Business

The minimum hourly wage for large companies in Montgomery County will increase to $17.15 on July 1, putting it among the highest in the country. A large company is defined by the county as any with 51 or more employees. Midsize employers will have to increase their minimum hourly wage to $15.50, while small employers will remain tied to Maryland’s $15 minimum hourly wage.

A new firm is taking a crack at leasing one of Baltimore’s most unique office buildings. The Maryland Stadium Authority selected Rockville-based Scheer Partners to take the lead on leasing out the Warehouse at Camden Yards. Scheer replaces national real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield as the leasing agent for the historic 430,000-square-foot building.

A Maryland chef took home a prestigious James Beard award, it was announced Monday at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Harley Peet, executive chef at Bas Rouge in Easton, took home the award for “Best Chef” in the Mid-Atlantic, a region that spans Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

A senior living community in Ellicott City is launching a major expansion with over 100,000 square feet of new construction. The multi-part project will add three new buildings to Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant and renovate its health care facility. Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland CEO Jeff Branch said the changes will make the community more appealing to younger seniors and help the facility keep pace with customers who are demanding more luxury amenities from senior living communities.

Under Armour is placing a $25 million bet on Kevin Plank. The Baltimore company’s CEO has four years to double Under Armour’s stock price, and if he can do that, he will earn more than $25 million in stock compensation. Plank, who recently returned to the company’s top job, had his new compensation plan outlined in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that details the company’s financial aspirations.

Since the purchase five months ago of the Baltimore Sun by conservative broadcast mogul David D. Smith, staffers have been watching for changes, bristling at some (the rightward tilt of the op-ed pages) and eye-rolling at others (the paper now carries an “Ask the Vet” column by Smith’s veterinarian daughter, Devon Smith).

Apple has jumped into the race to bring generative artificial intelligence to the masses, spotlighting a slew of features Monday designed to soup up the iPhone, iPad and Mac. And in a move befitting a company known for its marketing prowess, the AI technology coming as part of free software updates later this year is being billed as “Apple Intelligence.”