Business

Five fledgling businesses were selected Monday for the first cohort of a program designed to help Black entrepreneurs gain a foothold in the local market. As part of the Downtown Boost program, the businesses will each receive grants of up to $50,000 to assist with opening a brick-and-mortar location downtown.

LifeBridge Health is preparing to add a new outpatient services building and community park on the former Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital campus. The West Baltimore medical facility, which was acquired by LifeBridge in late 2019 and renamed Grace Medical Center, has been undergoing a phased major facelift. In January, it welcomed the first patients into its updated 17,000-square-foot emergency department, and shortly after debuted renovated primary and specialty care clinics and a new surgical suite.

After a year and a half of sitting inside and peering at a computer screen, Kamaya Taylor is glad to be outside. Kamaya, who lives in Westport, spent last summer completing a virtual math program. This summer, she’s cleaning streets and planting trees for the Westport Community Economic Development Corp., an organization that aims to improve quality of life in low-income South Baltimore neighborhoods. “I like cleaning up. It’s nice to have a clean community,” Kamaya said.

The biannual Howard County Restaurant Weeks & Craft Beverages event kicks off Monday, this time featuring more than 10 Asian American Pacific Islander restaurants in a new partnership with the Howard County Asian American Pacific Islander Workgroup. Asian American residents account for 18% of Howard County’s population and nearly 7% of the state population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “We are beyond excited and grateful for this new partnership with the AAPI Business and Economic Development Committee,” said Amanda Hof, executive director for Visit Howard County, in a statement.

A multi-state cannabis firm has acquired its second dispensary in Maryland, about four months after opening its first cannabis retail operation in Frederick. Goodness Growth Holdings Inc., parent of cannabis firm Vireo Health, announced Friday that its subsidiary has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Dundalk’s Charm City Medicus LLC. The acquirer expects consideration for the deal to total about $8 million, including $4 million in cash, $2 million in Goodness Growth stock and a $2 million promissory note issued to the seller.

Get ready for the cost of Old Bay and other McCormick & Co. Inc. spices and seasonings to go up later this year. The Hunt Valley-based spice maker plans to raise prices for its products later this year because of a “dynamic cost environment,” CEO Lawrence Kurzius told Wall Street analysts during a conference call Thursday morning.

Baltimore’s RavenBeer is flowing again — with the help of a new partnership — after a more than year-long hiatus. The Edgar Allan Poe-inspired craft brewery inked a licensing deal this spring with Oliver Brewing Co., which is now responsible for day-to-day brewing operations, distribution and marketing for the 23-year-old RavenBeer.