Business

N5 Sensors, a Rockville environmental hazard detection tech company, is using $2.5 million from a recent seed round to build more of its fire-detecting sensors and hire more boots on the ground to convince emergency services agencies, particularly in rural areas, to pilot its products. N5 Sensors partners with utility companies, casinos, municipal emergency services, farms and pretty much any large landowner to detect environmental hazards, such as wildfires, chemical spills and air pollution, using an artificial intelligence algorithm and autonomous ground sensors.

Unionized UPS workers voted overwhelmingly on Friday to authorize a strike, setting the stage for a potential work stoppage if the package delivery company and Teamsters can’t come to an agreement before their contract expires next month. The Teamsters said 97% of unionized workers voted for the authorization, which the union urged for in order to have more leverage during negotiations with the company. But a yes vote does not mean a strike is imminent.

Maryland’s largest producer of cannabis is investing millions to build a Cecil County factory that will make edibles to meet anticipated demand for the July 1 debut of the state’s recreational market. SunMed Growers President Jake Van Wingerden said he is building a $16 million, 25,000-square-foot factory as part of the company’s 500,000 square-foot complex at 127 Worsell Manor Road in Warwick to churn out edibles.

Kevin Bethea got the entrepreneurship bug his sophomore year in high school after learning business skills through a nonprofit in Cherry Hill, the RICH Program, or Restoring Inner City Hope. Taking what they taught him, Bethea conducted a survey of his peers about their favorite snacks. He bought Doritos, Takis rolled tortilla chips and honeybuns that he then sold at school. It was his first business.

The Frederick County Planning Commission voted 4-2 on Wednesday to approve a site plan, with conditions, for two buildings on 125.66 acres in Monrovia, despite opposition saying it would exacerbate traffic problems. West of the site plan is a Costco distribution center, which has many trucks coming and going. Some trucks, despite numerous warnings and prevention efforts, drive south on Md. 75, and get stuck under a railroad bridge that runs over Md. 75.

Students, staff and faculty at the Johns Hopkins University as well as patients at the related medical system might have had sensitive information exposed following a recent cybersecurity attack on widely used software, according to the institution. A data breach May 31 involving MOVEit, a file transfer software, impacted both the private research university and Johns Hopkins Medicine, the university and medical system said in a letter.

The $100 million redevelopment of a long-troubled North Baltimore block just got another fresh start. MCB Real Estate has renamed and rebranded its Madison Park North project to Reservoir Square, a new identity for a long-needed redo of a part of Baltimore once known as the “Murder Mall.”