Conference Center

Aramark will lay off 64 workers in Silver Spring in May when it stops managing the Kirkland Conference Center at the National Labor College, the company told state officials Tuesday. Aramark filed a notice with the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The company said it would stop providing management services as of May 21. Lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

After sinking millions of dollars into the dream of a world-class tourist destination in the mountains of Western Maryland, the state is poised to cut its losses and turn the Rocky Gap hotel and conference center over to a private company that plans to open a casino at the lakeside resort. The Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the final series of agreements needed to complete the transfer of the $54 million complex in Allegany County from the quasi-public Maryland Economic Development Corp.

Change doesn't come easily to Annapolis.For more than a year, factions in the colonial city have debated whether to build a conference center on West Street.Supporters say the project would infuse the local economy with $23 million and help create as many as 200 new jobs. On the other hand, opponents complain that a conference center would be detrimental to the downtown residents as well as to the ambience of the historic city.Obviously a resolution to the controversy will have to wait a little longer.

Bethesda-based Marriott International Inc. has agreed to pay $210 million for the Gaylord Hotels brand and hotel management company, Marriott announced Thursday. Gaylord Entertainment Co.'s shareholders must approve the company's conversion to a real estate investment trust before the sale, according to a statement from Marriott. The vote is expected in August and the transaction should close by October, Marriott said. If shareholders approve the conversion, Gaylord will continue to own its existing hotels but Marriott will take over their management under long-term agreements; the initial term will be 35 years, the statement said.

The idea of an Annapolis conference center is dead for now, but should not be forgotten.The concept still has merit, for the simple reason that historic Annapolis is a city that ought to attract conventioneers. Even state lawmakers, who refused to provide design money in next fiscal year's budget, see this.Their reasons for rejection involved wobbly city support, the lack of a set location and election-year jitters about a multi-million-dollar project many constituents view as a gift to the hotel industry.

The Annapolis City Council was spared a vote on a controversial issue last night when action on a proposed study of a possible conference center site was delayed until February.But when Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins put off the vote on a $140,000 grant request for a new study of the site along the struggling West Street Corridor, he created a mini-controversy of his own. Conference center supporters left the room in disgust, and some aldermen were outwardly exasperated with the mayor's decision to delay.

No one needs a consultant to know that Annapolis, with its charm and tourist amenities, is a perfect place for a conference center. Nor is there any doubt that the local economy could use the boost. But what kind of center? Where? And how can it be built with the least impact on city residents? These questions must be resolved before city and county governments move ahead.Now that a consultant's study has recommended a small convention center for Annapolis, the committee assigned to oversee the project is scheduled to choose a site by year's end. They're right to move quickly; other jurisdictions also are interested in mining the market for small business gatherings.

This much has been clear since Annapolis began talking about building a conference center: It ought to go as near the historic downtown as possible. Visitors who choose Annapolis expect to experience cobblestone streets, the City Dock and 18th-century architecture.Of the three sites being considered, only one comes close to offering visitors that experience, the so-called Menke property at Taylor Avenue and West Street. The city is pushing for the Menke site, and it seems certain that a site-selection committee, scheduled to decide by Feb. 1, will choose it. We wish the Menke property were closer to downtown, but it clearly is the best of the three choices.

Annapolis aldermen hoping to speed development of a proposed conference center along the West Street corridor will bring the issue to a vote tonight when the city council resumes its meetings after the summer recess.The resolution, sponsored by Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins and Alderman Shep Tullier, asks the city to take a symbolic vote urging county and state funding for the project at West Street and Taylor Avenue.Earlier this month, a review panel assembled by Mr. Hopkins endorsed a conference center for Annapolis.

Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins withdrew yesterday legislation seeking money for an Annapolis-area conference center, saying he wants more time to think about the project.Mr. Hopkins said that inclusion of the bill on the City Council agenda released Friday was a mistake. "It wasn't ready," he said. "There is too much uncertainty about it."Last week, Mr. Hopkins and County Executive Robert R. Neall sent a letter to county legislators expressing "strong support" for a conference center and a pledge of $500,000 to help with design studies, pending approvals by the city and countycouncils.

Harford County-based human resources firm HR Solutions LLC has been named one of the 2012 Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise Award winners for the region that includes Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Firm founder and president Renée McNally attributes the selection of HR Solutions to the top 100 list to a variety of factors, including business growth and community involvement. Founded in 2004, HR Solutions experienced significant revenue growth over the past two years, growing more than 45 percent annually from 2009 to 2011.

Aramark will lay off 64 workers in Silver Spring in May when it stops managing the Kirkland Conference Center at the National Labor College, the company told state officials Tuesday. Aramark filed a notice with the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The company said it would stop providing management services as of May 21. Lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

St. Vincent Pallotti High's spring gala fundraiser, "Mardi Gras Madness," will be held Saturday, March 24 from 7 to 11 p.m., at the University of Maryland, Marriott Inn and Conference Center, 3501 University Blvd. east, in Hyattsville. The fundraiser includes a silent auction and a live auction with Scott Wykoff of WBAL radio. Individual tickets are $75, couples pay $140 and a table of 10 costs $650. Ticket prices includes catered dinner stations, including peel-and-eat shrimp, and an open bar. The Pallotti Band will perform jazz under the direction of Niko Iampieri, and there will be dancing with Class DJ's.

Arissa Jeffries , 17, of Ellicott City competed for the title of Miss Maryland Teen USA 2012 Oct. 28-30, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, in Bethesda. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orndorff Jeffries. She attends Howard Community College and her activities and hobbies include piano, violin, singing, modeling and acting. Arissa's goal is to attend medical school, earn a degree in psychology and own her own rehabilitation clinic.

Construction magnate Willard Hackerman has offered to finance and build an 18,500-seat arena in downtown Baltimore, civic leaders say, freeing taxpayers from having to foot the bill and significantly increasing the chances that plans for a $900 million convention center expansion and arena will become a reality. News of Hackerman's offer was made public Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Greater Baltimore Committee, a private business group that has been exploring ways to build an arena that would be combined with an expanded convention center to bolster the city's tourism business and add life to Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Henderson's Wharf, an inn and conference center in Fells Point, has been named one of the Top 25 Hotels in the World by TripAdvisor's Travel Choice Awards 2011. The waterfront inn is ranked No. 20 in the world and No. 2 in the United States. No other hotel in the Mid-Atlantic region was named to either of those lists. Henderson's Wharf, which survived the onslaught of Tropical Storm Isabel and came out looking even better, has been a favorite of TripAdvisor for several years.

Belmont, the 18th-century Elkridge estate on 68 acres operated as a conference center and education lab by Howard Community College, will close at year's end, costing six people their jobs, college officials announced Thursday. The secluded, pale yellow house surrounded by Patapsco State Park was built in 1738 as a wedding gift for the son of Caleb Dorsey. It has been a source of controversy since 2004, when the community college foundation bought it for $5.2 million. The property, along with an adjacent 13 acres and a house, have been up for sale since August 2009, but with no buyer in sight, college officials said business at Belmont has declined so much that they must close it. "When you look ahead at the bookings we had, there wasn't much," said college President Kate Hetherington.

OK, the residents of Epping Forest are united in their objection to the development of 12 lots across from their encampment on Salt Creek. May I offer a simple solution to the environmental issues in this case? The bay is important to all of us. Brown water is not the optimum condition of the Severn River. In order to preserve the river and the bay, would all of the Epping Forest landowners who are within 1000 feet to Salt Creek abandon their properties, clear the land and return it to the predevelopment condition?