, Petco and Kohl’s. Of the 60 retail spaces, only about 11,000 square feet is vacant, Rappaport officials said Thursday.

The PGA Tour’s upcoming 2022 Wells Fargo Championship will generate about $28 million of economic output for Montgomery County, according to a new report. The Wells Fargo tournament is scheduled to take place May 5-8 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Visitor spending from the 2022 event “that would not have occurred but for the tournament” is forecasted at more than $17 million, mostly from overnighters who would buy lodging, entertainment, gas, etc., according to an assessment prepared by Baltimore’s Sage Policy Group Inc. commissioned by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp., among other organizations. Operational and capital spending to prepare the venue is forecast to generate another $11 million in economic activity.

A local investor has acquired a mid-sized office tower in Mount Vernon for $1.92 million with plans to modernize the structure in the coming year or so. Investor David Lapides recently acquired the so-called Cokesbury Building at 516 N. Charles St. through his Corner Ventures LLC. Lapides owns several office and residential properties in the midtown and Station North communities and said Thursday he plans to upgrade the site’s infrastructure.