Business

North Bethesda’s Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is launching the largest marketing campaign in its 84-year history — and it brought on actor and writer Keegan-Michael Key to star. Choice says the new “A Stay for Any You” campaign features national TV and streaming ads as well as social media content that will run through the end of the year.

Millions of gig workers, janitors, home-care workers, construction workers and truckers could be considered employees rather than independent contractors under a final rule announced Tuesday by the Labor Department. The rule effectively expands the reach of federal labor laws that require employers to extend certain benefits and protections to workers classified as employees.

Meta said Tuesday it will start hiding inappropriate content from teenagers’ accounts on Instagram and Facebook, including posts about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. The social media giant based in Menlo Park, California, said in a blog post that while it already aims not to recommend such “age-inappropriate” material to teens, now it also won’t show it in their feeds, even if it is shared by an account they follow.

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman, who had been one of the central bank’s staunchest advocates for tight monetary policy, said Monday she’s adjusted her stance somewhat and indicated that interest rate hikes are likely over. However, she said she’s not ready to start cutting yet. In remarks delivered at a private event in South Carolina, Bowman noted the progress made against inflation and said it should continue with short-term rates at their current levels.

A Howard County HVAC firm is staying put in the Baltimore suburbs with a new 47,000-square-foot lease that will expand its office space. Quick Servant Co. Inc. recently signed the deal with Adler Real Estate Partners to move its headquarters into new office, storage and warehouse space in the Rivers Park I office park at 9065 Guilford Road in Columbia.

One of Baltimore’s largest biotechnology companies has hired a new CEO as it pushes toward a wider commercial launch of its early cancer detection device. Delfi Diagnostics announced on Friday that Susan Tousi will take over as CEO, replacing founder Victor Velculescu. Velculescu will remain a member of the company’s board of directors.

A 700-acre site in Harford County that has been mired in controversy for years over plans to construct a massive warehouse development could get a new addition: a state-owned horse racing training center. The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority listed the Mitchell Farm on the Perryman peninsula as one of three potential sites for the new training center in a report released Friday.

“Dry January” has gained popularity as an annual tradition where people voluntarily abstain from consuming alcohol for the entire first month of the year, and now Montgomery County, Maryland, is officially joining the trend. Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is promoting the trend, offering discount prices on nonalcoholic beverages in its retail stores.