Business

The biotechnology industry is booming in the U.S., creating a hot market for laboratories and other specialty properties. Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego have the highest demand and lowest vacancy rates for lab space, according to recent data from real estate firm CBRE, and rents are rising to match. That, in turn, has sparked new interest in Maryland’s I-270 BioTech corridor, a market more often known as a hub for government-related biotechnology work.

Capital CoLAB, an initiative launched by the Greater Washington Partnership to match students, particularly women and people of color, with the region’s tech job openings, has so far engaged with 12,000 prospective workers through its programs, the organization said. The current tally includes high school and college students engaged through digital skills trainings, career fairs and micro-internships, said Deborah Hodge, Capital CoLAB’s managing director.

Transamerica Asset Management plans to close and liquidate all five of its exchange-traded funds next month, the company said Thursday. The ETFs will stop trading when the market closes on April 7 and be liquidated on April 12, according to an announcement. The funds have a total of $824.83 million in net assets as of Dec. 31. Transamerica, which launched its suite of DeltaShares ETFs in 2017, did not provide an explanation for why the funds will close.

Leap, a Clumbia-based provider of home contractor sales enablement software, Thursday announced the acquisition of JobProgress, a leading workflow and CRM product for home contractors. Together, Leap and JobProgress will serve more than 2,400 home contractors in North America. JobProgress’ product suite offers CRM, project management, scheduling and employee management tools to both exterior and interior residential contractors. As part of Leap, home contractors will now have access to even more tools to help them manage, estimate, record, and close deals on a single platform, without the need to use multiple technology providers.

Maryland’s five sportsbooks handled more than $25.5 million in bets in February, which included Super Bowl Sunday, and paid out more than $24.5 million to bettors, Maryland Lottery and Gaming announced Thursday. Casinos brought in $955,377 from the February wagers. Following the deduction of promotional plays and other amounts, the state receives a 15% tax on those winnings.

Rockville’s Emmes is sticking to its growth strategy for the past year with its fourth acquisition since a pandemic-era leadership change — and its first so far this year. The contract research organization, which conducts research and clinical trials for public and private sector customers, said Thursday it has purchased Plymouth, Massachusetts-based Casimir LLC, a fellow CRO focused on rare diseases, for an undisclosed amount. The 6-year-old Casimir brings to the table 31 U.S. employees and 25 clients, and experience in researching and testing more than 20 rare diseases.

With challenges ranging from the uncertainty of what the latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic means for their business to worker shortages, some of Baltimore’s Black-owned restaurants say they also deal with harassing behavior and spurious complaints rooted in racism. That can be manifested in repeated calls to the city’s nonemergency line, 311, about their businesses, actions they say affect them financially and emotionally. In a city that is 57% Black, numerous Black restaurant owners say some people try to shut them down.

Baltimore-based Constellation Energy has joined forces with Microsoft to create technology to help large commercial customers reach clean energy goals. The technology will allow commercial customers and others to match their energy needs with locally produced clean energy. The technology will work 24 hours a day to match a customer’s power needs with local, carbon-free energy sources.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore needed to spend more than $2.9 million to cover losses at a downtown apartment building as vacancies rose and revenue plummeted during the pandemic. The University Suites at Fayette Square apartment project is a 337-bed complex at 518 W. Fayette St. intended for students at UMB, which includes the university’s medical, nursing, pharmacy and law schools. The Maryland Economic Development Corp. financed its construction, issuing $34.4 million of bonds in 2003.