Business

With the city’s business hub shifting east to shinier quarters, and with larger trends pummeling metro centers nationwide, Baltimore’s historic downtown today finds itself in limbo. The conversion of commercial space to residential dwellings has turned Baltimore’s historic central business district into the city’s fastest-growing neighborhood, with 11,000 residents.

China said Friday it has banned a number of business units of Bethesda-based aviation manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. and three of its executives over arms deals the company has signed with Taiwan, the self-ruling island it claims as its own territory. The statement from China’s Foreign Ministry said the company’s cooperation with Taiwan had violated the country’s sovereignty, standard terminology in its discussions of any outside dealings that support the island’s government.

The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a deal with Fanatics that will see the sports merchandise giant take control of the team’s in-stadium stores. The new agreement is an extension of the current deal between the Ravens and Fanatics, which has operated the team’s e-commerce business for more than a decade. The Ravens will become the 14th NFL team to turn both its e-commerce and in-venue operations over to Fanatics.

TikTok disclosed a letter Thursday that accused the Biden administration of engaging in “political demagoguery” during high-stakes negotiations between the government and the company as it sought to relieve concerns about its presence in the U.S. The letter — sent to David Newman, a top official in the Justice Department’s national security division, before President Biden signed the potential TikTok ban into law — was submitted in federal court along with a legal brief supporting the company’s lawsuit against measure.

Some 20,000 Port of Baltimore workers are back on the job and business is rebounding since the full reopening of the 700-foot Fort McHenry Federal Shipping Channel a week ago, the port administrator told 11 News. “Baltimore is back, the port is open,” Jonathan Daniels, the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, told 11 News.

Alan Tsao wanted to spend big on a new luxury watch but his wife joked that at that price, perhaps he should start a watch company of his own. He took that message to heart. Tsao started the Tsao Baltimore Watch Company in 2017 and initially found success on Kickstarter, with one campaign raising more than $40,000 in 30 minutes. He has since released nine watch models and expects to pass $1 million in annual sales this year.

The Maryland Cannabis Administration plans to conduct another lottery on June 28 to award 31 new opportunities to start a cannabis business in the state. The lottery will award dispensary licenses that were stalled because of litigation in Talbot and Calvert counties, along with any other licenses that have not yet been awarded as part of a social-equity-focused round that began earlier this year.