Business

The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore has formed a new group aimed at maintaining existing office tenants and attracting new ones to the central business district. The push is part of a campaign by the nonprofit to help stabilize the downtown area as Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and office closures begin to shift and lift amid vaccine rollouts. T. Rowe Price Group Inc.’s recent announcement that it is moving to Harbor Point and vacating a 450,000-square-foot office at 100 E. Pratt in 2024 is also of concern.

Out of 43 years in business, 2020 was far and away the most challenging yet for Race Pace Bicycles. The bike shop faced many of the same hurdles as other retailers: a spring shutdown, a pivot toward online sales, establishing new safety precautions for in-person shopping. But one challenge diverged from the experiences of many other businesses. Last year — and even now, as 2021 begins — it’s been hard to keep bikes and bike gear on the shelves.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Bally’s Corp. unveiled the new logos for 19 regional sports networks on Wednesday ahead of a major rebrand slated to take place in the coming months. The unveiling of the new logos and monikers, which will replace the current Fox Sports branding,  comes after Hunt Valley-based Sinclair inked a naming rights deal for its regional sports networks, or RSNS, with casino operator Bally’s Corp. in November.

BWI Airport CEO Ricky Smith is taking a new look at the demand for a hotel above the airport’s terminals in the wake of Covid-19. The BWI head acknowledged Wednesday that the pandemic has weakened the hospitality industry for years to come and added a new factor to consider when planning for the project.

As states desperately await for more doses of the limited coronavirus vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is hoping that another company will begin producing their version of their COVID-19 vaccine soon. State officials said one of the companies getting closer to production is Johnson & Johnson, who have a contract with Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions for a covid-19 vaccine.

Howard County is almost entirely built out — but that doesn’t mean it has reached its full growth potential. After decades of new, ground-up development, just 2% of the county’s land remains undeveloped, outside of roads, parks and preserved farmland.