Business

A new building that will transform the main entrance of the University of Maryland Medical Center and the downtown Baltimore skyline was already slated to house cancer care. Officials said Friday it will also house trauma rehabilitation services. The rehab services will move in the next three years from University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute, formerly known as Kernan Hospital, near Woodlawn. That facility will close.

Allegany County is making preparations to have vacation rental companies add the county’s accommodation tax to their billing process. The Allegany County Board of Commissioners discussed the effort to collect the 7% hotel-motel tax from online platforms at its Thursday meeting. The number of rental units available locally through Airbnb, Vrbo, Evolve and others has increased sharply since the coronavirus pandemic subsided.

Constellation Energy Corp. is revamping one of its Western Maryland wind farms to kick off a larger nationwide investment into its wind fleet. Constellation (Nasdaq: CEG) will upgrade 28 turbines at its Criterion Wind Project site in Oakland in Garrett County, replacing the aging equipment with new state-of-the-art parts.

Dave Benfield did not have a clear exit strategy for the business he spent 25 years building. So when the opportunity to sell presented itself, the 53-year-old founder of DuClaw Brewing Co. seized the chance to spend more time with his family and focus on why he got into the brewing industry in the first place. The Rosedale-based brewery announced last week that it had sold to New Jersey’s River Horse Brewing Co. for an undisclosed amount.

Erie Insurance is suing the Maryland Insurance Administration in federal court over the agency’s recent determination that the Pennsylvania-based insurer pushed local agents to reject customers from majority-Black areas of Baltimore. The lawsuit claims the Maryland Insurance Administration conducted an incomplete investigation into Erie’s practices and released confidential information in a May 24 determination letter that accused the company of unlawful discrimination.

The thick haze outdoors is having more than a health impact on Greater Baltimore. It’s the talk of the town — and yet another impediment to business as usual. Business owners, event planners and restaurant managers are cutting back on outdoor options, scrutinizing how to proceed as the smoke from Canadian wildfires has laid a blanket over the blue springtime skies with a whiplash of Code Red — and then Code Purple — health threats issued Thursday.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced Thursday its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will remain in Baltimore for an additional year. The extension, announced by CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams during a news conference sharing economic impact numbers, came a little more than a year after officials from the city and the nation’s oldest historically Black athletic conference had agreed to keep the tournaments in Baltimore through 2025.

A development duo has secured $275 million of construction debt and equity for the first phase of National Capital Business Park, a big new logistics park in Prince George’s County. The envisioned sprawl of Class A industrial buildings, aimed at e-commerce, last-mile delivery, distribution, data centers, light manufacturing, cold storage and the like, represents a joint venture between Manekin LLC and Turnbridge Equities.

Mayor Brandon Scott announced on Thursday that current Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison will step down from his role and city leaders have responded. Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates: “Working with Commissioner Harrison over the past several months was my pleasure, and I wish him well in his future endeavors. I have deeply appreciated his partnership as we worked together to launch the citation docket program and restore accountability to the city we love.