Daily briefing
Knorr Brake to add 200 jobs at Westminster facility Westminster-based Knorr Brake Co., which makes brakes, doors and HVAC systems for mass-transit rail lines, will add 200 new jobs over the next six years, the Maryland Department of Commerce announced Thursday. The company will add 30,000 square feet of space to its facility at the Westminster Technology Park, investing $2.2 million. The company built its facility there in 2013. The Maryland Department of Commerce will provide a $700,000 conditional loan through the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund to help the company expand. Knorr Brake currently has 280 full-time employees. “We are a growth company with a long history in Carroll County and we look forward to our continued development here,” said Rich Bowie, the company’s president.
—Carrie Wells Firm picked to redevelop N. Howard Street site Poverni Sheikh Group has been selected by the Baltimore Development Corp. to move forward with plans to redevelop five blighted properties on North Howard Street. The Baltimorebased developer has proposed redeveloping the connected properties in the 400 block of N. Howard St. into five streetlevel storefronts topped with 39 marketrate apartments called Howard Row.
Poverni has proposed purchasing the set of three-story buildings for $75,000. The proposal was one of five responses to a request for proposals from BDC and one of three proposals the board considered for bringing life to a vacant and blighted property. The BDC voted in a closed session of its Thursday board meeting to select Poverni Sheikh’s proposal. The proposed purchase price will be negotiated, said BDC President William H. Cole IV. The firm recently redeveloped a former Planned Parenthood site in the 600 block of N. Howard St. into retail and storage space. And late last year the firm opened The Vault, a 24-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail at the corner of East Lexington and North Charles streets.
—Sarah Gantz Home service share company expands to area TaskRabbit, an online marketplace offering handyman and other home services, launched Thursday in Baltimore and six other cities. The app links residents with “taskers” who can offer help with moving, hauling, furniture assembly, TV mounting, housecleaning and yardwork.
The launch in Baltimore; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Detroit; Nashville, Tenn.; Raleigh- Durham, N.C.; and Sacramento, Calif., expands the business to 34 cities in the United States and the United Kingdom, with 60,000 people offering services.
Taskers earn $35 an hour on average. The San Francisco-based company helped pioneer the sharing economy with its founding in 2008. Baltimore residents can start booking services starting Thursday through TaskRabbit’s mobile app or through the TaskRabbit.com website. The company says its site connects customers in minutes to qualified, vetted taskers.
—Lorraine Mirabella Lawsuit alleges GM cheated on emissions Shares of General Motors fell almost 2 percent Thursday after some truck owners alleged in a lawsuit that the company cheated on government diesel emissions tests. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleges that GM pickup trucks with Duramax diesel engines have three devices on them that are rigged to allow more pollution on the road than during treadmill tests in the Environmental Protection Agency laboratory. GM said the allegations are without merit.
—Associated Press GOP backs off bid to end debit-card fee limit Restaurants, grocers and other businesses are celebrating as House Republicans back off efforts to eliminate the cap on fees that banks can charge retailers when customers use a debit card. The chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, had pushed for scrapping the limit as part of his legislation to gut the Dodd-Frank law.
Those are the strict financial rules established after the 2008 financial crisis. Big banks have lobbied strenuously against the cap, arguing that it hurts financial institutions while giving a break to retailers. But the issue divided congressional Republicans and forced leaders to delay a vote on Hensarling's bill. Late Wednesday, Hensarling said he would cut the debit-card cap provision from his bill, clearing the way for a House vote next month.
—Associated Press
—Carrie Wells Firm picked to redevelop N. Howard Street site Poverni Sheikh Group has been selected by the Baltimore Development Corp. to move forward with plans to redevelop five blighted properties on North Howard Street. The Baltimorebased developer has proposed redeveloping the connected properties in the 400 block of N. Howard St. into five streetlevel storefronts topped with 39 marketrate apartments called Howard Row.
Poverni has proposed purchasing the set of three-story buildings for $75,000. The proposal was one of five responses to a request for proposals from BDC and one of three proposals the board considered for bringing life to a vacant and blighted property. The BDC voted in a closed session of its Thursday board meeting to select Poverni Sheikh’s proposal. The proposed purchase price will be negotiated, said BDC President William H. Cole IV. The firm recently redeveloped a former Planned Parenthood site in the 600 block of N. Howard St. into retail and storage space. And late last year the firm opened The Vault, a 24-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail at the corner of East Lexington and North Charles streets.
—Sarah Gantz Home service share company expands to area TaskRabbit, an online marketplace offering handyman and other home services, launched Thursday in Baltimore and six other cities. The app links residents with “taskers” who can offer help with moving, hauling, furniture assembly, TV mounting, housecleaning and yardwork.
The launch in Baltimore; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Detroit; Nashville, Tenn.; Raleigh- Durham, N.C.; and Sacramento, Calif., expands the business to 34 cities in the United States and the United Kingdom, with 60,000 people offering services.
Taskers earn $35 an hour on average. The San Francisco-based company helped pioneer the sharing economy with its founding in 2008. Baltimore residents can start booking services starting Thursday through TaskRabbit’s mobile app or through the TaskRabbit.com website. The company says its site connects customers in minutes to qualified, vetted taskers.
—Lorraine Mirabella Lawsuit alleges GM cheated on emissions Shares of General Motors fell almost 2 percent Thursday after some truck owners alleged in a lawsuit that the company cheated on government diesel emissions tests. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleges that GM pickup trucks with Duramax diesel engines have three devices on them that are rigged to allow more pollution on the road than during treadmill tests in the Environmental Protection Agency laboratory. GM said the allegations are without merit.
—Associated Press GOP backs off bid to end debit-card fee limit Restaurants, grocers and other businesses are celebrating as House Republicans back off efforts to eliminate the cap on fees that banks can charge retailers when customers use a debit card. The chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, had pushed for scrapping the limit as part of his legislation to gut the Dodd-Frank law.
Those are the strict financial rules established after the 2008 financial crisis. Big banks have lobbied strenuously against the cap, arguing that it hurts financial institutions while giving a break to retailers. But the issue divided congressional Republicans and forced leaders to delay a vote on Hensarling's bill. Late Wednesday, Hensarling said he would cut the debit-card cap provision from his bill, clearing the way for a House vote next month.
—Associated Press
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