Montgomery County Public Schools is renewing its focus on academic achievement following the release of new graduation data from the Maryland State Department of Education that shows a decline in the district’s four-year cohort graduation rate for the Class of 2025.
Three Clarksburg middle schoolers turned a snow day into a community-wide effort, spending hours helping neighbors dig out after the recent winter storm and earning praise across social media for their work ethic, teamwork, and kindness.
The National Weather Service is closely monitoring the potential for a significant coastal storm this weekend, though confidence remains low on whether it will meaningfully impact central Maryland.
Montgomery County, MD is commonly known as being a suburb of the nation’s capital, but what might surprise some is that it is also home to a thriving biotech ecosystem. With over 350 life sciences companies, including global brands like AstraZeneca, United Therapeutics, and Novavax, Montgomery County anchors the third largest biophama hub in the U.S., behind only Boston and San Francisco.
Running annually in Washington D.C. for over 25 years, World Vaccine Congress attracts an international audience from over 80 countries and convenes more than 3,000 people to learn about the latest trends, research, and technologies in the vaccine industry. This year, Montgomery County took center stage, with a featured session on the extensive Biologics Value Chain in the County, as well as a session during which County Executive Marc Elrich spoke about the extensive resources available to companies here, and an exhibit space showcasing these resources.
A Complete Biologics Value Chain in One Region
One of the defining strengths of Montgomery County is its ability to support the full lifecycle of biologics, all the way from early research to large-scale manufacturing. During the panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Stefanie Trop, Director of Life Sciences at the Maryland Department of Commerce, local leaders emphasized that the region’s strength lies in its network of partners who work collaboratively across discovery, development, testing, and production. Panelists from companies in all stages of the value chain spectrum included Dr. Andrew Lees, Founder of Fina Biosolutions, Benjamin Moutier, Senior Vice-President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies at AstraZeneca, Dr. Helen Sabzevari President & CEO of Precigen, and Dr. Frederick Holtsberg, Chief Scientific Officer of Integrated BioTherapeutics.
This end-to-end capability in close geographical proximity gives companies a unique advantage and is rare to find in other markets, even established ones like San Francisco and Boston. In fact, only a handful of places worldwide offer the combination of infrastructure, expertise, and collaboration found in Montgomery County and if diversity, education and population density are taken into consideration – then Montgomery County standouts even more.
“Gaithersburg is one of the six places in the world where we can do what we’re doing,” explained Benjamin Moutier, Senior Vice-President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies, AstraZeneca. “We have the right partners at every step of the value chain [in Montgomery County].”
A Strong Partnership Network
Biotech breakthroughs rarely happen in isolation. They depend on strong partnerships between private companies, local and state governments, academic institutions, and workforce training organizations. Montgomery County has intentionally cultivated these connections, making collaboration and coordination defining characteristics of its life sciences ecosystem.
Dr. Frederick Holtsberg, Chief Scientific Officer at IBT Bioservices, a full service CRO offering clinical & preclinical contract research services, says the company’s close partnerships between them and local stakeholders have been crucial to its success. “As a Rockville-based company, we’re grateful for the partnership and support from city, County, and state leaders,” explained Dr. Holtsberg. “These programs have helped fuel our growth, and we’re excited about the continued momentum of our community.” (more…)
The Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), a local nonprofit, announced that it will again offer free rides during Super Bowl weekend to help reduce impaired driving across the Washington metropolitan […]
Beautiful venue; great art, gifts and hand-crafted items; refreshments; and meet the award-winning painters, photographers, mixed media artists, ceramicists, fiber artists, and more – some 40 artists in all. It’s an extraordinary array of framed wall works, 3-d media including sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and fiber pieces, and unframed prints.
Among them, you’ll see:
Montgomery County Public Schools announced Tuesday afternoon that all schools and offices will remain closed on Wednesday, January 28, and Thursday, January 29, as cleanup efforts continue following Sunday’s snow and ice storm.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded Tuesday afternoon to a garage fire at a home in the 11000 block of Brink Road near Wildcat Road in Germantown. (more…)
WSSC Water is urging its approximately 1.9 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to immediately limit water use to essential purposes only, citing extreme cold weather conditions.
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Ziva Unique Coleman, a missing 14-year-old. (more…)
Ahead of this past weekend’s winter storm, NBC4 meteorologist Chuck Bell set expectations for an extended regional shutdown as the system approached the DC area, saying he did not believe a single school district in the DMV would be open for even one day this week. On Monday, Bell doubled down on that assessment, saying there is a “very high chance that school closures could go a long way into the week.”
Amazon announced Tuesday morning that it will close all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh grocery stores nationwide, a total of 72 locations, as the company shifts its focus to Whole Foods Market and grocery delivery through Amazon.com.
Update: All lanes of southbound I-270 before MD-187 (Old Georgetown Rd) have reopened. Expect residual delays.
Alert Montgomery has issued a Severe Traffic Alert following a traffic incident that has shut down all southbound lanes of I-270 past MD-187 (Old Georgetown Road). (more…)