Aldon Management has sold two apartment buildings, 8200 Wisconsin Ave. (built in 1967) and the Middlebrooke Apartments at 5015 Battery Lane (built in 1962), to Corner Lot Advisors for a combined $85.6 million. 8200 Wisconsin sold for $63.3 million and Middlebrooke Apartments sold for $22.3 million, per land records.
On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council voted today to approve the Planning Board Draft of the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment with revisions.
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?”
Montgomery County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Monique Felder issued the following community message on April 2, 2024:
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that it is recognizing April 1-7 as “Food Waste Prevention Week.”
BETHESDA, YOUR SATURDAY MORNING PLANS JUST GOT MORE CREATIVE.
Join Craft Cart at Coffee Republic on Saturday, September 26, from 11:00 AM–1:00 PM for a beginner-friendly faux stained glass experience filled with creativity, coffee and connection.
Today the Council approved a zoning measure that will allow the construction of multifamily housing on properties used for religious assembly or private educational institutions. (more…)
A Montgomery County resident is $50,000 richer after purchasing a winning Powerball lottery ticket from Long Branch Beer & Wine at 649 University Boulevard East in Silver Spring. Full story below courtesy of the Maryland Lottery: (more…)
In 2022, we let you know that Potomac Foods Group leased part of the parking lot from the property owner, Safeway, at 15411 New Hampshire Ave to build a new […]
Montgomery County’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) has announced it will open registration on Sunday, April 7, for its annual limited availability whiskey lotteries.
The Montgomery County Council voted to enact Expedited Bill 3-24, Late Night Establishments – Hours of Operation, which will force hookah lounges and vape shops to operate during the same hours as businesses that serve alcohol. The aim of the bill is to reduce late night crime in Montgomery County’s central business districts. According to the bill, “these establishments may only allow patrons to smoke, vape or use hookah pipes on Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.; on Friday and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.; and on Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. or from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m., if the following day is a federal holiday.”
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Miracle Weaver, a missing 11-year-old.