Business

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sharply criticized pharmacy benefit managers, saying in a scathing 71-page report that “these powerful middlemen may be profiting by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies.” The regulator’s study signals a significant ramping up of its scrutiny of benefit managers under the agency’s chair, Lina Khan.

Target will no longer accept personal checks from shoppers as of July 15, another sign of how a once ubiquitous payment method is going the way of outmoded objects like floppy disks and the Rolodex. The Minneapolis-based discounter confirmed the move in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, citing “extremely low volumes” of customers who still write checks.

More than 80% of businesses in Howard County employ less than 25 people, according to the county’s Economic Development Authority, and officials are working to support small local businesses by offering two programs intended to lure customers through their doors. Howard County Executive Calvin Ball recently announced two initiatives, Old Ellicott City Summer Bucks and Local HoCo, intended to encourage visitors to shop local.

THB Bagelry & Deli has acquired 1040 Cromwell Bridge Road, a single-story building containing 13,560 square feet of industrial/flex space in Towson for $2.55 million. Andrew Meeder, SIOR, Patrick Smith, SIOR and Chris Boland of MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC represented the unnamed private seller in this sales transaction.

JPMorgan Chase has made waves as it expands its retail banking presence in Baltimore, but it has also quietly been building up its private banking office. The J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Baltimore has hired six new employees at its Harbor East office this year, bringing the wealth management team’s total headcount to almost 30.

An Annapolis cybersecurity company that works with national security and defense agencies has acquired a Hanover firm in the same industry to grow its offerings. SIXGEN closed its purchase of Secure Enterprise Engineering Inc., or Secure-EE, on June 27, bringing the two cybersecurity contractors’ complementary services together. SIXGEN CEO Jack Wilmer said the firms knew each other from the relatively small community of cyber contractors working on threat prevention at the FBI, U.S. Cyber Command and other national security and defense agencies.

The Anne Arundel County Council voted unanimously Monday to maintain existing yacht club district zoning at Safe Harbor Podickory Point following an outcry from residents, preventing more commercial maritime activities at the marina tucked into a small residential community on the Chesapeake Bay. Located in the Podickory Point neighborhood between Sandy Point State Park and the Corcoran Environmental Study Area in Annapolis, the Safe Harbor-owned marina primarily offers boat slips, a clubhouse and other amenities.