Latest news with #Maryland-based
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hines, Sumitomo partner on waterfront apartments near DC
This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter. Property: Potomac Shores multifamily development Developers: Hines, Sumitomo Forestry, Chuo-Nittochi Group Architect: Lessard Design Inc. Location: Dumfries, Virginia Units: 365 Cost: Withheld Houston-based developer Hines is joining forces with two Japanese real estate groups — Sumitomo Forestry and Chuo-Nittochi Group — to add a 365-unit apartment project to the Potomac Shores master-planned community south of Washington, D.C., in Dumfries, Virginia. The partnership recently closed on the development site, located one block from a future Virginia Railway Express train station, and expects to start construction in late July. The as-yet-unnamed project is set to be completed in 2027. The five-story wood-frame building will include a mix of studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units, along with 31,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor community spaces. Amenities will include a coworking lounge, a children's play area, a pool and cabanas, a fitness center, a rooftop lounge and outdoor recreation areas. Bethesda, Maryland-based Coakley & Williams Construction is the project's general contractor. The 2,000-acre Potomac Shores community, developed by New York City-based Biddle Real Estate Ventures, is located along 2 miles of the Potomac River shoreline. The upcoming multifamily project will be the only one of its kind in Potomac Shores, joining single-family home developments by Ryan Homes and Stanley Martin Homes, both based in Reston, Virginia, and Fort Mitchell, Kentucky-based Drees Homes, according to the property website. 'This water- and transit-oriented multifamily development is uniquely positioned as the only rental community within an already established mixed-use master-planned community,' said Andrew McGeorge, senior managing director at Hines, in the release. 'With minimal multifamily construction expected in 2025, the market has a heightened demand for high-quality, newly constructed apartment homes like this one.' The Hines project will be located near the Potomac Shores town center, which includes over 3.7 million square feet of commercial and retail space. The property also encompasses 850 acres of open space, a trail network in progress, a newly renovated golf course and elementary, middle and high schools. The Potomac Shores rail station is expected to be completed in late 2026, providing access to Washington, D.C.; Quantico, Virginia; and Arlington, Virginia. Recommended Reading JPI-Sumitomo deal closes Sign in to access your portfolio
NBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Rick Huether, CEO of the Independent Can Company. Eric Kayne for NBC News Checkbook Chronicles Kicking the can down the road on tariffs won't work for this Maryland manufacturer Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June.
July 26, 2025, 7:15 AM EDT By Emily Lorsch When Rick Huether strolls the floors of his four manufacturing plants — two in Maryland and two in Ohio — employees' typical greetings such as, 'Hey, how's the family?' have been increasingly replaced with, 'Hey Rick, should I be looking for a job somewhere else?' Huether, the CEO of Independent Can Company, has had to raise prices on customers twice this year and it's the third time since President Donald Trump's first term. 'It's frustrating,' Huether said of the Trump administration's ever-evolving tariff agenda, which now includes 50% import taxes on the foreign-made steel his company relies on. 'I can't run my business the way I want to run it.' Huether, a Republican, said he shares the administration's goal of reinvigorating American industry. 'We want to bring as much manufacturing back to this country as you can. And as a family, we made a strategic commitment to being the specialty can maker in America with American workers,' he said. 'We want to be here.' But according to Huether, Trump has made that harder to do. He said he has never voted for the president because he dislikes how he treats people and communicates, and his trade policies have caused headaches for his business operations. 'Chaos is our nemesis,' Huether said, echoing a concern many small business owners have voiced for months amid Trump's erratic tariff rollout: 'We can't plan when we don't have a vision of what's going on for the next two or three years.' Business highlights Independent Can Company's wares might already be in your cupboard. The Belcamp, Maryland-based family business, in operation since 1929, makes the packaging for everything from Wegmans' brand of Virginia peanuts to the Santa Claus tins filled with chocolates or popcorn that hit grocery shelves around the holidays. The company manufactures cans and other containers for popular consumer brands including Swiss Miss, Zippo and Titleist. One of its newest customers is the lip balm maker Burt's Bees. Independent Can Company — whose annual sales have averaged $130 million in recent years — used to have more than 30 domestic competitors in specialty can making, Huether estimated, many of which were family-owned businesses. Today there are just a couple left, he said. The company employs about 400 people across its four plants. A fifth, in Iowa, closed in 2024 due to what Huether described as a combination of clients' shifting packaging needs and Trump's first-term steel tariffs. He secured some exemptions from those levies at the time but still had to raise prices in 2018 by anywhere from 8-16%, depending on the product. Independent Can Company's manufacturing process relies on a highly specialized material called tinplate, a very thin-gauge, flat-rolled steel with an electro-coated surface of tin. Developed as a corrosion-resistant material safe for food packaging, tinplate supplies are limited — the product makes up only about 2% of global steel production, Huether estimated, and it's only roughly 1% of the steel produced in the U.S. Up until about 2007, Independent Can Company bought most of its tinplate domestically but now sources most of it overseas — the majority from Germany, along with Taiwan and South Korea — due to foreign suppliers' quality, service and price. The business adopted more efficient production systems starting in the 1990s, which included a new printing line in 2000 that uses a larger sheet size, boosting efficiency. The issue: steel coils large enough for that system aren't available domestically right now, partly because American steel companies haven't kept up with manufacturers' needs, Huether said. In addition, the materials Independent Can Company uses are about twice as expensive in the U.S. than in Asia and about 20% more expensive than in Europe, Huether estimated. Tariff impacts The cost squeeze is weighing on Independent Can Company as it struggles to rebound from a rough two years, amid pandemic-related supply-chain issues and cost swings. Those challenges left the company with a lot of expensive steel that it had to sell at a loss. But after tens of millions in capital investments, including in automation, Independent Can Company is finally settling into a new normal that Huether expects to put the company back on surer footing this year, tariffs notwithstanding. Still, access to affordable tinplate is non-negotiable and remains a wild card. That material alone represents 50-75% of its products' prices, Huether estimated. With tariff exemptions removed in March, Independent Can Company began paying Trump's 25% levies on all its imported tinplate, a steep new expense that Huether said forced the business to hike prices on some products by 8-16%. After the duties were raised to 50% in June, the company imposed another round of 8-16% increases. 'This adjustment is necessary to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high-quality products and service you have come to expect,' Huether informed clients in a statement on the company's website earlier this year. 'We've really absorbed the amount of the tariffs that we can absorb,' he told NBC News. 'It's going to be passed through.' Bringing the shine back to 'Made in America' Huether is relieved that Independent Can Company hasn't lost business yet since the price hikes, but that worry is ever-present. There's a risk that some companies will switch to cheaper packaging, he said, including options that may not be as safe or recyclable. But it's hard to know how things will shake out… 'You instantly go to: Well, is this going to happen, or is it a tactic to get somebody to do something else? Is it real or not?' he said. In the meantime, Huether doubts whether rewriting U.S. trade policy can bring back American manufacturing overnight, or even in a few years. Huether believes in expanding vocational training in schools and eliminating the stigma often associated with certain career paths. 'We do not have the skills in this country to manage it,' he said, nodding to a reality that companies and analysts across a range of industrial sectors have underscored since the trade war began. 'It takes one to five years to get a full manufacturing plant up and running,' Huether said. 'We need time to do this.' What's more, 'We need predictability and consistency,' he added. 'We need to understand what the rules are. If the rules are constantly changing, we don't know how to play the game.' Emily Lorsch Emily Lorsch is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Experts reveal the 5 dirtiest spots in hotel rooms
Hotel rooms may look sparkling clean when you first arrive – but surprising levels of bacteria and viruses can be lurking in overlooked places. Beyond the usual suspects such as sinks and toilets, common 'touchpoints' like remotes and light switches are also crawling with germs, studies say. Hotel rooms had up to 10 times more bacteria – including fecal strains – than are allowed in hospitals, a University of Houston study found. The staff at hotels often spend just 30 minutes tidying and cleaning each room. They may skip decorative items entirely, Enza Laterrenia, head of housekeeping at Canne Bianche Lifestyle Hotel in Italy, told Travel & Leisure. Here's a list of spots that can be teeming with germs, experts warn — and the steps you should take as soon as you arrive in your hotel room. 1. Decorative elements 'Having worked in hotels, the first thing I fling off to a far corner of the room are decorative pillows and any decorative runner that goes along the foot of the bed,' Maria Diego, a San Diego, California-based travel adviser, told the travel magazine. 5 Hotel rooms may look sparkling clean when you first arrive – but surprising levels of bacteria and viruses can be lurking in overlooked places. Davizro Photography – 'These never get washed.' Duvet covers can also be a collecting place for germs. 'Most hotels do not wash the big duvet. They only wash the sheets,' a former hotel staffer noted on Reddit last year. 2. High-touch surfaces Diego said she is also cautious about switches, remote controls, phones, and other major touchpoints. 5 Maria Diego, a San Diego, California-based travel adviser, said she is also cautious about switches, remote controls, phones, and other major touchpoints. Friends Stock – Los Angeles travel adviser Rani Cheema said hotel room phones disgust her the most. 'I am grossed out by the receiver,' Cheema said. 'No one's cleaning that.' Carpets are another culprit. Many high-end hotels are now swapping them out for flooring or area rugs, according to Cheema. 3. Bathtubs Hotel bathrooms are even dirtier than airplanes, studies have found – especially the countertops. But the tub is also infested with germs, harboring up to 40 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, according to a 2023 investigation by 'I also won't take a bath in a hotel unless it's a super-luxe five-star hotel, and only if it's a non-jet bathtub,' Diego said. Jetted tubs can harbor more bacteria and aren't always disinfected fully, according to experts. 4. Overlooked and hard-to-reach spots Ceiling fans, curtain rods, shower heads, and other such spots are often neglected, according to Laterrenia of Canne Bianche Lifestyle Hotel. LaDell Carter, founder of Maryland-based Royal Expression Travels, said she looks out for other red flags. 'When I enter a room and notice a dusty charging port next to the bed or a bedside lamp caked in residue, that tells me the basics may have been done, but the details were missed,' Carter told Fox News Digital. 5 Bathtubs are also infested with germs, harboring up to 40 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, according to a 2023 investigation by WaterFilterGuru. amixstudio – 5. Glasses and ice buckets Housekeeping staff have been found to wipe down glassware between guests' stays – not replace it, according to reports. 'Personally, I never use mugs or glasses in the room without rinsing them out first,' Carter said. 'I usually boil water in the kettle and give each item a thorough rinse.' 5 Ice buckets should have a liner, experts say. Alla – 'It's not about fear, it's about good habits,' she added. The ice bucket could be the next breeding ground. During one norovirus outbreak at a hotel, guests vomited in ice buckets, contributing to the spread, Brian Labus, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, told Travel and Leisure last year. Ice buckets should have a liner, experts say. 5 Beyond the usual suspects such as sinks and toilets, common 'touchpoints' like remotes and light switches are also crawling with germs, studies say. makistock – Otherwise, consider packing your own drinkware and a small cooler with ice. If anything feels 'off,' alert the front desk staff, Carter recommended. The staff can have the room cleaned again or move you to another room.
NBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Kicking the can down the road on tariffs won't work for this Maryland manufacturer
Checkbook Chronicles Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June. July 26, 2025, 7:15 AM EDT By Emily Lorsch When Rick Huether strolls the floors of his four manufacturing plants — two in Maryland and two in Ohio — employees' typical greetings such as, 'Hey, how's the family?' have been increasingly replaced with, 'Hey Rick, should I be looking for a job somewhere else?' Huether, the CEO of Independent Can Company, has had to raise prices on customers twice this year and it's the third time since President Donald Trump's first term. 'It's frustrating,' Huether said of the Trump administration's ever-evolving tariff agenda, which now includes 50% import taxes on the foreign-made steel his company relies on. 'I can't run my business the way I want to run it.' Huether, a Republican, said he shares the administration's goal of reinvigorating American industry. 'We want to bring as much manufacturing back to this country as you can. And as a family, we made a strategic commitment to being the specialty can maker in America with American workers,' he said. 'We want to be here.' But according to Huether, Trump has made that harder to do. He said he has never voted for the president because he dislikes how he treats people and communicates, and his trade policies have caused headaches for his business operations. 'Chaos is our nemesis,' Huether said, echoing a concern many small business owners have voiced for months amid Trump's erratic tariff rollout: 'We can't plan when we don't have a vision of what's going on for the next two or three years.' Business highlights Independent Can Company's wares might already be in your cupboard. The Belcamp, Maryland-based family business, in operation since 1929, makes the packaging for everything from Wegmans' brand of Virginia peanuts to the Santa Claus tins filled with chocolates or popcorn that hit grocery shelves around the holidays. The company manufactures cans and other containers for popular consumer brands including Swiss Miss, Zippo and Titleist. One of its newest customers is the lip balm maker Burt's Bees. Independent Can Company — whose annual sales have averaged $130 million in recent years — used to have more than 30 domestic competitors in specialty can making, Huether estimated, many of which were family-owned businesses. Today there are just a couple left, he said. The company employs about 400 people across its four plants. A fifth, in Iowa, closed in 2024 due to what Huether described as a combination of clients' shifting packaging needs and Trump's first-term steel tariffs. He secured some exemptions from those levies at the time but still had to raise prices in 2018 by anywhere from 8-16%, depending on the product. Independent Can Company's manufacturing process relies on a highly specialized material called tinplate, a very thin-gauge, flat-rolled steel with an electro-coated surface of tin. Developed as a corrosion-resistant material safe for food packaging, tinplate supplies are limited — the product makes up only about 2% of global steel production, Huether estimated, and it's only roughly 1% of the steel produced in the U.S. Up until about 2007, Independent Can Company bought most of its tinplate domestically but now sources most of it overseas — the majority from Germany, along with Taiwan and South Korea — due to foreign suppliers' quality, service and price. The business adopted more efficient production systems starting in the 1990s, which included a new printing line in 2000 that uses a larger sheet size, boosting efficiency. The issue: steel coils large enough for that system aren't available domestically right now, partly because American steel companies haven't kept up with manufacturers' needs, Huether said. In addition, the materials Independent Can Company uses are about twice as expensive in the U.S. than in Asia and about 20% more expensive than in Europe, Huether estimated. Tariff impacts The cost squeeze is weighing on Independent Can Company as it struggles to rebound from a rough two years, amid pandemic-related supply-chain issues and cost swings. Those challenges left the company with a lot of expensive steel that it had to sell at a loss. But after tens of millions in capital investments, including in automation, Independent Can Company is finally settling into a new normal that Huether expects to put the company back on surer footing this year, tariffs notwithstanding. Still, access to affordable tinplate is non-negotiable and remains a wild card. That material alone represents 50-75% of its products' prices, Huether estimated. With tariff exemptions removed in March, Independent Can Company began paying Trump's 25% levies on all its imported tinplate, a steep new expense that Huether said forced the business to hike prices on some products by 8-16%. After the duties were raised to 50% in June, the company imposed another round of 8-16% increases. 'This adjustment is necessary to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high-quality products and service you have come to expect,' Huether informed clients in a statement on the company's website earlier this year. 'We've really absorbed the amount of the tariffs that we can absorb,' he told NBC News. 'It's going to be passed through.' Bringing the shine back to 'Made in America' Huether is relieved that Independent Can Company hasn't lost business yet since the price hikes, but that worry is ever-present. There's a risk that some companies will switch to cheaper packaging, he said, including options that may not be as safe or recyclable. But it's hard to know how things will shake out… 'You instantly go to: Well, is this going to happen, or is it a tactic to get somebody to do something else? Is it real or not?' he said. In the meantime, Huether doubts whether rewriting U.S. trade policy can bring back American manufacturing overnight, or even in a few years. Huether believes in expanding vocational training in schools and eliminating the stigma often associated with certain career paths. 'We do not have the skills in this country to manage it,' he said, nodding to a reality that companies and analysts across a range of industrial sectors have underscored since the trade war began. 'It takes one to five years to get a full manufacturing plant up and running,' Huether said. 'We need time to do this.' What's more, 'We need predictability and consistency,' he added. 'We need to understand what the rules are. If the rules are constantly changing, we don't know how to play the game.' Emily Lorsch Emily Lorsch is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Trump's birthright citizenship restrictions blocked for third time
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the US illegally, issuing the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide since a key Supreme Court decision in June. US District Judge Leo Sorokin, joining another district court as well as an appellate panel of judges, found that a nationwide injunction granted to more than a dozen states remains in force under an exception to the Supreme Court ruling. That decision restricted the power of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions. The states have argued Trump's birthright citizenship order is blatantly unconstitutional and threatens millions of dollars for health insurance services that are contingent on citizenship status. The issue is expected to move quickly back to the nation's highest court. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement the administration looked forward to 'being vindicated on appeal.' New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who helped lead the lawsuit before Sorokin, said in a statement he was 'thrilled the district court again barred President Trump's flagrantly unconstitutional birthright citizenship order from taking effect anywhere.' 'American-born babies are American, just as they have been at every other time in our Nation's history,' he added. 'The President cannot change that legal rule with the stroke of a pen.' Sorokin acknowledged his order would not be the last word on birthright citizenship. The Trump administration has not yet appealed any of the recent court rulings. The president's efforts to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily will remain blocked unless and until the Supreme Court says otherwise. A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a ruling earlier this month prohibiting Trump's executive order from taking effect nationwide in a new class-action lawsuit. US District Judge Joseph LaPlante in New Hampshire had paused his own decision to allow for the Trump administration to appeal, but with no appeal filed, his order went into effect. On Wednesday, a San Francisco-based appeals court found the president's executive order unconstitutional and affirmed a lower court's nationwide block. A Maryland-based judge said last week that she would do the same if an appeals court signed off. The justices ruled last month that lower courts generally can't issue nationwide injunctions, but it didn't rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states. The Supreme Court did not decide whether the underlying citizenship order is constitutional.
