Consolidation

Zynga, the video game maker best known for FarmVille and Words With Friends, has closed its Timonium office as part of a broader corporate consolidation, company officials said Monday. The company also made changes at three other offices, closing and consolidating some in Texas and New York. The company did not say how many jobs were being cut, but said that the moves affected about 1 percent of its work force of more than 3,000. About half of those in the Timonium office were relocated.

T. Rowe Price, a fixture in downtown Baltimore since its founding 76 years ago, is considering moving its headquarters once its current lease expires in 2017, the company said Wednesday. The Baltimore-based money manager is weighing several options, including building a new headquarters on a number of vacant sites downtown, said spokesman Brian Lewbart. Possibilities include Harbor Point, where Exelon Corp. plans to erect its regional headquarters, as well as the former McCormick & Co. spice factory site at Conway and Light streets, which is now a parking lot, he said.

When the firehouse at the corner of Liberty Heights Avenue and Garrison Boulevard opened in 1905, the smell of oats and hay hung in the cool air of the building's brick-walled bays. When the alarm bell sounded, massive horses heaved against leather harnesses, hauling wooden fire wagons toward burning buildings.The firehouse is silent now, closed a few weeks ago as part of the city's push to consolidate firehouses and curb the soaring costs of building maintenance.Yesterday, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke was on hand to dedicate a $1.8 million replacement firehouse across the street and a short way up Liberty Heights Avenue from the old building.

A decade ago, Maryland's three largest banks were based in Baltimore. Allfirst, the biggest with nearly $17 billion in assets, fell victim to a foreign-exchange trading scandal that resulted in the bank being sold to a New York institution. Out-of-state competitors bought out the other two several years later. Throughout that time, Sandy Spring Bank in Olney operated and grew in their shadow. Today, it's the largest bank headquartered in Maryland, with assets at nearly $4 billion as of the end of last year.

Like a one-two punch, two major Maryland employers in the health care service and pharmaceutical industries were the targets last week of multibillion-dollar acquisition deals. Both homegrown companies — Human Genome Sciences Inc. and Catalyst Health Solutions Inc. — are based in Rockville. Both were courted by out-of-state companies. Human Genome ultimately rebuffed a $2.6 billion offer by biopharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, saying it was too low. But Catalyst agreed to be acquired by a larger Illinois competitor for $4.4 billion, and Human Genome has officially acknowledged it's on the market.

The Columbia-based publisher of the Howard County Times and the Columbia Flier newspapers is laying off employees in a partial consolidation of its Towson and Columbia operations.Patuxent Publishing, which publishes 13 Baltimore-area newspapers and is owned by New York-based Whitney Communications Co., told "under 15" employees two weeks ago that they would be laid off during the next 2 months, said Publisher S. Zeke Orlinsky."We're not sure what the number's going to be," Orlinsky said of the layoffs, explaining that the company was still working out details of the consolidation of design, production and classified departments.

As part of a nationwide movement, postal workers picketed in front of the main branch of the Baltimore post office on Fayette Street yesterday, protesting anticipated consolidation and ongoing cuts in staff they blame for worsening customer service. About 40 American Postal Workers Union members, joined by Service Employees International Union workers, chanted to the toots of whizzing cars. "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Postal cuts have got to go," they chanted. But thus far, Baltimore and most of Maryland remain unaffected by the U.S. Postal Service's consolidation plans.

that is County Executive Robert R. Neall's latest strategy to save money.Neall announced last week that work has begun on a plan to combine computing, warehousing, purchasing, insurance and other operations now being triplicated by the county government, public school system and Anne Arundel Community College. At his request, AACC President Tom Florestano, outgoing school Superintendent Larry L. Lorton andDennis Parkinson, the county's chief administrative officer, met forfour hours Tuesday to discuss 23 potential consolidation projects.

The city's Housing Authority has received six proposals from downtown office building owners to consolidate more than 400 administrative employees into a central location.The proposals came in response to a Housing Authority of Baltimore City request this month to lease or purchase a minimum of 100,000 square feet of office space within seven blocks of City Hall, at 100 N. Holliday St.If one of the lease proposals is accepted, it will more than double the largest downtown office transaction of the past two years.

Baltimore may have lost in the NFL derby, but hail to the IRS.In sweeping changes aimed at improving the way it conducts its business -- from collections and audits to answering simple taxpayer questions -- the Internal Revenue Service plans to eliminate some service centers around the nation and consolidate work at others.Baltimore was among the winners.In a gradual implementation of the plan over several years, 70 customer service sites around the country will be reduced to 23 -- and Baltimore's service center will be among the survivors.

Zynga, the video game maker best known for FarmVille and Words With Friends, has closed its Timonium office as part of a broader corporate consolidation, company officials said Monday. The company also made changes at three other offices, closing and consolidating some in Texas and New York. The company did not say how many jobs were being cut, but said that the moves affected about 1 percent of its work force of more than 3,000. About half of those in the Timonium office were relocated.

First Mariner Bancorp reported Thursday it earned about $1.6 million in the fourth quarter, the fourth quarter in a row that the Baltimore parent of 1 s t Mariner Bank posted a profit. First Mariner Bancorp reported Thursday that it earned about $1.6 million in the fourth quarter thanks largely to its mortgage business, making this the fourth quarter in a row that the Baltimore parent of 1st Mariner Bank posted a profit. For the corresponding quarter a year ago, First Mariner lost nearly $4 million.

An effort to revive more than 13,000 lawsuits filed by people who contend they were sickened by absestos was met with sharp objections Monday by lawyers for potential defendants. Plaintiffs' attorneys said consolidating some of the lawsuits would help people who have seen their cases languish for years. But defense lawyers told a Baltimore judge that the proposal — which made a fortune for the Law Firm of Peter Angelos previously — was unworkable and unfair. Opponents criricized the Angelos fim's suggestion for these cases, for people with a range of cancers but not mesothelioma, which has been closely linked to asbestos exposure.

Baltimore County is set to consolidate its government data center with the school system's next year, which officials say will save up to $4 million in construction costs. The County Council on Monday unanimously approved a proposal by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz to merge the centers. Under the plan, the schools' Department of Technology data center - which has been leasing space in Timonium - will move to the county's data center at the courthouse in Towson by next August. County leaders say combining the centers will save the school system between $2 million and $4 million in construction costs for a new building, plus $100,000 annually in maintenance expenses.

Baltimore County schools' data center would be combined with the county government's under a proposal by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, part of an effort to save money through consolidations. Kamenetz and schools Superintendent Dallas Dance said the move would increase government efficiency and free up more money for classroom needs. Officials estimate the move would save the school system between $2 million and $4 million in construction costs for a new data facility, as well as $100,000 in yearly maintenance expenses.

Maryland lawmakers are protesting a plan by the Obama administration to eliminate 450 federal jobs in Prince George's County, but it is unclear whether they will be able to reverse it. The move to consolidate the Financial Management Services facility in Hyattsville with the Bureau of Public Debt in Parkersburg, W.Va., is expected to save taxpayers $96 million over five years, according to the U.S. Treasury. The plan by the Treasury and the General Services Administration is set to begin in February 2014 with the relocation of 50 positions to West Virginia.

We've all seen the man on television who claims, "If installment payments or overdue bills are troubling you, we will consolidate all your bills into one low monthly payment. In addition, you will have a long time to pay back this loan." This is a bill-consolidation loan, which lets you pool your debts.But rarely does the TV salesman mention the interest rate you will be charged. His pitch is small monthly payments that seem to be affordable. But are they?First, any money that is very easily available is likely to be very expensive.

WASHINGTON -- Two consumer groups yesterday asked regulators to block a business consolidation between the Maryland and District of Columbia Blue Cross plans because the insurers give such poor service.The groups testified at the last day of a hearing by the D.C. commissioner of insurance and securities regulation. The two Blue Cross plans propose to create a nonprofit holding company that would control both their boards. The plans would combine some products and administrative functions.

Baltimore city school officials rolled out last week, the system's annual school readiness plan that includes a vast reduction in the number of bell schedules to alleviate pressure on its transportation system, as well as a sharp uptick in 'managing' school leaders. The update--the PowerPoint can be found here --also included 14 facility renovation projects all due to be completed by Monday when schools open to students; and a new, multilingual communications campaign that will distribute the system's literature in English and Spanish.

Rats, blighted properties and absentee landlords were among the concerns southwest Baltimore County residents shared Wednesday with County Executive Kevin Kamenetz at his first community forum. At the event in Lansdowne, Kamenetz emphasized the county's fiscal management, saying that the county is "weathering these tough times better than most. " He pointed to consolidation of public agencies and a focus on the most essential services. The county has its smallest workforce in 25 years, and it has not raised property or income taxes for decades.