Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services has temporarily closed Hillandale Fire Station 24 for mold remediation, with neighboring stations providing emergency coverage during the estimated four-week process. (more…)
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?”
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Calvin Mothie, a missing 16-year-old from Olney. (more…)
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has announced that three suspects, including a juvenile charged as an adult, were arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault following the shooting of a 17-year-old on Spiceberry Circle in Gaithersburg/Redland, after police pursued them through several neighborhoods. (more…)
When I moved back to Northern Virginia after several years in New York, most of my old friends had moved away. I found myself rebuilding a social circle from scratch.
I had plenty of people I could connect with online, but that wasn’t translating into anyone to grab a beer with after work, play trivia with, or text when I wanted to get out of the house. Making new friends as an adult required far more deliberate effort than I remembered.
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We ❤️ Teachers 5K celebrates educators through movement. On race day, runners and walkers across the country will participate in host city races, school celebrations, and virtual events — all in support of teachers and educator wellness. We'll be in beautiful Wheaton Regional Park, Join Us!
Walk it. Run it. Move for the teacher who moved you.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) have announced that a Spring Spring man was arrested and charged with multiple drug and firearm offenses after police discovered him with a loaded firearm and drugs following the delivery of a suspicious package to a neighbor’s home on Alderton Drive.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has released additional information regarding an incident where officers on proactive patrol in Glenmont interrupted a drug sale, leading to the arrest of a buyer and juvenile dealer and the recovery of over 400 pressed fentanyl pills.
An Anne Arundel County man won $1 million in the Mega Millions lottery on October 15, after almost discarding his winning ticket. Full story below courtesy MD Lottery:
On Thursday, Governor Wes Moore releases the following statement on the passage of Question 1 Maryland, solidifying the right to abortion in the state constitution:
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has released the transportation-related holiday schedule changes for the observance of Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11: (more…)
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded Friday morning to a report of a goose stuck in a tree on Citadel Ave off Old Georgetown Rd. in North Bethesda. (more…)