Montgomery County Police has released additional information regarding a fatal collision that occurred on Saturday, April 20, involving a pedestrian and a Ride On bus. (more…)
Montgomery Can Code, a free 1-week summer coding camp for MCPS middle school students, takes place this summer at all three Montgomery College locations (Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park).
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?”
The Magruder High School Colonels baseball team will be hosting the Rockville High School Rams as part of their annual Spring Fling baseball festival this Saturday, April 27. (more…)
Wootton High School assistant principal Stephanie Labbe sent a message to the school community providing an update on the bomb threat that caused Wootton to be in Shelter-in-Place for approximately 33 minutes on Tuesday, April 23rd until police deemed the threat non-credible. Einstein High School was also evacuated on Tuesday due to a bomb threat that was also found to be non-credible by police. The full message can be seen below:
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Come enjoy the day at our annual Washington Grove Arts and Craft Festival in a beautiful outdoor setting. This festival highlights local artisans including wood creations, pottery, visual art, household products and so much more. We also have food trucks from El Parente Tacos, El Jeffe Wood-fired pizzas, Bruster’s Ice Cream and beverages from Saints Row Brewery. Bring the whole family because we have a kids activity area too. Pets on a leash are welcome too!
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is set to deliver his “State of the County” address next week in Rockville.
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 3rd District Investigative Section are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Anthony Horace Jr., a missing 74-year-old from Silver Spring. (more…)
Clarksburg principal Anita O’Neill sent a message informing the school community that a student was found with an unloaded gun in their possession at school on Tuesday, April 23. The student was arrested by police. The full message can be seen below:
Foxtrot announced today that it will be closing all 33 locations. The market opened its fifth DMV-area location at Bethesda Row (7262 Woodmont Ave.) in November 2022. The full message from Foxtrot can be seen below:
The organizers of the upcoming “Pride in the Plaza” festival this summer are currently in search of designs for the 2024 event t-shirt.
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Jayden Matlock, a missing 15-year-old from Silver Spring. (more…)
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Update: Einstein High School has been cleared. Staff and students are returning back to campus. The threat was determined to be not credible.
The Shelter-in-Place at Thomas S. Wootton HS has been lifted as of 10:48 am. 911 emergency services have completed their assessment and deemed this a non-credible threat. Classes and other activities have resumed as planned inside our building.