Business

Oil prices were broadly steady on Monday, following a more than 7% drop last week on worries about demand in China, the world’s top oil importer, and an easing of concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were up 38 cents, or 0.5%, to $73.44 a barrel at 0747 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 44 cents, or 0.6% to $69.66 a barrel.

Mel Nichols, a 37-year-old bartender in Phoenix, Arizona, takes home anywhere from $30 to $50 an hour with tips included. But the uncertainty of how much she’s going to make on a daily basis is a constant source of stress. “For every good day, there’s three bad days,” said Nichols, who has been in the service industry since she was a teenager. “You have no security when it comes to knowing how much you’re going to make.”

A cohort of new cannabis licensees in Maryland are facing their first hurdles and finding their identities as they set out on an 18-month venture to get their business up and running. The 205 prospective businesses were selected at random earlier this year through the state’s social equity lottery for cannabis licenses. Many of the people behind them are entering the legal pot industry from other careers — some are lawyers, some are educators, others are engineers and electricians.

From modest beginnings on the campus of Hood College, the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. has grown into an important part of Frederick County’s business scene. The incubator celebrated its 20th anniversary at an event Thursday. FITCI has helped start 257 companies in its 20 years of existence, FITCI CEO Kathie Callahan Brady said Thursday.

A Howard County-based produce wholesaler is closing its doors and potentially putting over 400 people out of work less than two weeks before the Christmas holiday. Lancaster Foods notified the Maryland Department of Labor this week that it will close its Jessup plant by Dec. 14 and lay off as many as 424 employees. A representative for Lancaster referred a reporter to The Coastal Companies, which declined to comment.

A $10 million state grant will go toward improvements to Baltimore’s central business district, the governor’s office announced Wednesday. The Maryland Board of Public Works approved the funding to support safety, security and streetscape improvements through the nonprofit Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

Cyberattacks, ransomware and data breaches not only threaten large enterprises. In fact, small businesses may be more vulnerable to cyberattacks due to their lack of sophisticated cybersecurity protocols – and the results can be devastating. 60% of small businesses that experience a cyberattack go out of business within six months, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance.

In approving state funding for an affordable housing complex in Columbia on Wednesday, top Maryland officials said the project represents a chance to help low- and middle-income renters, but also shows the hurdles that have contributed to a national shortage of such units. The Board of Public Works voted unanimously to approve $3.4 million in general obligation bonds for the construction of 68 affordable housing units in the Waverly Winds community.