Business

As authorities probe Boeing’s safety protocols as part of their investigation into what went wrong with a flight that blew a hole midair last week, the role of a major supplier is also coming into focus: Spirit AeroSystems. The Kansas-based company, which is far less prominent than Boeing, built most of the jet before handing it off to the aviation giant. On Wednesday, Spirit said it had started working directly with the National Transportation Safety Board on its investigation — a sign that investigators believe Spirit may have critical information relevant to the probe.

Allegis Group is reorganizing one of its subsidiaries as Greater Baltimore’s largest private company looks to build on the success of one of its fastest-growing brands. Aston Carter, an Allegis Group subsidiary that provides staffing services for a range of professional focus areas, is being split in half and reorganized under two other subsidiaries. The Aston Carter brand will move under Actalent, a growing subsidiary that specializes in engineering and science, taking some of its services with it.

“We are a neighborhood Italian restaurant. We’re all about using fresh ingredients and just making [food] the way you would make it at home,” Gregorio’s Trattoria owner Greg Kahn said as he prepares to open a new location this year in Park Potomac. The Italian eatery’s new location, which is slated to open in May or June, will be at 12505 Park Potomac Ave., Kahn said. It will be less than two miles from the restaurant’s current Potomac location at 7745 Tuckerman Lane.

The slower winter months can drag on for restaurants, but a week of deals can often help reinvigorate people’s desire to eat out. That’s what many Greater Baltimore restaurants are hoping for as four area restaurant weeks – Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford County and Howard County – kick off this month. Restaurant owners use the weeks to bring in new customers and draw in regulars during a historically slow time.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently opened up a branch on land owned by Woodholme Country Club, giving the club funds that a past club president said will “assure [its] survival in the future.” The branch is the latest opened from Chase, which has been opening locations all over the state as part of an aggressive expansion. The branch, located at the corner of Reisterstown Road and Woodholme Avenue in Pikesville, is the result of years of work by the country club and bank to get the proper zoning approvals from Baltimore County for the project.

Never ones to be outdone, the organizers of the Kentucky Derby are increasing the purse of America’s most famous thoroughbred race to $5 million, placing it just behind the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic as one of the richest races run in the country. Last year’s Run for the Roses, the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, was contested for $3 million, the biggest prize of any race in the series.

With just over a month to go before City Council members start holding hearings on a private company’s $500 million plan to redevelop Harborplace, a group of Baltimore residents has formed a citizens’ coalition to promote an alternative vision. The Inner Harbor Coalition is the name of a group that has been created to block MCB Real Estate’s plan to replace the existing Harborplace pavilions with two residential towers and other commercial development, and to show other ways the prime waterfront parcel can be revitalized.

North Bethesda’s Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is launching the largest marketing campaign in its 84-year history — and it brought on actor and writer Keegan-Michael Key to star. Choice says the new “A Stay for Any You” campaign features national TV and streaming ads as well as social media content that will run through the end of the year.