The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is encouraging local elementary schools to participate in its annual “Bike and Roll to School Day.”
Maryland State Police are investigating a fatal single-vehicle crash that occurred on Tuesday, April 30 in Frederick County. (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?”
Soon, fewer Metro customers will need to “see a station manager” when they get an error message while trying to tap in or out of a Metrorail station. Instead of […]
MCPS High School Sports Scores for Apr 30, 2024 (www.MoCoAI.com):
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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.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich issued the following statement on Tuesday, April 30: (more…)
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Back in February of 2019, Mezeh Mediterranean Grill closed its Wheaton Mall location and reported on its website that it will be relocating to the Aspen Hill shopping center. The would-be Aspen Hill location was later removed from the Mezeh website in 2020, but a representative from the shopping center told us the two sides still hoped to reach an agreement. Nearly three years later, in June 2023, we were able to confirm that it was official. Now, the fast-casual restaurant is open.
The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold in-person, collaborative visioning workshops for community members to provide the department with ideas and input for the future of Clarksburg between I-270 and MD 355 and between Little Seneca Creek and Clarksburg Road. Montgomery Planning is continuing its work on the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan.
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Adamaris “Addy” Benitez, a missing 16-year-old from Gaithersburg. (more…)
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and the County Department of General Services (DGS) have unveiled a Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Transition Plan. This initiative aims to transition the County’s transit fleet, which consists of nearly 400 Ride On buses, to zero-emission vehicles by 2035. Currently, the Ride On bus system operates 14 electric vehicles. (more…)
A Gaithersburg woman is $50,000 richer after purchasing a winning lottery scratch-off ticket from Gaitherstowne Beer & Wine at 296 North Frederick Ave. Full story below courtesy of MDLottery:
The Maryland Attorney General’s office has released additional information regarding a fatal collision that followed an attempted traffic stop on Rockville Pike on Saturday, April 27.