Montgomery County Council President Andrew Friedson issued the following statement thanking the members of the Montgomery County Delegation for their work during the 2024 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly. (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?”
The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection has issued a warning to residents to be on the lookout for driveway paving scams involving unlicensed home improvement companies. (more…)
Below is a list of businesses that are coming soon to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda:
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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 Washington Commanders announced that they hosted 20 local prospects for a “local pro day” on Tuesday, April 9th. The players all have ties to the DMV, “Most of the other 19 prospects invited to Ashburn, Virginia, either played high school football in the DMV or attended college in the area.” Full list of players below:
The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services will host two HIV screening and prevention education events this month:
Local radio station DC101 started its “DMV Pizza Bracket” last month with 32 local restaurants nominated for a tournament that is decided via votes on the radio station’s Instagram account. Four Montgomery County restaurants have made it to the Final Four (the initial bracket can be seen above).
On Monday, Governor Wes Moore released the following statement on the 2024 legislative session:
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is warning Marylanders of black bears emerging from their winter dens. Though black bears are more common in counties north of Montgomery County, there have been many encounters in the area in recent years.
Below is a list of restaurants and businesses that will be coming soon to Gaithersburg, MD. (more…)
With workers paying an average of over $6,500 per year toward employer-sponsored family coverage and Every Kid Healthy Week kicking off on April 22, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s Best & Worst States for Children’s Health Care, with Maryland coming in as 8th “Best State for Children’s Health Care.”