Business

The owners of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. will pay $2 million in back rent after the eatery abruptly closed last year in Harborplace’s Light Street pavilion. The payment was detailed this month in settlement filings of a lawsuit by the Harborplace receiver over the national restaurant’s departure and failure to pay rent for more than two years and caps a sometimes bitter 10-year run for the seafood eatery.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater on Thursday announced the formation of a work group to examine county law pertaining to data centers and other related issues. Fitzwater also announced that she signed an executive order directing the Department of Planning and Permitting to pause, for nine months, any individual zoning map amendments that would change a landowner’s property to general industrial or limited industrial.

Under Armour Inc. is eliminating approximately 50 corporate positions as the company looks to cut costs and move toward profitability. The Baltimore-based sportswear company confirmed on Thursday that it plans to lay off employees across several areas of the business. The elimination of the positions comes as the company’s new CEO Stephanie Linnartz recently laid out a new plan to return Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) to growth.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will open its first downtown Baltimore branch in August as the banking giant works to have 17 branches up and running in the city and county by the end of the year. Chase will take over a retail space at 100 S. Charles St. that has been vacant since Bank of America closed its branch there nearly two years ago amid a move to new offices in Harbor East. Melvin Collins, Chase’s market director for Baltimore, said the bank will also open a branch in Reisterstown in July, and will add another branch in Pikesville later in the year.

Annapolis startup AeroVanti has tapped a new CEO about a month after the aviation company was hit with multiple lawsuits accusing it of fraud and contract violations. Scott Hopes is taking over leadership of the startup from founder Patrick Britton-Harr, Aerovanti announced Thursday. Hopes has a background in aviation, having founded HMD Airways in 2010 before selling the company to International Flight Services in 2013.

Five finalists have been selected to compete for prizes in the 12th annual Carroll Biz Challenge, run by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, as a way to showcase local entrepreneurs and give them an opportunity to pitch their new business ideas. The finalists will compete for a $10,000 cash prize to help start their business as well as a number of smaller prizes. The winner of the 2022 Carroll Biz Challenge was Hannah Brookfield of Westminster, who used her $10,000 prize to open the shop, BotaniGal, a retail houseplant and horticulture therapy business, in October in Sykesville.

Medifast Inc. is laying off 83 people at its longtime distribution center in Caroline County as part of larger operations cuts brought about by a continued slowdown in demand for its products. The Baltimore-based dieting and wellness company filed a notice with Maryland’s Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log this week saying it will lay off 83 people at the facility at 601 Sunrise Ave. in Ridgely, effective Aug. 13.

One of the nation’s largest Planet Fitness franchisees plans to open two new facilities in Montgomery County later this year as it continues to bulk up the budget fitness chain’s presence. Affiliates of Ohana Growth Partners have inked 10-year leases for spaces in Takoma Park and Wheaton. Both of the spaces are remainders of former Shoppers markets that discount grocer Lidl sought to shed after it opened new markets in those areas. Ohana’s leases, for just under 29,000 square feet apiece, are at 6881 New Hampshire Ave. and 2201 Randolph Road, respectively.