THE MOVE REPORT: News for Maryland business leaders

Maryland Business

• Old Sunset Restaurant site in Glen Burnie to become kitchen for 50 food startupsA $2.125 million purchase will turn the building into a shared commercial kitchen where food trucks, caterers and new brands can grow for up to three years.
  WBAL NewsRadio
• 52 businesses wait for a spot in Charles County's LaunchPad programCharles County commissioners asked for costs to run a second entrepreneur training cohort after the first graduated eight firms and left 52 on a waitlist.
  TheBayNet
• Baltimore visitors spent $4.3 billion, up 32.6% since 2019Visit Baltimore's annual report counts $4.3 billion in visitor spending and 123,000 regional tourism jobs, nearly half of Maryland's hospitality workforce.
  AFRO News
• $87M closes for 150 more apartments at East Baltimore's Perkins SquareBaltimore's housing authority and developer McCormack Baron Salazar closed more than $87 million to start the next phases of the $398 million Perkins Homes redevelopment.
  Baltimore Fishbowl
• Hopkins loses $500M in federal research, urges Maryland to diversifyHopkins lost $500 million in federal research funding last year, and its president says Maryland must turn more lab work into local startups and jobs.
  citybiz
• Lexington Park's Curtis Tire to close after 55 yearsThe family-owned St. Mary's County tire and repair shop closes Oct. 30 after 55 years, another long-running local firm ending rather than passing to new owners.
  Southern Maryland News Net
• Moore launches task force to grow Maryland's 115,000-job maritime industryA new executive order creates a state, business and labor task force to find barriers and incentives for maritime firms worth $10.2 billion a year to Maryland.
  WMAR 2 News

Policy and Taxes

• BGE customers push back on $156M rate hike at first PSC hearingIf approved, the increase adds about $8 a month to average electric bills, separate from a $9 Baltimore conduit surcharge planned for the new year.
  WJZ
• Anne Arundel opens $150,000 security grants for churches and nonprofitsA new county pilot helps houses of worship, faith groups and nonprofits pay for security upgrades and protective services out of the FY2027 budget.
  Eye On Annapolis
• Calvert moves to ban data centers in every zoning districtCalvert's planning commission sent a permanent countywide data center ban to public hearing, turning a six-month pause into a prohibition after Amazon dropped its Lusby plans.
  Southern Maryland Chronicle
• Prince George's votes Oct. 27 on $184M in public aid for SphereThe council will weigh county bonds, a parking garage and state money for a $1.4 billion National Harbor venue as analysts flag revenue and cost risks.
  citybiz
• Anne Arundel cuts permit review times by up to 50%With 94% of applications now filed online, the county says reviews for tenant improvements, decks and solar installs take about half as long as before.
  Conduit Street (MACo)
• Frederick County eases rules for accessory dwelling unitsThe council unanimously raised the size cap for accessory units to 1,300 square feet and softened parking rules, while still barring short-term rentals.
  The Frederick News-Post
• BGE seeks $9 monthly surcharge on Baltimore City billsBGE wants to add about $9 a month to Baltimore City electric bills to cover a higher city conduit fee, a plan now before state regulators.
  WBAL-TV 11

Faith and Work

• AI labs turn to faith leaders to teach chatbots right from wrongAP reports AI companies are seeking input from religious leaders on model ethics, while scholars question what the firms think religion offers.
  WTOP
• Lifeway: 54% of pastors say the economy is hurting their churchLifeway's annual survey finds most Protestant pastors see the economy straining congregations, with median church giving flat in 2026 while inflation runs 3.7%.
  Baptist Press
• Christian CEO calls God her company's chairmanEthical Apparel Africa CEO Keren Pybus reinvests margins, grows local leaders and keeps daily devotionals voluntary, one of several values-first leaders profiled.
  Deseret News
• Delaware leaders keep 39-year prayer breakfast goingExecutives, officials and clergy gathered in Wilmington for a business prayer breakfast begun in 1985, with investor Bob Doll of Crossmark as keynote.
  Delaware LIVE News
• Founder credits parish small group for his startupEntravia founder Kasey Devine, winner of a pitch contest run by Virginia-based Catholic founders group SENT, says his parish group and prayer shaped his company.
  National Catholic Register
• Christian business leaders trade success for faithfulnessAbout 80 Christian executives met in Guadalajara, Spain, to work through delegation, conflict, character and generosity under the theme of managing faithfully.
  Evangelical Focus

Workforce and Talent

• Southern Maryland must refill 8,882 defense jobs as workers retireA Towson study for three Southern Maryland counties and the Navy finds retirements, not growth, will drive defense hiring through 2035, with cleared talent and housing in short supply.
  Southern Maryland Chronicle
• Maryland awards $4.7M in EARN grants to train 1,700 workersState grants fund employer-led training in cyber, skilled trades and health care, placing nearly 600 people in jobs and upskilling about 1,000 current workers.
  47abc (WMDT)
• Maryland lost 13,900 jobs in a year, third-worst rate in U.S.Federal data show Maryland shed 0.5% of its jobs in the year through September, the third-steepest percentage drop nationally as federal cuts weigh on the region.
  citybiz
• Two firms pay to settle EEOC religious bias claimsCompanies in North Carolina and Georgia paid more than $100,000 combined after Muslim and Christian workers alleged religious discrimination on the job.
  EWTN News
• Prince George's projects 13,000 trade jobs from $10B building boomCounty workforce leaders expect nearly 13,000 construction and skilled trade openings through 2030 as Sphere, the former Six Flags site and other projects advance.
  The Baltimore Banner
• Navy contracts bring 200 tech jobs to Indian HeadDefense contractors near the Navy's Indian Head base plan to hire over 200 scientists, engineers and technicians within six months, and Charles County added $180,000 for the corridor.
  Southern Maryland Chronicle
• Women gain but still lag men in Maryland workforceWomen in Maryland are gaining ground at work but still leave the workforce at higher rates than men, a new report says.
  Maryland Matters

Leadership

• Study: trust between teams beats compliance for cyber securityResearchers found strong working relationships between business units tracked with better security outcomes far more than training and policy compliance did.
  Harvard Business Review
• Jerry Colonna: empathy means having the hard talk kindlyAn executive coach argues that avoiding tough feedback or hiding hard staffing news is not kindness, and that honest, caring talks serve teams better.
  Inc.
• 90% of CEOs think staff trust them; only 46% of employees doNew BCG data shows a wide gap between how much CEOs believe they are trusted and how employees feel, with daily leader habits as the fix.
  Fortune
• Hopkins worker puts 3,182 patients' data into unapproved AI toolOne Bayview employee's spreadsheet upload to an outside AI tool exposed patient records, a warning for any company without clear rules on approved AI tools.
  WMAR 2 News
• Founding Farmers co-owner: fuel at 2.5 times budget, but no couponsDan Simons says diesel costs are running far over budget across his nine restaurants, yet he is competing on scratch cooking and value rather than discounts.
  WTOP
• Ancestry's CEO eats lunch with staff to hear the unfiltered truthAncestry CEO Howard Hochhauser eats among employees to counter the filtered news senior leaders tend to hear, a habit he picked up at Bear Stearns.
  Inc.
• 73% of small firms spend $100 a month or less on AIA Goldman Sachs survey of 2,474 small business owners found 86% use AI, mostly for notes, email and marketing copy, while spending little on it.
  Axios

Dates to watch

• Oct 27Prince George's Council votes on Sphere aid
  citybiz
• Oct 30Some Canada tariff exemptions take effect
  PBS News
• Nov 1Worker Freedom Act notice must be posted
  The National Law Review

Money and Markets

• Fed expected to hold rates this week, with a hike still possible by year-endAnalysts expect the Fed to hold rates at this week's meeting, while markets still price in at least one hike before year-end, keeping borrowing costs elevated.
  France 24
• Some Canadian plywood, crates and machinery freed from 50% tariffs Oct. 30The White House is lifting 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods, including plywood, packing crates and some machinery, starting Oct. 30.
  PBS News
• Jobless claims near lowest since 1960s as firms hold on to staffWeekly unemployment filings fell to 194,000 as employers keep workers despite weak hiring, a low-fire market that keeps experienced people hard to find.
  CNBC
• Family health premiums reach $28,000 a year, survey findsKFF's annual employer survey puts average family coverage near $28,000, and high deductibles leave even well-insured workers feeling squeezed by health costs.
  NPR
• Senators press customs on $145B in unpaid tariff refundsTwo senators say more than $145 billion in tariffs the Supreme Court struck down still has not been refunded, and urged customs to pay small importers.
  News From The States
• Fed's AI inflation fight may hit small firms hardestFed officials see AI spending pushing up inflation, and some economists warn further rate hikes would weigh most on small businesses and consumers.
  Reuters
• Nearly 2 in 3 small-business owners cut their own payA survey found nearly two in three small-business owners have cut their own pay as costs rise.
  Black Enterprise

Mission Driven

• Hanover pharmacy supplier builds a team that includes workers with disabilitiesCorrect Rx Pharmacy Services hires through local programs like Fello, whose support staff help new workers train, and praises its custodian's reliability.
  WBAL-TV 11
• Family firm with no layoffs in 75 years draws 200 executive teamsSt. Louis manufacturer Gund Co. grew to 1,300 workers without a layoff by staffing lean, posting results on plant walls and widening employee ownership.
  The Independent
• Hampden co-op lets vendors keep all their profitsThree Baltimore owners are opening a shared shop that rents space to vendors with no commission and hopes to offer work to adults with disabilities.
  WMAR 2 News
• Family farm and food bank launch a nonprofit farmHavre de Grace's Kent Meadows Farm and the Harford County Food Bank formed a joint nonprofit farm to grow fresh food for neighbors facing hunger.
  Baltimore Business Journal
• Baltimore Community ToolBank swaps surplus with other nonprofitsMaryland nonprofits are using a free matching tool called SWAP to trade spare tools, space and supplies, stretching small staffs; a model for business donors too.
  WMAR 2 News
• Salisbury Bagel Bakery Cafe marks 30 yearsOwner Kenny Soni took over from a retiring friend and has kept the Eastern Shore favorite going for three decades while adapting to delivery apps and social media.
  47abc (WMDT)
• Pappas Seafood sold to Teamshares; staff to gain ownershipNew York firm Teamshares bought the Baltimore crab cake maker, giving staff a 10% stake at once with a goal of up to 80% employee ownership over time.
  NottinghamMD.com

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