maryland department of business and economic development

Clothing firm Tom James Co. has opened a distribution center in Carroll County and is expanding another operation there, the state said Tuesday.

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners voted to appoint James D. Fielder Jr. as the new town administrator during a town hall meeting Monday night.

Tax credits for Maryland's cybersecurity and film industries could expand as part of the legislative session that starts Wednesday. They're just some of the many tax credits that industry groups said they hope to see grow, even as big fights over the minimum wage and changes to stormwater management fees loom for the session.

Just as its offer was rejected, Jos A. Bank Clothiers Inc. rejected the $1.2 billion turn-table acquisition bid by The Men's Wearhouse Inc. on Monday, but most observers still believe a merger is inevitable.

Sysco Corp will buy US Foods Inc., a former Columbia-based company, for about $3.5 billion from its private equity owners in a deal that will combine the top two U.S. food distributors and create a company commanding at least a quarter of the $235 billion North American market.

City leaders will unveil an ambitious long-term plan for the Inner Harbor Wednesday designed to restore pizazz to a once vital area that has lost cache in recent years.

The transformation of a vacant, 12-story eyesore into a gleaming office building has brought workers, shoppers and diners to the northern edge of downtown Towson — thanks in part to a public financing package that waived repayment of millions of dollars in loans to a developer. The county grants these so-called conditional loans that do not require repayment if certain conditions, such as job creation, are met.

Credits for impoverished areas, loans make up incentive package.

The Volvo Group is expanding its 1,340-worker Hagerstown plant and plans to more than 100 jobs there, the state announced Friday.

Harford County Executive David R. Craig describes himself as a moderate by temperament but he is staking out positions on critical issues that seem certain to appeal to the Republican party's hard-core conservative base as he seeks the 2014 gubernatorial nomination.

As Congress considers legislation to provide back pay to furloughed federal workers, far less attention has been paid to contract employees — many of whom work side by side with their agency counterparts.

Several candidates for governor — a Democrat and three Republicans — said Friday that they would cut taxes to improve Maryland's image as hostile to business and revive the ailing manufacturing industry.

Republicans in the House of Representatives were set to approve a government funding bill Saturday that would delay the nation's health care law for one year — inching federal agencies closer to a shutdown analysts predict would have a significant economic impact in Maryland.

With the launch of two high-profile rocket missions from Wallops Island this month, Maryland's future as a gateway to outer space looks bright

Despite concerns about privacy and public safety, Maryland is seeking to open its skies to commercial drones under a federal program that could make the state a powerhouse in the burgeoning unmanned aircraft industry.

Since the 1980s, Baltimore has greatly expanded its Enterprise Zone tax credit program, offering multimillion-dollar tax breaks to developers in many of the city's most popular neighborhoods.

In return for the promise to bring another 650 jobs to Baltimore, city leaders on Wednesday are poised to give financial services giant Morgan Stanley more time to meet the terms of a $3.25 million loan forgiveness program.

Much of Maryland's cybersecurity sector revolves around the federal government. But some groups and firms are trying to push the state's cybersecurity boundaries to grab more of the commercial market at a time of tighter federal budgets.

Columbia-based AirPatrol Corporation will expand its operation in Howard County, a move County Executive Ken Ulman said affirms Howard's reputation as a good place to do business in cybersecurity.

The company redeveloping a 100-year-old building in Baltimore's Remington neighborhood received a $100,000 grant from the state to support environmental remediation, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development announced Wednesday.

Researchers and patients hail a Supreme Court ruling that human genes cannot be patented. The case involved a company that had a monopoly on testing for the hereditary breast cancer gene.

WASHINGTON — Leaks about secret National Security Agency surveillance programs made by an intelligence contractor reopened a debate Monday over how much the government relies on companies for spy work and whether the firms must do more to vet employees and protect classified information.

Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. on Wednesday will kick-off a new small business loan fund that will lend $3.36 million in Maryland.

Gov. Martin O'Malley Monday announced something that had been widely know for the last two weeks: That the Netflix series "House of Cards" was back in town to film its second season.

The state will help sponsor eight festivals this year commemorating the War of 1812, an effort officials hope will boost tourism and economic development.

Maryland's competition for startup companies — with three grand prizes of $100,000 each — narrowed to nine finalists on Monday.

It's a tumultuous time for the game-development industry, with the implosion of local studios on the one hand and the rise of the indie movement on the other.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority's Board of Directors have unanimously approved County Executive Ken Ulman's appointment of Lawrence Twele to CEO of the Economic Development Authority.

Lawmakers from Virginia pressed a House subcommittee on Wednesday to forgo a requirement included in a Senate resolution they said unfairly advantages Maryland as the two states compete to land a possible new FBI headquarters.

Howard County business officials still are learning how the federal sequestration will affect the county's economy, but once Congress missed its March 1 deadline for an agreement avoiding the cuts, one local business already was feeling the effects.

Hosted by the BWI Business Partnership, economic development professionals from around the Baltimore-Washington corridor will gather for a Regional Economic Development Summit, Thursday, March 14 from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport, 1739 West Nursery Road, in Linthicum Heights.

Days after the Obama administration threatened widespread furloughs one of Maryland's largest federal agencies, the Social Security Administration said it might shoulder the deep, across-the-board spending cuts of the sequester without sending any of its full-time employees home.

Maryland's business leaders are pushing efforts to speak with a louder, more unified voice to state officials, seeing in federal budget cuts the necessity — or opportunity — of more attention for the private sector.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced Friday that Lawrence Twele has been selected to serve as acting President and CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, filling the vacancy created when Laura Neuman was sworn in as Anne Arundel County Executive.

A loan for Kohl's Department Stores is being considered by the Harford County Council to help the company to make improvements to its e-commerce distribution, or fulfillment, center in Edgewood.

SKW Constructors plans to hire up to 100 people to construct concrete tubes and fans at the Sparrows Point Shipyard and Industrial park in Dundalk, according to Baltimore County economic development officials.

Tax-break Enterprise Zones in Baltimore and the Eastern Shore will expand after getting an OK from Maryland's economic development agency, the state said Thursday.

The new green at Maryland's state parks is cash, and lots of it.

Maryland's second-in-command on economic development matters will step into the top job in January when the current secretary leaves for the private sector, state officials announced Wednesday.

The effort to connect former Sparrows Point workers with training for new careers gained even more urgency last week as the final hopes of reopening the steel mill were dashed — and as the deadline to apply for the help or forever lose it fast approaches for hundreds.

New library nears completion at the Metro Center;

Catonsville, Dundalk, Pulaski Highway area and Parkville-Overlea seek designation

Protenergy Natural Foods Corp. expects to add as many as 100 workers to its Eastern Shore operations by next spring, the state said Tuesday.

A group formed by a Maryland businessman argued in a report released Monday that the state's Department of Business and Economic Development is a political marketing organization, rather than the job-creation agency it should be.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has postponed a planned post-Thanksgiving economic development trip to the Middle East, saying he does not want to create a distraction during the conflict between Israel and Palestinian as in the Gaza Strip.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is launching a micro-loan fund for small businesses in Baltimore, to help them hire and stabilize their businesses.

The Carroll County Department of Economic Development is working with the Maryland Department of Economic Development to assess the county's business losses related to Hurricane Sandy, late last month.

Employers and government officials in Maryland touted the economic benefits of same-sex marriage law, including improving workplace conditions, helping employers attract and retain talent and boosting tourism and wedding-related business

Looming federal budget cuts make a whole lot of Marylanders nervous because a whole lot of Maryland depends on Uncle Sam for a paycheck — directly or indirectly.