Business

OpGen Inc. (NASDAQ: OPGN) is the latest local biotech to overhaul its business — slashing its headcount, executive pay and functions — to conserve cash and try to stay afloat. The company, which develops rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases, announced this week it will lay off the majority of its staff and scale down its U.S. operations in Rockville.

Maryland is home once again to professional lacrosse. For the first time since 2020 when the Major League Lacrosse’s Chesapeake Bayhawks played games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, the sport will set up shop in the state after Tuesday afternoon’s announcement that the Premier Lacrosse League will base its Whipsnakes franchise in Maryland. The Maryland Whipsnakes, as the team will be rebranded, will operate out of the state next summer. A venue will be announced Jan. 1 when the PLL schedule is released.

A Baltimore technology company that has chronicled and provided box scores for Maryland’s high school sports for roughly a decade is looking to take its service nationwide in an effort to fill the void created by a decline in coverage from traditional newspapers. County Sports Zone, a website that launched in 2012 and posts Maryland high school sports box scores and other information, has launched a new fundraising round to raise $4 million to support a nationwide expansion.

Carroll County’s healthy financial position and its proximity to Baltimore have led three independent credit rating agencies to again issue a Triple-A bond rating, which will allow government officials to hold a general obligation bond sale to finance $30 million in infrastructure and other capital investments for government, public schools, conservation and water resources.

A Pennsylvania-based insurer accused of pushing agents to avoid selling policies in areas with large minority populations is now claiming the Maryland Insurance Administration bowed to political pressure when it issued public findings against the company earlier this year. In court records filed before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Erie Insurance alleges that it is the victim of “politically motivated government overreach” that has caused the company “immense reputational harm.”

Bethesda biofuel producer Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA) has warned investors that it may not be able to stay in business after it suffered steep losses in the third quarter and projected even greater losses this quarter. The 19-year-old company, which manufactures energy-producing wood pellets from trees, shrubs and other woody biomass, reported a net loss of $85.2 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of $18.3 million in last year’s third quarter, due to a combination of rising costs and rapidly falling prices for its wood pellets.

At 4:55 p.m. on a Thursday in October, the three outdoor patio tables in front of Little Donna’s were already claimed. The doors to the Upper Fells Point tavern wouldn’t open for another five minutes, but enterprising diners had arrived early to snag some of the few reservation-free seats at a restaurant The New York Times named just a few weeks before to its 2023 list of the most exciting places to eat in America.