Businesses

Ellen Bravo of the labor-aligned advocacy group Family Values @ Work claims there were few consequences in San Francisco following passage of that city's paid sick leave mandate ("Paid sick leave urged in Maryland," Nov. 12). However, even the research Ms. Bravo cites suggests otherwise. According to data published in a survey conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, industries in San Francisco that didn't offer sick leave prior to the mandate were more likely to report a negative impact on profitability.

Once again, the Harford County government, like many county and municipal governments around the state and nation, has perpetuated the practice of running a taxpayer-subsidized business banking system. Most recently, the Harford County Council approved a loan of up to $160,000 to HP White Laboratory in Street, an honorable business that has been in operation for more than 50 years. HP White plans to spend $4 million to expand its operation and add 50 new employees to its workforce of 34. This has the potential to add substantially to one of Harford County's most respected military contracting test operations.

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.

Loading his earthly belongings into a laundry cart that he rented from Campus Services, Johns Hopkins University freshman Austin Dennis made several trips from his dormitory room to his car on residential Greenway at North Charles Street, opposite the Homewood campus May 15. It was move-out week for Hopkins students as the school year ended, and Dennis, an economics major, was catching a flight that night to his hometown of Miami, Fla., where he...

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.

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.

The state of California treats all businesses as necessary evils and treat those of us in the gun business as simply evil. It makes it very clear that it doesn't want us there. Beretta is now considering moving 400 jobs out of Maryland for the same reason ("Gun control draws more than 2,000 to Annapolis," March 2). Recall that the company already moved a warehouse to Virginia in 1990 when Maryland tightened gun laws. Why would the General Assembly knowingly force out legitimate businesses and jobs from Maryland?

Palestinians want a prosperous nation. Israel wants a permanent peace ("Israelis debate ground invasion," Nov. 20). Non-government sponsored businesses make profit from peace and free trade, regardless of the ideology of their owners. The owners will therefore tend to vote for peace and free trade, which will increase profit for their businesses. Israeli and Palestinian business owners and leaders should vote first, based on number of employees and tax revenue. Pass this vote to the people in the general elections, pointing out that these are the experts on creating jobs and prosperity.

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.

The Baltimore City beverage tax is punishing one industry alone. Package good liquor stores in the city are in a competitive business and cannot compete against their county counterparts. My suggestion is a Baltimore City Education tax. Tax every business in Baltimore City big or small the same amount. If there are 20,000 businesses in Baltimore City and you want to raise $4 million, tax each business $200. Now that is fair to everyone! Joe Gordon, Baltimore The writer is owner of Genie's Liquors.

Tracy Balazs, the president and CEO of an Annapolis-based staffing firm, was named Entrepreneurial Success of the Year last month by the Baltimore district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. She founded the company, Federal Staffing Resources LLC, in 2004. It now employs more than 300 people, has eight offices across the country and generates more than $30 million in revenue annually. The company mainly provides health professionals to government outfits, including the Army, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Aviation Administration, though FSR recently expanded its operations to the staffing of private companies.

The gay couples who've booked Rouge Fine Catering in Hunt Valley for their weddings have appreciated not only good food and stylish events, but something less tangible. "They don't want to be with a caterer that is going to be judgmental," said Jonathan Soudry, Rouge chef and owner. "There is a lot of intimacy in the relationship between the caterer and the couple. " Soudry, whose business handles about 300 weddings a year, catered more than two dozen receptions for same-sex couples last year.

The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill that would allow states to require Internet retailers to collect sales taxes on behalf of local governments. This bill has flaws, but they could be fixed in the House. It should be passed. I don't like the idea of the state and local governments collecting more taxes - they know no limits to their capacity to tax and squander our hard-earned dollars - but the current situation is unfair and bad economic policy. (Also, Marylanders stand to gain from this legislation in another way, because of a state law that will reduce future increases in gasoline taxes if taxing Internet sales is allowed.)

Loyal readers of this page are likely aware that we have not been great supporters of the tea party movement. Too often, we have found those anti-tax crusaders who call themselves tea party patriots are simply rebranded John Birch Society members of an earlier time with all the extremist anti-civil rights, anti-immigration, and anti-United Nations rhetoric that comes with it. But the latest disclosure - gleaned from a draft inspector general's report...

Harbor East is moving farther east with baker-cum-developer John Paterakis Sr.'s announcement Friday that he will break ground this summer on a new, mega-Whole Foods and later on a new residential/retail building across Central Avenue from the glittering mini-city he has almost single handedly built during the last 15 years. Things are bustling in that corner of the city, what with the planned construction of a new headquarters office tower for Exelon Corp. and a variety of other smaller scale residential, retail, office and hotel developments nearby.

Dan Rodricks ' advice that "complaining CEOs need to take a hike" (May 9) comes a bit late. For the first time anyone can recall, this year's Fortune 500 includes zero Baltimore-based companies. We are now the largest U.S. city without a single corporate headquarters, and there are only four left in the state - down from 11 as recently as 2007. Clearly, those who decide where to create local job opportunities (and, let's not forget, lead many philanthropic efforts) have been taking a hike for many years, just as over 300,000 Baltimore residents voted with their feet over the decades and fled the city's high property taxes, incredible shrinking economy and dismal provision of public services.

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)

Within hours of this week's snow, the parking lots at my nearby shopping center were clear. Days later, the sidewalks fronting these commercial strips are untouched. The bus stops are buried. Why don't the vendors or property managers take care of their sidewalks? For that matter, why aren't they fined for not doing so? It seems uncivil. Boos to folks who clear their parking lot but make the poor pedestrian walk in the traffic. Kudos to the good soul(s) who cleared the sidewalk on York Road from Cedarcroft Road all the way to Gittings Avenue!

William Mc. Brewster, a retired Baltimore businessman and lifelong Brooklandville resident, died May 3 of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 81. The son of the owner of the Baugh Chemical Co. and a homemaker, William McIIvaine Brewster was born in Baltimore and raised in Brooklandville. After graduating from the Gilman School in 1949, he attended Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1953. He later graduated from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

John Paterakis Sr. didn't believe it when Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke told him nearly two decades ago that Harbor East's Marriott Waterfront Hotel would spur revitalization from the Inner Harbor to Canton. The city had picked Paterakis' H&S Properties Development Corp. to build the hotel, launching a parallel career for the baker and developer. Today, Paterakis marvels at the upscale shops, luxurious living spaces and top-flight office space set to line the southeastern Baltimore waterfront - and already booming along it. "You have to give a lot of credit that he was right," said Paterakis, president of H&S Bakery Inc., which grew from a two-man operation that opened in 1943 to a baking empire spanning more than two dozen states.