BDC OKs plan to sell city's Inn at Government House

The Inn at Government House would be sold by the city of Baltimore to a private group and renovated for continued use as a small hotel, under a $6 million plan approved Thursday by the Baltimore Development Corp. Directors of the quasi-public agency voted to recommend that the city sell the property at 1125 N. Calvert St. to Government House LLC, a group that offered buy the inn last year after the city sought proposals from developers. City officials say they want to sell the inn because it isn't making money and needs repairs and they believe a private group could run it more efficiently and profitably. Government House LLC is headed by Martin P. Azola of the Azola Companies and Eddie Brown of Brown Capital Management. The group proposed to open the renovated inn by the fall of 2011 with 17 rooms, a restaurant and meeting space. The BDC recommendation will be forwarded to Mayor Sheila Dixon for a final decision.

- Edward Gunts

Passenger traffic grew last year at BWI Marshall

BWI Marshall Airport reported this week that passenger traffic grew six straight months last year to post a 13 percent gain in November over the same month a year earlier. According to BWI officials, the airport served 1.7 million commercial passengers in November alone. Southwest Airlines led the airlines serving BWI with more than 896,000 passengers in November - a 17 percent increase over the previous year. AirTran Airways brought 270,000 passengers through BWI that month to post a 20.1 percent increase.

- Michael Dresser

McCormick earnings see 4th-quarter rise

Sparks-based spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc. on Thursday said earnings climbed 8 percent in the fourth quarter, helped by acquisitions and cost-cutting. Net income rose to $121.5 million, or 87 cents per share, in the three months that ended Nov. 30, compared with $111.2 million, or 62 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. The manufacturer said it expects strong sales and earnings in the current fiscal year thanks to new products and boosts in marketing. The results ended a strong fiscal year for the spice maker that included its biggest holiday marketing campaign ever. In the fourth quarter, consumer business sales in the Americas grew 5 percent, offsetting a decline in industrial sales. Total sales grew 2 percent in the fourth quarter, according to McCormick.

- Lorraine Mirabella