Businesses

A California-based solar energy company announced Monday it is expanding to Maryland, where it plans to offer homeowners and businesses the option to lease rather than buy photovoltaic systems. SolarCity, headquartered in San Mateo, has acquired Clean Currents Solar, the solar installation division of Clean Currents, an independent green energy company based in Rockville that now markets solar and wind power in the mid-Atlantic region. Claiming more than 10,000 customers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas, SolarCity said it plans to begin offering zero-down, 20-year solar leases in Maryland and Washington, D.C., in mid-February.

WASHINGTON — Businesses have hired 5.6 million workers , including 86,544 in Maryland, under a new program that provides tax breaks for hiring the unemployed, the Treasury Department said Monday. The report, however, does not estimate how many of those jobs would have been added without the tax break. Maryland had an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent in June, when job creation slowed from the previous month, according to figures released last month. President Barack Obama signed a law in March that exempts businesses hiring people who have been unemployed for at least 60 days from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December.

Your reader Debbie Yeagley replied in your issue of Sept. 13 to my earlier letter about a sign posted in North Laurel that claims that government-free enterprise is being practiced there. I beg to clarify one issue. The headline on my published letter was not supplied by me, but by the Leader, as is usually the case with letters to the editor. That headline used two freighted words, "misguided" and "boasting," that I would probably not have used myself. In answer to Ms. Yeagley's questions and assertions, I have never owned or run a business, and that's fortunate, because I would probably be terrible at it, especially one "literally" built out of blood, sweat and tears.

The Baltimore Commission on Sustainability has released its annual report updating efforts to make the city cleaner, greener and more focused on sustaining people and communities. The good news is that the city, in implementing Baltimore's 2009 sustainability plan, is making critically important environmental and social improvements. Baltimore's sustainability plan provides a roadmap for citizens and Baltimore City government to reduce pollution, conserve resources, improve public transportation and participate in the green economy.

Be prepared to pull out your driver's license on your next visit to the dentist. And don't be surprised if a retailer asks for a birth date or mother's maiden name if it's giving you credit for your big-ticket purchase. They're just following federal rules to protect consumers from identity theft. Beginning next month, a wide range of businesses — auto dealers, cell phone companies, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, utilities and health care providers — must start complying with so-called "Red Flag Rules."

TC Owners of minority businesses in Howard County hope today's Equal Business Opportunity Expo at the Turf Valley Hotel & Country Club in Ellicott City will bring them more attention, opportunities and a fuller appreciation of their combined strength.The second annual gathering highlights businesses owned by people of color, women and persons with disabilities.Howard County's record in fostering minority businesses is relatively strong. While county minority business owners say they still fight prejudice at times, they tend to stress it's a national -- rather than particularly local -- problem.

THIS week the doors of schools all over Maryland open again for classes. For teachers, students and others directly involved in this annual return, there is the usual mix of anticipation and anxiety. But for just about everyone else, this annual rite of autumn will probably go unnoticed. And there's the problem.Despite the fact that American education is a hot conversational topic, productive activity by those not directly associated with schools has fallen far short of the need. Direct financial assistance such as Eugene Lang's "I Have a Dream" foundation, which guarantees successful elementary-secondary students scholarships to college, and business coalitions' financial support represent only a small fraction of what could be done by America's most influential sector -- the business community.

Two families were left homeless and two businesses were destroyed in a fire last night in Lonaconing directly across the street from the site of a blaze two years ago that left historic buildings in the Allegany County town in ruins.State fire officials said the blaze began in the attic of a two-story wooden duplex about 6 p.m. and was brought under control in about four hours by firefighters from three Maryland counties and West Virginia.An electrical blackout caused by the fire about 9:30 p.m. left about 80 percent of the town without power.

Businesses will meet the public Friday and Saturday at the annual Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Business Fair.The fair will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. both days at Cranberry Mall, Route 140 and Center Street.Sixty-three businesses will have booths at the seventh annual event, said Helen Utz, executive director of the chamber.Stu's MusicShop on Route 140 in Westminster will provide entertainment for the crowd both nights, said co-owner Don Myers.At 7 p.m. Friday, children who take lessons at the shop will perform at "Stu's Talent Night," he said.

Havre de Grace. Some years back, when I was editing a newspaper here, a lady from Perryville called up to complain that the club notice she had sent in hadn't been published in its entirety.We'd had to condense it for reasons of space, I explained, but she wasn't mollified. "I have a right to get my news in the paper," she said with some heat. "I'm a taxpayer."People used to feel fiercely possessive about their newspapers, and although that proprietary passion seems to have cooled, it hasn't gone away.