Gina Merritt and Michael Karnes have founded NREUV Contracting and Mechanical, a D.C.-based company specializing in designing and installing HVAC systems for new and existing construction properties, with the goal of creating opportunities for Black and Brown communities and supporting minority subcontractors.
Author Archives: Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer
Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits and initiatives. Her love of music inspired her to be a writer. At a young age she realized it was not the melody that she was so infatuated with, but the lyrics that made up the song and connected with listeners. Sayles grew up in Pasadena, Maryland, and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, where for her senior capstone project she reported on how the coronavirus and inequality intersected in Baltimore. She also worked as a staff writer and copy editor for campus publications, including Stories Beneath the Shell and The Black Explosion. Sayles teamed up with a partner to report on how the pandemic had put many more responsibilities on the oldest child in families. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up her story.
Morgan State hosts U.S. Department of Transportation officials to discuss innovation in transportation
The U.S. Department of Transportation visited Morgan State University’s National Transportation Center to learn about the hub’s ongoing innovations in transportation and technology, including autonomous wheelchairs and smart intersection technology.
Greater Baltimore Committee to unveil regional economic opportunity strategy at 69th annual meeting
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) will unveil its 10-year economic opportunity plan at its 69th Annual Meeting on May 23 at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, which is designed to achieve a globally competitive and equitable economy in the region.
Final victim in Key Bridge collapse recovered
The body of 37-year-old José Mynor López, the sixth victim of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, has been located and his family has been notified.
Salvage teams prepare to remove Key Bridge wreckage from Dali
Preparation efforts are underway to remove spans of the Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on top of the Dali container ship, with special equipment being used to supervise the positioning and movement of the vessel and the bridge remains.
Mayor Bowser celebrates D.C. Small Business Week
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) are celebrating D.C. Small Business Week with a host of free events and summits open to the District’s more than 70,000 small business owners, including the Robust Retail Citywide Grants and a networking gathering for Certified Business Enterprises.
UpSurge report demonstrates strength and opportunities in local tech ecosystem
UpSurge Baltimore’s 2024 Tech Ecosystem Report revealed that local companies in the Baltimore MSA raised $782 million in venture capital in 2023, up 12.3 percent from the seven-year average, and that 90% of the investment went to healthcare and information technology.
Local and state government embrace AI to enhance digital services
Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Governor Wes Moore have issued executive orders to regulate the use and development of artificial intelligence within city operations and state agencies, respectively, to ensure the best interests of their residents are centered as the technology becomes increasingly common.
Vessels travel through temporary channel as wreckage from Key Bridge collapse is cleared
Nineteen vessels have traveled through the 38-foot-deep Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel since it opened on April 25, carrying cargo such as sugar, cement, fertilizer and lumber, while efforts continue to clear a permanent 50-foot channel and remove the Dali ship.
Biden-Harris administration scrubs $6.1 billion in student loans for former art students
The Biden-Harris administration is canceling more than $6.1 billion in student loans for 317,000 individuals who attended Art Institutes, a private, for-profit system of art schools, due to fraudulent practices by the institutes and its parent company, Education Management Corporation.
Wells Fargo Foundation gifts $200,000 to Junior Achievement of Greater Washington for 3DE model expansion
The Wells Fargo Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to Junior Achievement (JA) of Greater Washington to expand the organization’s 3DE program, a four-year educational model designed to connect core classroom subjects to real-world experiences.
Baltimore company files class action lawsuit against Dali ship owners
By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com American Publishing has filed a class action lawsuit against the owner and manager of the Dali cargo ship, which struck the Francis Scott […]