Regional News at a Glance

MARYLAND

In late July, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the Port of Baltimore will be implementing a more cost-effective way to handle cargo thanks to a $125 million federal grant. Maryland will partner with CSX to reconfigure the Howard Street Tunnel so that shipping containers can be double stacked for rail transport. This will ease bottlenecks, provide more direct routes, and increase annual throughput by about 100,000 containers. The project will create 7,000 construction jobs and roughly 7,400 jobs due to increased business at the port.

NORTH CAROLINA

Beginning in October, N.C. State will be the new headquarters of an agricultural research organization previously housed at Rutgers. The Inter-regional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4), funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, facilitates the registration of chemical pesticides and biopesticides for small-volume specialty food crops, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and some types of flowers. North Carolina has a wide range of specialty crops that account for more than 10 percent of the state's annual farm cash receipts, which some researchers say makes the state a logical home for IR-4. The move will take place over two years and will involve relocating the 27-person staff to Raleigh.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Starting this fall semester, Midlands Technical College in Columbia is offering a new scholarship program to residents of Richland, Lexington, and Fairfield counties pursuing certain manufacturing careers. The Pathways to Manufacturing Careers Scholarship offers full tuition for welding, mechatronics, machine tool, and basic electrical wiring academic programs as well as two training programs for welding and industrial electrical technicians. As part of the program, students can receive college credit for manufacturing courses taken in high school and will have access to internships and apprenticeships.

VIRGINIA

Virginia was named CNBC's top state for business for 2019; it is the fourth time in the 13 years of the list that the commonwealth has won the honor. CNBC cited factors such as a highly educated and STEM-heavy workforce, rising defense spending, and a minimal union presence as reasons for Virginia's win. CNBC's methodology measured 10 categories, including infrastructure, quality of life, access to capital, and cost of living, among others, to determine the rankings.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The National Children's Museum will open in its new location in Federal Triangle in November, this time with a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) focus. Incoming area resident Amazon has donated $250,000 to develop a "Data Science Alley" installation that encourages data literacy; the donation will also fund free museum tickets for 200,000 low-income visitors. The museum, which closed its previous location in 2014, expects 500,000 visitors in its first year after reopening.

WEST VIRGINIA

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the West Virginia Development Office an $803,000 grant to expand apprenticeships in the state. As of 2018, the state had 202 active apprenticeship programs serving about 4,000 apprentices. The state used a previous Department of Labor grant to draft a plan for increasing apprenticeships, and this new grant will put those plans into motion. The funds will be distributed in installments over a three-year period that began on July 1.