Business

A pair of commercial buildings in Howard County’s Elkridge corridor have traded to separate investors for a total of $5 million. Lutherville-based MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services brokered deals for an office property and an industrial building that both sit within 20 miles of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Recent data showed the commercial vacancy rate in the BWI corridor was 11.6% and the industrial vacancy rate was 8.4% at the end of 2021, MacKenzie officials said this week.

A new bank branch could be coming to a highly trafficked area of Howard County as JPMorgan Chase & Co. continues its expansion across Greater Baltimore. The New York-based financial giant filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the U.S. Treasury Department on Feb. 17 seeking approval for a branch in Elkridge located at the southwest corner of Gateway Overlook Drive and Marie Curie Drive. If approved, it could become the first Chase branch to open in Howard County.

For the second time in two years, the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants will see its top executive step down. Jackie Brown will retire as president and CEO on June 30, the association announced Monday. Brown, a 42-year member of MACPA, assumed leadership of the organization last February after Tom Hood left for a position at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. Hood led MACPA for 24 years.

United Bankshares Inc. Chairman and CEO Richard Adams is set to move into an executive chairman role and cede the chief executive duties to his son, Richard Adams Jr. The move is part of a leadership reorganization that will end the elder Adams’ long tenure as the top exec at Greater Washington’s largest community bank. Effective April 1, Adams Jr., currently the president of the Vienna-headquartered bank, will become CEO and join the United’s board of directors. At the same time, James Consagra, the current COO, will move into the role of president.

Gaithersburg’s Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) plans to begin “facility improvements” at its Baltimore manufacturing plant as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) assesses demand for its Covid-19 vaccine, which Emergent has been producing at that site. That’s what Emergent President and CEO Bob Kramer told analysts and investors on a fourth-quarter company earnings call Thursday.

A Baltimore restaurateur has scratched plans — for now — for a third-story rooftop bar in one of the most historic blocks of Fells Point after nearby residents pushed back, even going so far as to sue. With those plans off the table, Baltimore’s liquor board has approved the transfer of a liquor license for Prima Dopo, another step forward for the planned Italian restaurant in the 1700 block of Thames Street being developed by Dominic Lascola, who runs two restaurants in Canton.

Medifast, the global health and wellness company based in Owings Mills, has expanded its presence in the state with a new distribution facility in Harford County. The company recently opened a new distribution facility in Havre de Grace where it plans to employ up to 300 people. Located at 2000 Rock Glenn Blvd., the space is open and fully-operational, with the company actively interviewing and recruiting for its new job openings.