On Friday, Ansoumane Camara of Germantown, MD was sentenced to 18 months in prison for securities fraud and felony theft exceeding $100,000, after pleading guilty to defrauding a client of $129,966 through unregistered investment services; he was also ordered to repay the stolen amount and serve five years of probation. (more…)
Construction is progressing at the upcoming Kensington Crossing shopping center, which is located at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road). Last year, a decision was made to change the […]
Talent is one of the most important factors influencing where companies choose to invest, expand, and grow. As competition for skilled workers intensifies, employers are embracing a broader talent strategy: one that leverages partnerships. Last week, almost 120 business leaders, elected officials, and members of Montgomery County’s business community attended the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation’s (MCEDC) panel, “The Talent Advantage: A Growth Strategy for Companies in Montgomery County, Maryland,” to hear how local businesses are capitalizing on the County’s world-class academic institutions, innovation ecosystem, quality of life, and economic development resources to attract and retain top talent.
Moderated by Dr. Anne Khademian, Executive Director at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG), the panel included executives from businesses and institutions across industries, including Lockheed Martin, TrilliumBIO, Thales Defense & Security, Johns Hopkins, Montgomery College, and AstraZeneca, who discussed their companies’ strategies for developing their workforce.
Talent as a Business Strategy
For companies competing in highly specialized industries like the defense industry, access to talent directly influences where they choose to locate and grow. For Lockheed Martin, which employs nearly 1,000 people in Montgomery County, talent is one of the primary reasons the company chose to be headquartered here.
“Talent is in the top one or two reasons why we are in the County,” said Todd Cohen, Senior Lead of Strategic Workforce Development, Lockheed Martin.
According to Cohen, Lockheed Martin begins working with partners to develop their talent pipeline well before students enter the workforce, including partnering with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) on programs such as coding challenges. Lockheed Martin also maintains close relationships with local higher education institutions, including the Universities at Shady Grove (USG).
That local talent pipeline is also an important factor for AstraZeneca, which employs more than 5,000 employees and contractors in Montgomery County. According to Tiffany Lukis, Director of STEM and Community Engagement at AstraZeneca, the company often taps into its alumni base from Montgomery College (ranked #26 nationally among community colleges) and USG (which offers nine different public universities onto one campus), and other local institutions to fill highly technical roles.
Local Companies Are Developing Talent and Not Just Finding It
According to the panelists, investing in existing employees is just as important as recruiting new ones.
At Suburban Hospital, workforce development is closely tied to talent retention. The hospital partners with local educational institutions to provide employees with opportunities to gain new skills and advance their careers. Programs include a Certified Nursing Assistant program through Montgomery College and English as a Second Language classes.
“A huge part of our talent strategy is to prioritize holding on to our top tier talent,” said Corey Lewson, MSW, Program Manager, Workforce Development, John Hopkins Medicine.
For smaller companies, developing talent internally can be especially valuable. Lane Edwards, Vice President of Operations, TrilliumBIO, a biomarker discovery company with fewer than 20 employees based in Rockville, described the challenge of balancing the need for highly specialized expertise with the realities of building a team at an early-stage company.
“When it comes to hiring, we have to be very strategic,” Lane said. “Do we have someone who has the expertise or someone that we can build on?”
More revolving sushi has arrived in Rockville as Uzu Revolving Sushi has “soft launched” at 1701 Rockville Pike A6 in The Shops at Congressional Village shopping center (video below).
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Silver Spring Investigative Section, are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing 22-year-old woman.
We’ve Got the Ticket to Every Sunday Showdown! 🏈🔥
Catch every live out-of-market Sunday game with NFL Sunday Ticket this football season at Lucky Strike Rockville!
Bring your family and friends to our free , all-day outdoor Oktoberfest celebration. These will be an outdoor craft fair featuring local artisans and professional woodworkers, a chainsaw carving, woodworking and tool demonstrations by Festool, Montgomery Wood Turners and Carvers. There will also be lots of delicious food provided by El Parente Tacos, El Jeffe Wood-fired pizzas, Bruster's Ice cream and seasonal craft brews from Saints Row Brwsing Company.
The first Cook Out restaurant opened in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989. Following its success, over 50 additional locations were established throughout North Carolina before the brand began its expansion beyond state borders. Now. There are over 300 restaurants across ten states, including one in Maryland. (more…)
The annual Montgomery Parks’ “Garden of Lights,” a breathtaking outdoor winter light display at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, will open on Friday, Nov. 22. This year’s exhibit will feature more than 1.5 million twinkling LED lights (video preview below).
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) State Highway Administration (SHA) has released its major lane closures for this weekend (November 15-17). They can be seen below, by county:
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) announced the arrest of a 17-year-old with an active warrant for failing to appear in court. He was apprehended on Friday, November 8, 2024, in Rockville, and was carrying a handgun and 250 suspected fentanyl pills. (more…)
On Friday, Governor Wes Moore announced that Maryland has been ranked the top state for minority-owned businesses by Lending Tree, coinciding with the state’s Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Business Account supporting over 170 businesses and 2,598 jobs in FY24 through $21.3 million in funding and additional private sector investment. (more…)
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) announced that it’s Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) aided in the arrest of two robbery suspects at the transit center in the 9600 block of Lost Knife Road in Gaithersburg by reviewing surveillance footage that identified the suspects, who were later charged with robbery and assault. (more…)
