One of the leading biotechnology and diagnostics companies in the field of neglected viral diseases with pandemic potential now calls a prime biotechnology and life sciences community its home, as Zalgen Labs LLC today announced its headquarters has relocated from Germantown to Frederick, Maryland.


We reported in November that DSW will be opening a new location in the Milestone Center in Germantown (20900-B Frederick Road), at the former home of Modell’s. The company currently has already has one store in Germantown, located in the Germantown Commons shopping center just under 3 miles away from the upcoming location. We were told there are no current plans to close the current Germantown location.

DSW was founded in 1969 as Shonac Corporation and was the shoe licensee for Value City. The company opened its first store in 1991 in Ohio and was acquired by Value City in 1998. It was acquired by Retail Ventures in 2004, went public in 2005, and then acquired Retail Ventures (its biggest shareholder) in 2011.


Per Montgomery County:

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, County Councilmember Craig Rice and the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) today introduced new dedicated bus lanes at the Germantown Transit Center. The lanes, which have been painted red and are located on Crystal Rock Drive, Century Boulevard, and Aircraft Drive, allow buses to easily access the transit center.


 

Philip McManus (“Mr. Phil”) the former Branch Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington – Germantown Branch (as well as, the former Branch Director of the former Rockville Branch and the former Silver Spring Branch) passed away on Dec 4, 2021.


Back in May we let you know that Tropical Smoothie Café would be coming to Germantown. Now we know that the cafe will open the day after Christmas, December 26, 2021, at 9am.

Tropical Smoothie Café has opened many new locations in MoCo in the last couple years and their latest location will be at 19828 Century Blvd in the Germantown Town Center, according to InvenTrust Properties. The location was formerly home to Verizon.


CLARKSBURG, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Robotic Research, a global leader in autonomous mobility and robotics solutions, today announced a $228 million funding round—the first outside capital the company has raised. This funding will drive further innovation and expansion of Robotic Research’s commercial division, RR.AI, which is focused on delivering comprehensive autonomous driving solutions for commercial truck, bus, drayage and logistics vehicles. Investors in the Series A round include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Enlightenment Capital, Crescent Cove Advisors, Henry Crown and Company, and Luminar Technologies, Inc.

“This investment reflects our success in developing autonomous solutions for our U.S. government customers, and will provide the resources needed to meet our growing commercial customer demand and the expansion of our commercial efforts,” said Alberto Lacaze, CEO, Robotic Research. “Our long history and experience has enabled us to develop a proven solution that is not only rugged, safe, and reliable, but also versatile and ideal for operating across a variety of environments, weather conditions, and use cases.”


Yuvan Sundrani (sophomore information science major at UMD), Jason Steinberg (sophomore computer science major at UMD), and Sid Jagtap (sophomore finance major at the University of Michigan) are launching an exciting new app called Soshi. Simply put, the app allows users to share all of their social media and contact information in one place with one tap.

These students were amongst the many seniors to miss out on the end of the year senior fun and started freshman year behind a screen. Quarantine left everyone with a little extra time on their hands. Jason Steinberg and Sid Jagtap founded MoCo Tutors, an affordable digital tutoring service aimed at helping Montgomery County students struggling with virtual instruction. Meanwhile, Yuvan Sundrani gained some experience and insight while interning with the artificial intelligence laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg as a Data Engineer Intern.


Yesterday we received word that Naz’s Halal would expanding to Germantown and Rockville, but we have  now learned of two additional MoCo locations– Takoma Park and White Oak.

Germantown- 13025 Wisteria Drive


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