Business

The master plan for National Harbor includes houses, hotels, restaurants, an outlet mall and resorts that have largely come to fruition since it opened 14 years ago in the middle of a recession. The Metro station in that blueprint has taken a divergent path. Developers included the station at a time when the transit agency was on stronger footing, hoping a rail connection to the Washington region would boost the fledgling waterfront community. National Harbor has shown it can grow without Metro, but its continued desire for a station will probably be settled during a process beginning in weeks.

The James Beard Awards are back — and three Baltimore chefs and a Chinese restaurant have been named semifinalists. Canton’s NiHao was named in the category of “best new restaurant,” while one of its founders, Peter Chang, was a semifinalist in the Outstanding Chef category for his work at his eponymous restaurants in Maryland and Virginia. A new branch of Peter Chang is set to open in Columbia this fall.

A fast-growing Illinois physical therapy company closed its deal to buy Towson’s Pivot Health Solutions — a physical and occupational therapy chain with more than 250 locations — for an undisclosed sum. Athletico Physical Therapy disclosed it had finalized the deal, first announced in December, to acquire Pivot on Wednesday. The combined company will have nearly 8,000 employees and more than 900 locations across 25 states and Washington, D.C.

Under Armour Inc. is expecting supply chain challenges to drag down its results for the next few months, but CEO Patrik Frisk is confident that the company can successfully navigate this “short-term speed bump” and finish the year strong. The Baltimore sportswear maker reported financial results for the fourth quarter and all of 2021 on Friday morning. Despite beating Wall Street expectations for both profit and sales, Under Armour’s stock dropped almost 10% in mid-morning trading after the company warned that its revenue will likely take a 10 percentage point hit in the current quarter due to supply chain constraints caused by the ongoing pandemic.

Since the pandemic erupted two years ago, Forest Ramsey and his wife, Kelly, have held the line on prices at their gourmet chocolate shop in Louisville, Kentucky. Now, they’re about to throw in the towel. In the past year, the costs of ingredients for their business, Art Eatables, have surged between 10% and 50%. The Ramseys are paying their employees 30% more than they did before the pandemic.

A pop-up shop highlighted small, Black-owned businesses in Baltimore City as part of the Ceasefire Peace Challenge. The Black Wall Street Market brought businesses together at The Church Spot in northwest Baltimore. It started Friday and will last through Sunday. Tables lined a room with vendors selling all sorts of goods from beauty products to clothes. The pop-up shop was free to attend replete with food and music.