Business

The state of Maryland officially acquired the site of historic Pimlico Race Course on Monday, a key step in the plan to eventually redevelop the home of the Preakness Stakes and make it the year-round location of thoroughbred racing in the state. Racing, training and simulcast wagering at the track will cease on Sept. 1. By that date the horses stabled at Pimlico and the backstretch workers living on site — the grooms, hot walkers and other staffers who care for the horses — will have relocated to Laurel Park.

Mercy Medical Center Tuesday announced it has become the first health care organization in the mid-Atlantic region to offer shoulder arthroplasty using a new mixed reality technology platform known as Blueprint Mixed Reality (MR) Guidance. Mercy’s Dr. Gregory Gasbarro, a board certified, shoulder fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at The Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Center at Mercy, is only the sixth surgeon in the U.S. to perform shoulder replacement surgery utilizing this new technology.

Developers hoping to build in Baltimore County will have to pay higher impact fees and surrender the money earlier in the building process, according to new legislation passed Monday by the County Council. At the same meeting, the council voted to override County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s veto of an ordinance that would have curbed development in areas with overcrowded schools by requiring builders to obtain permission before building in such areas.

A Baltimore County UPS plant will temporarily shut down Aug. 23 for a renovation displacing 540 workers. An onsite temporary hub at the Vero Road location in Halethorpe will employ some of the workers, said UPS spokesperson Natasha Amadi, while the company plans to place others at nearby locations and likely will lay off others.

As retail and property crime rise and police ranks thin, Maryland neighborhoods, apartment buildings, big box stores, fast-food chains, hospitals, banks and schools rely on more than 26,000 licensed private security guards to deter crime and provide a sense of safety, according to state data and industry specialists. Retailers are increasingly hiring private guards to thwart organized retail crime, said Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance.

M&T Bank plans to back a Baltimore-area hub for online crowdfunding lender Kiva to start making business loans to entrepreneurs. The Buffalo, New York-based bank announced a donation of $100,000 on Monday to Baltimore Community Lending, which will work with Kiva to offer loans in underserved communities.

As of Monday, July 1st, restaurants and bars are able to purchase liquor from any distributor they want. In the past, those same businesses needed to go through one of the county dispensaries. Peter Roskovich, owner of Adam’s Taphouse Grill, already took advantage of his newfound freedom. “We met with our distributor Breakthrough Beverage this morning, my rep. Sean Wilson came in,” said Roskovich.

At Baile Cask & Kettle, you can soon grab a bagel with your breakfast brew — then come back for pub fare and another brew after work. In a few weeks, owners Christopher and Kerry Keene hope to open the much-anticipated bagel shop and American-Irish pub in the Updegraff building at 53 W. Washington St. in downtown Hagerstown.