It’s no secret that Baltimore is to thank for many of the inventions that have influenced the modern world. Here, we round up four of the coolest creations that the city takes credit for—and some of the local businesses keeping the tradition alive today.

LINOTYPE

In 1884, German-born inventor and Baltimorean Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the linotype, a machine that quickly set complete lines of type and revolutionized printing forever. In the first decade of its use, American news- paper readership shot from 3.6 million to more than 33 million.

→ BRICKHOUSE BOOKS
Though we’re well past the days of the linotype, Maryland’s oldest continuously operating small press (since 1970) embraces modern technology to print batches of poetry, fiction, drama, and artistic nonfiction from a wide range of voices.

→ BLACK CLASSIC PRESS
In 1978, W. Paul Coates started a press company in his basement, and it remains as one of the oldest independently owned black publishers in the United States. The legacy printer publishes and reissues works from African-American thinkers such as Walter Mosley and W.E.B. Du Bois.

BIKES

Baltimore became the birthplace of the American bicycle in 1818, when a local piano maker named James Stewart created his own take on the European velocipede. Bicycles, which originally had pedals on the front wheel, have evolved from the velocipede to the high-wheel bikes of the 19th century to the modern version seen on city streets today.

→ BALTIMORE BICYCLE WORKS
This dedicated worker-owned bicycle shop in Station North offers attentive customer service, repairs, and a selection of reliable bikes and parts, hop- ing to bring the joy of biking back to its birthplace.

→ JOE’S BIKE SHOP
Joe Traill, owner of Joe’s Bike Shop, fell in love with bikes at a young age and worked as both a bike messenger and a repairman before becoming the owner of one of Baltimore’s favorite bike repair shops.

RYE WHISKEY

In the early 19th century, Baltimore earned national recognition for the inven- tion and distillation of this tasty liquor. The rye whiskey industry boomed until Prohibition brought production to a halt, but, luckily for local rye lovers, it has enjoyed a full-blown renaissance in the Old Line State thanks to area distilleries.

→ SAGAMORE SPIRIT
In 2017, Sagamore Spirit, co-founded by Under Armour mogul Kevin Plank, helped resurrect Maryland’s rye whiskey industry with its signature sipper proofed with limestone water from an area horse farm. The distillery’s headquarters in Port Covington hosts tours, workshops, and events dedicated to teaching visitors about the local history of the spirit as well as the practice of whiskey production.

→ BALTIMORE SPIRITS CO.
Housed in Medfield’s Union Collective and founded by three Baltimore natives in 2015, the Baltimore Spirits Company uses modern distillation techniques to create their own version of the old-world spirit. While the popular spot also distills liquors such as gin and brandy, the Epoch Rye has remained its calling card.

ICE CREAM FACTORY

In 1851, Baltimore milk dealer Jacob Fussell took over a dairy business that sold a frozen blend of milk, eggs, and sugar, and not long after, he opened the nation’s first ice cream factory. Fussell’s mass production of the sweet treat made making ice cream affordable and turned it into the phenomenon the world knows and loves.

→ THE CHARMERY
Since the Charmery opened its flagship store in Hampden in 2013, this beloved creamery has expanded to two addition- al locations and has its own factory in Union Collective. Known for out-of-the box flavors such as Old Bay Caramel and Cheese and Crackers, this fan-favorite brand is definitely keeping Baltimore’s ice cream legacy alive.

→ TAHARKA BROTHERS ICE CREAM

This socially conscious ice cream business uses its delicious flavors, now served out of Broadway Market, as well as tons of local restaurants and grocery stores, as a vehicle to bring people together to discuss social change in the city and beyond.

When Casey McKeel began roasting coffee, she started with a drum roaster attached to a backyard grill behind her Waverly home. She’d grown up in the business. Her mother ran a café in her native Michigan and, as an undergraduate, she’d studied the impact of the coffee trade on communities where coffee is farmed and produced. In 2012, McKeel, who’d moved here two years earlier, launched Thread Coffee determined to build a democratically run, environmentally sustainable, fair and transparent trade operation.

A year later, Thread forged a relationship with Red Emma’s, the city’s ever-expanding worker-cooperative bookstore, café, and venue—then in its original basement location on St. Paul Street. “That was before Red Emma’s moved to Station North, but it was looking for a larger space,” McKeel recalls. “We thought, ‘Why not share resources? We could roast in-house there and split a portion of the rent and licensing.”

This was hardly the first collaborative project for Red Emma’s, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this month. By the time Thread Coffee began its association with Red Emma’s, named for the turn-of-the-century immigrant, anarchist, and writer Emma Goldman, they had already spun off the collectively managed 2640 Space—the still-thriving destination for grassroots political and cultural events—in partnership with St. John’s United Methodist Church. And they had assisted in the launch of the city’s only worker-owned and democratically operated bike shop—Baltimore Bicycle Works. Thread Coffee was in a good hands.

Five years after incubating with Red Emma’s, Thread moved into its own roasting space and café inside the Open Works building in 2017. The same year, Food and Wine named them Maryland’s “Best Coffee.”

“We got to see how Red Emma’s functioned from the inside as a worker-cooperative, how they developed consensus around decision-making,” McKeel says. “That was a crucial learning experience.”

In today’s Amazon-dominated, e-sales-driven book industry, if Red Emma’s had done nothing else beyond survive for the past decade and a half, it would be a remarkable achievement. Instead, it has evolved into a community hub and indispensable institution, hosting nationally renowned writers, activists, artists, and educators. They’ve organized the Radical Bookfair Pavilion, part of the Baltimore Book Festival, for more than a decade, attracting the likes of Amy Goodman, Amiri Baraka, and Ralph Nader.

They were the first to publish New York Times best-selling Baltimore author D. Watkins in print, putting his viral essay “Too Poor for Pop Culture” together with other work into a zine format. They’ve provided a platform for acclaimed local photographer Devin Allen and the city’s award-winning youth poets from DewMore. Last summer, they moved back to Mount Vernon into a 9,000-square-foot building on Cathedral Street that once served as home to a jazz club run by Baltimore legend Ethel Ennis. In the process, they’ve grown from a handful of worker-owners to a payroll of almost 30 people, all making a sustainable wage.

But the thing those at Red Emma’s are probably most proud of, co-founder John Duda says, is the something they’re less known for: how their inclusive, non-hierarchical project has helped spark and support a whole movement of worker cooperatives in Baltimore. “When we started, there was zero local guidance and zero local support for anyone trying to imagine how to own and run a business democratically,” Duda says. “We found ourselves not only figuring things out as we went along, but fielding lots of demand from people trying to follow in our footsteps.”

Beyond launching 2640, working with Thread, and their early advising role with Baltimore Bicycle Works, which recently opened a second shop in Belvedere Square, the Red Emma’s team has helped beloved ice cream makers Taharka Brothers in their ongoing shift to employee-ownership. They’ve assisted the immigrant women at the Mera Kitchen Collective—who hold pop-up events around the city and sell their international dishes at JFX Farmer’s Market—as well as the returning citizens at Core Staffing and the vegan food activists at Greener Kitchen.

In turn, those experiences, along with their own struggles raising capital from traditional banks, helped those at Red Emma’s understand the key role of cooperative-friendly finance. Eventually, it all led to the formation of the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED), which has now gone on to deploy close to $700,000 in “non-extractive” loans—loans paid back as a percentage of profits—to local worker cooperatives. When Duda and fellow Red Emma’s co-founder Kate Khatib (they married in 2015) arrived in Baltimore in 2003 to pursue PhDs in Intellectual History at Johns Hopkins University, they hadn’t thought about becoming, much less bankrolling, a new breed of entrepreneur. That’s what has happened, however.

“I think we got increasingly serious about the business the longer we were around, and as people started to take us more seriously,” chuckles Khatib after a recent packed house for a Q&A with D. Watkins and Baltimore Beat editor Lisa Snowden-McCray. “I can’t say we saw this coming or it was planned,” adds Khatib, who works half-time at Red Emma’s while also serving as BRED’s executive director.

“Probably half of us thought Red Emma’s would last a year on St. Paul Street and then we’d go on to something else.”

BRED’s first loan, $15,000 to Taharka Brothers, helped them get their famously neon pink ice cream truck repaired in time for the summer of 2016. A second loan enabled them to open their new scoop shop at the renovated Broadway Market. Another loan helped Thread finance a larger capacity coffee roaster to meet growing demand. BRED loans also allowed The Greener Kitchen to purchase equipment for a production facility and rental kitchen, and assisted Core Staffing with working capital to better serve its members.

“Red Emma’s is the poster child for worker-owned businesses, and we turned to them and BRED during what was a tumultuous time for us,” says Sean Smeeton, a Taharka Brothers co-founder. “We had an offer from an investor, but they wanted 51 percent of the business and control of the decision-making process. We didn’t want that. We wanted to empower the young black men that work for Taharka to become entrepreneurs.”

Darius Wilmore, Taharka Brothers’ creative director, adds Red Emma’s did a lot more than facilitate a loan, assisting in the technical work of restructuring the business. In particular, Khatib and Ro McIntyre, another former Red Emma’s worker-owner and BRED co-founder, “spent so much time at our building in Clipper Mill, guiding us, they practically worked here part-time,” Wilmore says. (“We did it for the ice cream,” McIntyre jokes later, “which is great.”)

As Red Emma’s has become a model for local cooperatives and others around the country—Firestorm Books & Coffee in Asheville, North Carolina, and Wooden Shoe Books and Records in Philadelphia, to name two—the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy has provided a template for a national network of similar loan funds, called Seed Commons. Baltimore is not alone in seeing its worker cooperative ecosystem grow in recent years. Cities including New York, Madison, Minneapolis, Oakland, Berkeley, Austin, and Cleveland have also begun to integrate worker cooperative support into their economic development strategies. (Briefly defined: Worker-owned co-ops are values-based enterprises that prioritize worker and community benefit. Workers are represented in leadership and manage the day-to-day through various management structures.)

“We turned to Red Emma’s and BRED during . . . a tumultuous time for us.”

In fact, the City of Baltimore recently awarded a potentially significant $47,000 Community Catalyst Grant to BRED to pilot a worker-cooperative “conversion” pipeline. That grant, operated in concert with the Baltimore Development Corporation, is designed to assist retiring business owners in transitioning ownership, if so inclined, to their employees. The “silver tsunami” of Baby Boomer retirements could cost Baltimore thousands of jobs if the children of those business owners, for example, don’t wish to take over those enterprises.

Given the cooperative ecosystem here, Duda says, owners may begin to realize that it’s becoming easier to retire “through an exit to workplace democracy” and more satisfying, in terms of their legacy, than selling to an equity fund that may kill off the business. Again, it’s not just Baltimore. Recognizing the possible dissolution of millions of small businesses, Congress in 2018 passed the Main Street Ownership Act to smooth the finance of business sales to employees. (Pointing to their own legacy, Red Emma’s will help host the biennial three-day Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, presented by the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, at the University of Baltimore School of Law in mid-October.)

“Cooperatives take a while to get going, but the process of converting existing businesses should be a faster,” says Kristin Dawson, of the quasi-public Baltimore Development Corporation. Dawson and others note marginalized, low-income groups, often including immigrants, women, minorities, and the queer community—in other words, those without access to traditional capital—stand to benefit from the cooperative financing model.

Not that anyone expects to get rich from working at a cooperative. Baltimore Bicycle Works founder Josh Keogh’s salary was roughly $35,000 before he left after nine years for a position at the Arts & Ideas Sudbury School. The job came with health benefits, however, and given the seasonal nature of the business, 10 weeks vacation. “It’s a normal bike shop in a lot of ways, except all decisions are made in an open and transparent way, and we didn’t have the seasonal ups and downs of hiring people and then laying them off,” Keogh says. Nor should anyone believe working in a cooperative business is easier than working in a more typically structured business. Building consensus around decision-making is, by nature, a cumbersome process.

That said, studies show co-ops are often more productive than traditional enterprises. Equally important, they can prove transformative for work-owners. Whitney Jones, who’s been in the front of the house at Red Emma’s for three years, didn’t believe being part owner of a successful business was even a possibility for her.

“I grew up a black and trans woman in Baltimore, and there are a lot things, like the opportunity to run a business and grow that Red Emma’s offered, you are locked out of, especially because I’d been homeless at points in my life,” Jones says. “Working here, because people know it’s a safe space, now I have a chance to be a resource for other girls who may be struggling.

“I don’t have plans to go anywhere,” Jones adds. “I’m invested, and when I invest in something, it means I intend to be in for the long haul.”

Since opening his Korean-inspired cafe Dooby’s in Mt. Vernon in 2014, Phil Han has witnessed the city’s food scene expand with globally diverse concepts that take diners everywhere from the islands of Thailand to the mountains of Senegal.

“When Dooby’s opened, we played a very fine balancing act of introducing some Korean ingredients, but at the same time making a menu that was a little more approachable for the broader audience,” says Han, who also owns cocktail bar Sugarvale and forthcoming pizza spot Noona’s. “Where we are food-wise as a city has certainly progressed and caught its bearings since then.”

Han made it a priority to reflect that evolution when he was asked to assist with the vendor selection process for the newly renovated Broadway Market in Fells Point. It was announced today that the revamped north shed of the 232-year-old property—between Fleet and Aliceanna streets—will house 10 stalls, both old and new, when it reopens in early 2019.

Aside from new locations for Connie’s Chicken & Waffles, Taharka Bros. Ice Cream, Thai Street, and The Verandah, veteran vendors Sal’s Seafood, Sophia’s Place, and Vikki’s Fells Point Deli will make up the market. Han himself also plans to introduce two new concepts, an all-day centerpiece bar and an authentic Korean eatery called Old Boy.

The Dooby’s spinoff will feature bar seating that allows diners to engage with their servers and learn more about the authentic dishes that Han grew up with. He mentions homestyle options like tonkatsu, a deep-fried pork cutlet, and dakbokkeumtang, spicy chicken braised with vegetables and spices.

“You’ll certainly see modern interpretations throughout the menu,” he says. “But it’s still built so that if my parents were to come in with their friends they would very much feel at home with the dishes that were presented.”

While partially inspired by a classic Korean action film, Old Boy’s name also pays homage to the idea that, as Han has grown older, has has developed a deeper appreciation for the classic dishes that he grew up eating with his family.

“I used to be that kid who would bring a Happy Meal into Korean restaurants,” he recalls. “Now I realize that the food my mom cooked when I was younger is the food that I’m craving more often. This is what I want to eat, and it’s a return of a deeper appreciation and representation of where I came from.”

Not far from Old Boy’s stall will be Han’s yet-to-be-named bar, which will offer an array of cappuccinos and lattes in the morning, as well as house made pastries and its own New American-style brunch menu. Situated under a gleaming skylight, the bar will also serve a menu of beer, wine, and cocktails during the evening hours.

Though they’re only a few hundred square feet, the goal is for both concepts to have distinct and inviting styles—which will be executed by a hyper-local design team that includes PI.KL Studio, Goodwood Design, and Sandtown Millworks.

“With Old Boy, you’ll see a little bit of homage to that old-school Korean look, which generally lends itself to a lot of natural wood tones,” Han says. “We just really want to create this warm space where it feels inviting to come over and sit down.”

The redesigned north shed, which has sat vacant for more than a decade, is expected to debut in February. Following in the summer of 2019 will be the premiere of The Choptank, a collaborative seafood concept from Atlas Restaurant Group and Captain James Landing, which will open in the neighboring south shed.

Aside from reactivating the Fells Point space, Han is enthusiastic about what a concept like this means for the future of the Baltimore food scene.

“I think sometimes people get a little bit too fixated on what’s closing,” he says. “But there’s definitely some positivity and growth happening in Baltimore. It’s an exciting time to see some of these younger food guys getting a shot at a bigger game.”

As a self-proclaimed “huge fan” of Ben & Jerry’s, Sean Smeeton had to do a double take when an email from the big wigs at the Vermont-based creamery appeared in his inbox last May.

“We couldn’t believe it,” says Smeeton, the founder of Taharka Brothers Ice Cream headquartered in Clipper Mill. “I’ve always been a fan of Ben & Jerry’s, their business model, and how they started the company. It was pretty awesome that they reached out to us.”

After jumping on a call with the creamery’s global head of marketing, Smeeton found out that Ben & Jerry’s had been tracking Taharka for a while, and was impressed with its social justice-driven philosophy.

Just as Taharka, which primarily employs city youth, has used its hot pink “Change-Maker Mobile” to promote a message of equality throughout the city, Ben & Jerry’s has also promoted its socially conscious mission to make the brand about much more than just peddling great ice cream.

Throughout the years, the international behemoth has launched campaigns about issues such as climate change, the refugee crisis, and marriage equality—creating witty flavors to support each cause. And now, it’s partnering with different creameries to tackle racial and economic injustices.

“They try to use their platform as a way to change the world,” Smeeton says. “They basically told us, ‘We don’t know where this relationship is going to go, but we’d like to get it started.’ And we said, ‘Let’s throw a block party.’”

On Sunday, September 30, both the Taharka and Ben & Jerry’s trucks will post up at the YNot Lot in Station North to host an epic ice cream social from noon to 5 p.m. Aside from offering free scoops to the public, the block party will feature eats from BrickNFire Pizza, live entertainment—headliners will include rapper DDm and hip-hop queen Martina Lynch—and couch Q&A sessions with local leaders addressing politics and culture.

Joining the conversation will be Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, who is making his way into town for the event. Smeeton says there is a possibility that Cohen’s partner, Jerry Greenfield, will also attend.

“The pressure is on,” Smeeton says with a laugh. “It’s a dream come true to be able to hang out with these guys. I’ve been following them since the ’80s.”

Smeeton is hoping that the partnership with Ben & Jerry’s—which is funding the block party—will help Taharka to truly amplify its mission. Though it has always had a dream to better Baltimore (the truck got its start in 2013 with the help of a Kickstarter campaign that gained support from celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal), the demands of day-to-day production and wholesaling have made it difficult to for the team to get certain projects off the ground.

“We’ve been in survival mode,” Smeeton says. “When you get so bogged down with daily operations, it’s hard to do what you want to do on a social level. So this is almost like a kickoff for us.”

The hope is for Taharka, like Ben & Jerry’s, to support local organizations by creating special ice cream flavors, sponsoring parties, and bringing attention to the issues on social media.

“It’s ice cream, so you can’t be a wet blanket,” he says. “And sometimes activism can get a bit serious. It’s all about finding a way to balance all of that.”

Taharka is toying with the idea of creating a special flavor for the event called, “All the Pieces Matter”—which will incorporate many different elements to symbolize the importance of community and collaboration. Adds Smeeton: “It would be the type of thing where if you took one ingredient out, it just wouldn’t be the same.”

Dovetailing on that sentiment, Smeeton says that he hopes the event brings locals from all different parts of the city into Station North.

“Baltimore can be so segmented,” he says. “But we want people of all different ages and walks of life to come and have a good time, eat some ice cream, and maybe find something interesting to take away from the talks. It’s about getting people who normally wouldn’t be at the same block party to all walk down the same streets.”

 EAT

May 26: Ice Cream Making With Taharka Bros.

School of Food, 1412 N. Wolfe St. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. $55. 443-708-3789

Even if you’ve never heard of Taharka Bros. ice cream, chances are you’ve sampled it at area restaurants and retailers. The droolworthy flavors (honey graham, anyone?) are currently sold at more than 75 eateries, college campuses, and ice cream shops all over town. Plus, the Clipper Mill-based creamery roves in its hot pink “Change-Maker Mobile” to serve scoops while promoting its mission of supporting Baltimore youth. This weekend, join the Taharka team at School of Food in East Baltimore to learn the ins and outs of ice cream making—starting with a classic base. Just as Taharka dreams up flavors inspired by the local community (including the peppermint “Greenmount Chip” and coffee-flavored “Get Woke”) participants will be tasked with creating unique recipes influenced by their own experiences.

 DRINK

May 25: Old Westminster Winery Can Jam at Sandlot

Sandlot, 1000 Wills St. 5-10:30 p.m. Free.

Old Westminster Winery changed the game last year when it rolled out its canned vino varieties—which are each equivalent to half of a bottle. From the beginning, the team knew that the cans would be a perfect fit for Sandlot, the island oasis at Harbor Point that has a strict no glass policy. As the sun sets over the water this Friday night, head to the beachfront hangout to feel the sand in between your toes and celebrate Old Westminster’s newest seasonal releases including the dry white Vine & Vigor, semi-sweet white Bloom, and vibrant Raw Rosé. Crack open a can and welcome the long weekend in style by dancing to live music from the Timmie Metz Band all night long. 

 SEE 

May 26: Merriweather Movie Night Double Feature

Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia. 5-10:30 p.m. Free. 410-715-5550

There’s nothing quite like a summer night at Merriweather Post Pavilion—with warm breezes, cold beverages, and glimpses of fireflies lighting up Symphony Woods. The venue’s annual summer movie series returns this Saturday night with a special double feature starting at 6 p.m. Bring the kiddos and spread out a blanket on the lush lawn to enjoy a showing of Sing, followed by Dirty Dancing at 8:30 p.m. Another draw is that Merriweather will be offering discounted concessions (think essentials like chicken tenders, fries, soft pretzels, ice cream, and popcorn) and, of course, plenty of adult beverages. 

 HEAR

May 25: Summer Sounds Kickoff With Kelly Bell Band

Belvedere Square, 540 E. Belvedere Ave. 6-9 p.m. Free. 410-464-9773.

For 15 years, locals have made this Friday night gathering at Belvedere Square a summertime ritual. Kicking off the concert’s special anniversary season this weekend is the genre-defying funk, blues, reggae, and rock sounds of local favorite Kelly Bell Band. After the clock strikes five and the long weekend has officially begun, throw a lawn chair over your shoulder and head to the square to enjoy live tunes, snacks from the market’s vendors (including newbies Mason’s Lobster Rolls and Prigel Family Creamery), mingling with friends and neighbors, and all-around good vibes. 

 DO

May 27: 35th Annual SoWeBo Arts & Music Festival

Hollins Market, 1100 Hollins St. 12-8 p.m. Free.

Hundreds of local artists, crafters, and musicians will gather in the heart of Hollins Market this Sunday for the 35th annual SoWeBo Arts & Music Festival—a Memorial Day Weekend tradition that showcases the breadth of Baltimore’s arts scene. Wander around the four-block footprint to peruse handmade wares, outdoor sculpture, kid’s crafts, food trucks, puppet shows, and a non-juried art exhibit with an array of affordable pieces. This year’s jam-packed live music lineup spans three stages. With acts ranging from roots and folk band Skribe to the funk and jazz-inspired Joe Keyes and The Late Bloomer Band, there will be plenty of opportunities to jam out. 

“Innovation isn’t only among the famous,” Light City steering committee chair Jamie McDonald said during her opening remarks at FoodLab, which was held at the Columbus Center on Saturday, April 8. “It happens in Baltimore neighborhoods every day.”

The last in a string of conferences held in conjunction with the weeklong light festival highlighted many moving presentations by visiting speakers, but perhaps some of the most compelling conversations were sparked by leaders from right in our backyard, who continue to use food as a tool for unification.

A panel discussion moderated by Dooby’s owner Phil Han brought together Dovecote Cafe co-owner Aisha Pew, Taharka Bros. founder Sean Smeeton, and Terra’s Kitchen CEO Mike McDevitt to share their perspectives on using a food business to make a greater impact on the community.

Pew, who opened the 630-square-foot cafe in Reservoir Hill last year, addressed the necessity of reviving the neighborhood—one of the city’s designated food deserts that lack access to quality grocery stores and dining establishments.

“My partner and I have a fear that Baltimore is on the precipice of becoming Brooklyn or Oakland,” said Pew, a Brooklyn native herself. “What we’re really focused on is how to have a different conversation around gentrification by uniting the community.”

In an effort to redefine the neighborhood, Pew has used the cafe as an outlet to spearhead initiatives like a free pop-up produce stand, baking groups for kids, and events that celebrate the local arts and culinary scenes.

Looking ahead, Pew is hoping to convert one of the neighborhood’s vacant liquor stores into a space that combines a traditional sit-down restaurant with a general store selling spices and produce. A public hearing for the project is scheduled for April 25.

“What makes a neighborhood seem dangerous is when you don’t know who you reside next to,” she said. “So what we did to turn that on its head during our first month in business was we just gave away free coffee. We sat and had conversations and got to know people, and truly allowed them to get to know us.”

Yet another example of a small business making an outspread impact is Taharka Bros., the Hampden-based ice cream purveyor that uses its product as a conversation starter.

“We’re in the business of social change, and ice cream is just our vehicle,” Smeeton said, mentioning its signature flavors that oftentimes have a deeper meaning. (A variety inspired by D. Watkins’ memoir The Cook Up that was released last summer fuses ingredients like apples as a nod to knowledge and education, and pecans to represent planting seeds of self-discovery.)

Taharka—which originated as a nonprofit organization in 2010 and eventually transformed into a for-profit business—provides opportunities for the city’s youth by employing a staff comprised of young adults.

“These young guys are victims of society,” Smeeton says. “We wanted to use the company to make a change so that that they don’t have these problems.”

Though local meal prep service Terra’s Kitchen is mostly web-based, McDevitt says that he doesn’t let that become a barrier in making face-to-face connections. The company—which is headquartered in Canton—continues to partner with local growers and businesses like Tessemae’s and Ceremony Coffee Roasters to raise a general awareness of made-in-Baltimore products.

“This city has a strong desire to become something great,” says McDevitt, who moved to Baltimore from New York City in 2002. “It gave me so much, and I owe it back ten-fold.”