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?”
Chief Antonio DeVaul from the Takoma Park Police Department announced the arrests of Erick Ferrufino-Villatoro, 26, of no fixed address, and Christian Alexander Gonzalez, 18, of no fixed address, for larceny. The two unrelated incidents both occurred at the Walgreens on the 1300 block of University Blvd.
Having fulfilled the 2023 goal of establishing the Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival as one of the major cultural events centered around the national holiday in the DMV, Juneteenth Scotland Foundation Inc. will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. on April 19 at 7700 Scotland Drive to highlight key elements of the upcoming 2024 festival — including the names of the five other non-profit organizations which will share in the net proceeds.
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October 10 & 11, 2026
The MoCo Epic is a festival celebrating mountain biking, natural surface trails, and the community that makes this region a great place to ride! 2026 marks the 16th anniversary of the MoCo Epic.
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has announced that its annual Street Sweeping Program begins today, Monday, April 8.
Ben & Jerry’s will be offering free ice cream cones between 12pm and 8pm on Tuesday, April 16 at its scoop shop locations.
Montgomery County Police are investigating a fatal hit and run that occurred early this morning on Viers Mill Rd in Wheaton-Glenmont that involved an Acura TL. Police are also investigating a separate fatal collision involving a pedestrian that occurred on Friday, April 5 in Colesville that also involved an Acura.
Signage is up for Fruit N Boba Tea at 302 King Farm Blvd. Ste. 130. in Rockville, taking over the vacant space located next to Montgomery County’s last remaining Baja Fresh. (more…)
NASA will be broadcasting live as a total solar eclipse moves across North America today (April 8, 2024) traveling through Mexico, across the United States from Texas to Maine, and out across Canada’s Atlantic coast (link below).
Café Edison, an in-school, student-run restaurant at Thomas Edison High School of Technology, remains open for breakfast and lunch on weekdays through Friday, May 17.