Businesses

After a seven-year delay, Randallstown residents cheered Monday over an announcement that a Walmart will open on Liberty Road next year. Officials and residents have long hoped that the store — a planned $9 million, 160,000-square-foot supercenter with groceries and a pharmacy — would revitalize the aging commercial corridor, encouraging other national retailers and restaurants to set up shop in the affluent, largely black community....

On the day before graduating from Howard Community College, Jennie Wang of Columbia considered the arduous road she had traveled and her studies at the Johns Hopkins University that lie ahead. One thought came to mind: "If my Hammond High School teachers could see me now ... " "If they [discover] I'm going to Johns Hopkins, they're going to be like, 'What? Jennie Wang? Really?' In high school, I was the worst student ever," said Wang, 22, who also became pregnant shortly after graduating from high school, leaving her estranged from her parents, who immigrated to the U.S. with her from China when she was 10. Determined to dispel stigmas attached to young single mothers, Wang excelled at HCC, eventually becoming student government president and vice president of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for students at two-year colleges.

A new loan fund to help small businesses create more jobs in Baltimore's multimillion-dollar urban revitalization area will begin accepting applications tomorrow..The new high-risk loan program is funded with $1 million in empowerment zone money and is geared to small manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers or other entrepreneurs who need hard-to-get financing of up to $100,000 to buy or upgrade buildings and equipment.The program "will be targeted generally to companies which demonstrate a clear ability to stimulate job creation," according to a summary prepared by officials overseeing the empowerment zone effort, which includes $100 million in federal grants and tax breaks to businesses worth a potential $225 lTC million more.

— Just arrived for a six-day vacation, Mark and Diana Moyer strolled down the boardwalk, frozen drinks in hand, pausing to watch a teenage boy do a back flip onto the beach. The Moyers, from Northampton, Pa., are back in Ocean City for the first time in several years — both were laid off during the recession. But this year, with Mark back at work and their children grown, they have more money to spend and more freedom to spend it. "It's a dependable place," Mark Moyer said Wednesday, recalling the family's vacations to Ocean City going back 15 years.

Peter F. Drucker, one of the most influential management thinkers, tackles the new world business order and management imperatives of the 1990s and beyond in his new book, "Managing for the Future." In the first of a two-part excerpt, Mr. Drucker delineates five important areas that will bring wide changes in the social and economic environment. In Part 2, which will appear in tomorrow's business section, he examines the productivity challenge businesses face in the '90s and beyond.In five important areas the 1990s will bring far-reaching changes in the social and economic environment, and in the strategies, structure and management of business.

It seems lost in the budget cutting news and rhetoric that significant cuts to private sector businesses are likely to occur as the federal, state, and local governments cut back on domestic spending across the board. Small and medium size businesses sell many goods and services to the government, and without necessary government spending, their private sector businesses (and accompanying employment) suffer also. These examples include mom and pop restaurants serving government workers locally and various vendors and contractors, whether to sell office supplies or specialized consulting expertise.

The federal Small Business Administration said Monday it would make loans available to businesses in Carroll and Frederick counties that were affected by last summer's drought. Small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and nonprofit organizations can apply for loans of up to $2 million, with interest rates ranging from 3 to 4 percent. Farmers were not eligible for the SBA program, but they received support last fall from the USDA Farm Service Agency. Potential applicants to the SBA program can visit the agency's secure website to apply: https://disasterloan.

Misty Sexton writes a nice letter ( "Consumers can afford a 10-cent gas tax increase, but many businesses can't," March 17) stating several examples of increased operating expenses for business owners caused by a 10-cent a gasoline tax increase. I have no reason to believe her examples are not accurate. She does however, fail to point out how these increases negatively affect the businesses she gives as examples. It may make the business less profitable, assuming the company does not pass the increase on, as most probably will (and thus have no effect on their bottom line)

Maryland officials plan to announce Thursday a new system to speed the review process for business owners seeking state permits for projects in priority development areas. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and other state officials will meet at Bakery Express Inc. in Halethorpe to make the announcement. The new system, called Fast Track — part of the Maryland Made Easy business initiative — will focus on projects with significant economic impact, said Maureen Kilcullen, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Business and Economic Development.

Several businesses have told state and local government officials that they planned to create a total of almost 200 jobs, Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development said Monday. Some of the plans are short-term, while others will take a few years to complete. XLHealth in Baltimore told economic development officials that it intended to hire an additional 50 to 60 nurses and pharmacists this year, for instance, while EA Engineering, Science and Technology said it planned to add 40 jobs over the next four years as it moves into a new headquarters under construction in Hunt Valley.

County officials are urging residents to purchase insurance policies if their homes have recently been added to newly redrawn flood insurance rate maps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency worked with Maryland's Department of the Environment to overhaul the statewide maps, which show which homes and businesses are most susceptible to flooding, and thus are generally required to buy flood insurance . In Howard County, the maps have not changed since 1986. Because of better technology, an additional 360 residences and 130 other structures near rivers and streams will be identified as being at risk of flooding, unless their owners appeal.

Maryland small businesses gripe that they can't get loans from banks. Lenders complain of a dearth of borrowers. Is there any way to get these two together? The state is going to try, under legislation expected to be signed into law today. Maryland will use a carrot — or, rather, up to $50 million in deposits — to encourage banks here to lend to small businesses. Basically, participating banks that make loans to small businesses will receive an equal amount of deposits from the state.

The 15-year real estate tax abatement for the Superblock in West Baltimore raises important policy issues that need to be addressed. Specifically, should the city — and in certain cases, the state — grant economic incentives for real estate developments that 1) create competitive disadvantages for existing property owners and 2) reduce the city's property tax revenues from large-scale commercial developments? From my private-sector perspective, the answer to the question is simple: Granting tax abatements that disadvantage existing taxpaying properties is wrong and will lead to an overall loss of tax revenues for the city.

Not long after the Maryland General Assembly last adjourned back in mid-April, gasoline prices were approaching $4 a gallon. Currently, a price-conscious shopper can purchase a gallon of regular unleaded in the Baltimore area for as little as $3.50. That's a 50-cent swing in prices, essentially a 12.5 percent discount from just one month ago. So, Mr. and Mrs. Average Maryland Consumer, has this drop in prices had a huge impact on your life? Has it revived the economy? Put the unemployed back to work?

Dawn Stauffer Hyde, who founded an affirmative action and human resources consulting firm, died of early-onset dementia, or posterior cortical atrophy, May 11 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 57 and had homes in Ellicott City and on Gibson Island. Born in Baltimore and raised on Berkshire Road, she was a 1972 Northern High School graduate. She earned a bachelor's degree at Goucher College and her master's degree in administrative science at the Johns Hopkins University.

We get busy. We have work to do. We have long days crowded with chores and commitments, and we get caught up in things that seem in the moment so important - a project, a decision, a purchase, a deadline. And this is your life, and it moves faster than you expected it would. Before you know it, you're not a kid anymore; your parents are gone and you're the only adult in the room. Everyone experiences this differently, and at different times. Some of you might have lost a parent when you were teenagers, or in your 20s, or 30s. Or maybe you're in your 50s now and just getting used to the absence of your mother or father, or a beloved aunt or grandparents - the elders you thought would be around forever.

In reply to Misty Sexton's letter that businesses can't afford the increase in gas tax ( "Consumers can afford a 10-cent gas tax increase, but many businesses can't," March 17). The idea of the 10-cents-a-gallon increase is to fix roads, bridges, etc., that need repair. If "Company B" uses 45,000 gallons of diesel a week, obviously they are doing more damage to our roads and bridges than I am using 10 gallons a week. So who should pay more? They are already paying 10 times as much as the 10 cents tax increase because gas already went up a dollar over the last few months.

Stabilizing Maryland's unemployment system is crucial to the state's economy and business community. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce appreciates the O'Malley administration's focus on this important issue. While the administration's proposal has some merit, the Maryland Chamber disagrees with The Sun's recent editorial ("Expanding benefits is worth the price," Dec. 21). Deferring more than $80 million in unemployment insurance tax increases and expanding benefits to access $126.8 million from the federal government sounds appealing.

Business Women's Network of Howard County - Holds monthly luncheon meetings to promote and support a network of professional women in their careers as executives, business owners and leaders. Third Wednesdays of the month, Historic Oakland, 5430 Vantage Point Road, Columbia. $45 per guest. 410-780-1801. Girl's Night Out - Presented by the Pinnacle Empowerment Center, Girls Night Out is a series of workshops aimed at helping women achieve their goals in life and business.

My first memories of The Baltimore Sun go back to 1982, when my wife and I were planning to move to Baltimore from Massachusetts. In the days before the Internet, home buyers turned to The Sun 's classified ads to get their arms around the range of housing alternatives. Thirty years ago was not only a time when The Sun 's real estate section was the go-to source for home listings, but it was also a time of low-teens mortgage rates and a housing crisis (albeit not quite as bad as our most recent crisis)