Business

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded 10 regional banks and put six other lenders on notice that they are under review, the latest blow to an industry still reverberating from the March banking crisis that led three firms to collapse. The targeted banks remain vulnerable to nervous depositors and investors, risks from higher interest rates, and a weakening commercial real estate market, Moody’s said.

Tensions rose in contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Stellantis on Tuesday with the union president accusing the company of seeking concessions in contract talks when the union wants gains, as a September strike threat looms. UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that Stellantis has broken a pledge not to seek givebacks in this round of talks, in which the union is seeking more than 40% general pay raises over four years, restoration of pensions for newer hires, cost-of-living increases, an end to wage tiers, and other benefits.

With Montgomery County’s office vacancy rate hovering above 16% —a 5-percentage point increase since the start of the pandemic—local planners say the time may be right for developers to consider converting or redeveloping offices into living spaces. County planner Bilal Ali points to one such completed project in a recent post on The Third Place, the county planning department’s blog: In downtown Silver Spring, a former office building on Fenwick Lane was converted into 102 condos in 2015, providing affordable housing for first-time homebuyers.

The Maryland Stadium Authority has tapped an employee with more than 30 years of experience at the agency as its new chief financial officer. Dawn Abshire took over as the new CFO on Aug. 1, the authority announced at its meeting that same day. She replaces her longtime coworker David Raith, who was the chief financial officer of the Stadium Authority for 20 years. Raith in 2017 was recognized as one of Maryland’s best CFOs by the Baltimore Business Journal as part of the Best in Finance Awards.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has filed a lawsuit against numerous companies, alleging they knowingly polluted the environment with “forever chemicals.” WSSC said damages received would go toward the cost of updating water treatment methods. In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, the utility names nearly 20 companies — including 3M, Dupont and Chemours — for their manufacturing of fire-suppression foams that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl, or PFAS.

Maryland cannabis retailer Goldleaf is embarking on a far-reaching expansion in the Florida market less than two years after it first received its license to operate in the Sunshine State. The Annapolis-based company is preparing to bring a second cultivation center online later this fall, according to Senior VP of Retail Michael Tese, who is leading Goldleaf’s expansion in Florida. The new 50,000 square-foot indoor cultivation facility in Bradenton is slated to produce its first crop by mid-November, and will also function as a distribution hub for the greater Tampa Bay region down the Gulf Coast to Naples, Tese said.

Kevin Brown, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s lead play-by-player announcer for Orioles games, was removed from the club’s television broadcasts a day after listing off statistics about Baltimore’s poor play in recent seasons, according to sources with knowledge of the team’s decisions. Brown hasn’t been featured on MASN broadcasts for the past two weeks. The Orioles entered their July 23 game against the Tampa Bay Rays with a chance to win a series at Tropicana Field for the first time since 2017.

The job market has cooled over the summer. But it’s still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession. U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected. But the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in a sign that the job market remains resilient.