Business

Womble Bond Dickinson has tapped a former Maryland Technology Development Corp. chairman to lead its Baltimore office as the city is poised to benefit from its status as a federal tech hub. Newt Fowler, who took over the managing partner role earlier this month, has worked for other prominent city law firms and is well connected in the Baltimore tech scene, having served on the TEDCO board for a number of years, including as its chairman.

In recent years, development has become a major issue for voters in Prince George’s County, Maryland. A decade ago, the county approved a planning document called Plan 2035, which called for about half of all new housing to be built inside the Capital Beltway and near transit stations — and another 25% near commuter transit and town center areas.

SECU, Maryland’s largest state-chartered credit union, Monday announced it has launched a new AI-based credit decisioning platform. The platform from credit underwriting platform provider Scienaptic AI is expected to enhance underwriting automation and expand credit access for SECU’s more than 260,000 members.

Baltimore-based Haystack Oncology, a Quest Diagnostics company and developer of personalized MRD technology, has entered a research collaboration with TriSalus Life Sciences to evaluate therapeutic response and provide molecular insights in connection with the clinical development of TriSalus’ SD-101, an investigational class C toll-like receptor-9 (TLR9) agonist.

One of the new co-owners of The Baltimore Sun said the paper will cease endorsing political candidates on its editorial page, joining a slew of other publications in ending the age-old practice. Armstrong Williams, a conservative columnist and entrepreneur who purchased the paper with Sinclair Broadcasting owner David D. Smith, in an interview published online Saturday in The Sun called endorsements unnecessary.

A high-profile downtown office tower whose lien holder is an entity of MCB Real Estate is headed to auction in foreclosure on Thursday. The 10-story 1 E. Pratt St. building across from Harborplace will be sold “as is” on the steps of the Clarence M. Mitchell III Courthouse on Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. Bidders are required to pay a $1 million deposit, according to an online auction flyer by Atlantic Auctions Inc., a Baltimore auctioneer handling the sale for two substitute trustees.

Gov. Wes Moore plans to give the University of Maryland Medical System $100 million over five years to fund a new 325,000-square-foot hospital in Easton. The new regional medical center will replace the out-of-date University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton to serve patients from Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.

Maryland has announced a state-wide “Disparity Study” aimed to determine if there is racial or gender discrimination markets in which the State does business and the impacts of that discrimination. The study is being led by the MGT Consulting Group (MGT) and will collect data on the availability of firms owned by women and minorities in the State and how those firms are used as contractors and subcontractors in the Maryland marketplace.