Business

Baltimore businesses are waiting with open arms for thousands of fans who will come to the city for the CIAA Basketball Tournament this week. The conference of historically Black colleges and universities is bringing its men’s and women’s tournaments to CFG Bank Arena from Feb. 26 to March 2. It’s the third year Baltimore is hosting the event in person, and the conference committed last year to keeping the contest in town until 2026. After last year’s tournament brought more than 38,000 fans to CFG Bank Arena, hotels and restaurants are expecting a similar boost in business this time around.

As sports stadiums built in the 1990s show their age, many professional sports teams are looking for new facilities — and public money to pay for them. “We are just in the heating up phase of the next stadium construction wave,” said J.C. Bradbury, a Kennesaw State University economics professor who has researched the issue. “That’s part of the reason why you’re seeing a lot more stadiums happen.”

Two Greater Baltimore firms have joined forces to capitalize on a national trend gripping the troubled commercial real estate market. MacKenzie Cos., parent firm for MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate, and InspiRE CRE recently formed a “strategic alliance” to launch the Asset Adversity Group, which will shepherd distressed properties through court-mandated receivership as many continue to post defaults and losses totaling millions.

MGM National Harbor is locked in a vehement dispute with Prince George’s County about the hotel and casino’s 2019-2021 taxable assessed value — a disagreement with potentially sizable business and tax revenue ramifications. After a three-day hearing in 2023, the Maryland Tax Court ruled Jan. 2 that the assessed value of the property — the highest-grossing casino outside of Nevada — is just over $1 billion for the three-year assessment period that began 2019.

After a successful holiday shopping season at Harborplace, the Made in Baltimore store will reopen in the same location on Friday, Feb. 23. “Get ready to shop for unique and handmade gifts crafted by talented Baltimore artisans,” representatives announced. “This is the perfect opportunity to support local businesses and find one-of-a-kind goods. We’ve restocked the store with Spring and Summer merchandise featuring 70+ Baltimore makers.”

Workers gave high marks to a handful of companies headquartered in Maryland in a survey for Forbes’ annual lists of America’s Best Large Employers and America’s Best Midsize Employers.

Gaithersburg biotech Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) has tapped pharmaceutical industry veteran Joseph Papa as its new president and CEO. The appointment, effective Wednesday, comes about eight months after Bob Kramer, the company’s leader of four years and a longtime executive with the Gaithersburg firm, stepped down. Haywood Miller, an adviser to Emergent, stepped into the top slot on an interim basis and has occupied the position since then.