Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Madelin Alejandra Machado Batres, a missing 14-year-old. (more…)
Each year, popular reservation website/app OpenTable looks at insights from diner reviews to determine the top restaurants across the country. While some lists are decided by critics, OpenTable’s Top 100—this one is driven by diners and based on insights and reviews from verified OpenTable users. Five restaurants in the DC Metro area made the national list:
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 Clarks Lodge Bar & Grill at 12011 Snowden Farm Pkwy in Clarksburg is offering a free carryout Thanksgiving dinner for those in need on Wednesday, November 27, from 12-4pm.
On Tuesday, police arrested two juveniles and recovered a carjacked vehicle from Prince George’s County during a traffic stop near Bel Pre Rd and Layhill Rd in Aspen Hill.
When I moved back to Northern Virginia after several years in New York, most of my old friends had moved away. I found myself rebuilding a social circle from scratch.
I had plenty of people I could connect with online, but that wasn’t translating into anyone to grab a beer with after work, play trivia with, or text when I wanted to get out of the house. Making new friends as an adult required far more deliberate effort than I remembered.
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Come enjoy the day at our annual Washington Grove Arts and Craft Festival in a beautiful outdoor setting. This festival highlights local artisans including wood creations, pottery, visual art, household products and so much more. We also have food trucks from El Parente Tacos, El Jeffe Wood-fired pizzas, Bruster’s Ice Cream and beverages from Saints Row Brewery. Bring the whole family because we have a kids activity area too. Pets on a leash are welcome too!
Play Street Museum will open its first Montgomery County location at 227 Kentlands Blvd in Gaithersburg in mid-2025. It will be taking over the space that is currently occupied by Hallmark, which will be closing after the holiday season.
The Clarksburg High School Ambassadors leadership club raised over $2,000 to provide 60 Thanksgiving dinners for families in need at Clarksburg High School and Rocky Hill Middle School. The 60-member club collected donations throughout October and November, allowing the schools to identify 60 families who could benefit from additional support during the Thanksgiving holiday. (more…)
Max Nguyen, a student intern at Thomas Wootton High School in Rockville, recently secured a generous donation of guitars and equipment for the school’s guitar class, led by Mr. Keith Schwartz. (more…)
Approximately 55 Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) firefighters responded to the scene of a fire in the 1200blk of Gladstone Dr, near Baltimore Rd in Rockville on Tuesday, November 26.
A Takoma Park man is $250,000 richer after purchasing a winning lottery scratch-off at Warehouse Liquors at 7619 Marlboro Pike in District Heights, MD. (more…)
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced over $17 million in fines and a permanent business ban against Prosperity Partners, Inc., Prosperity Medical, and three individuals for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 585 investors of nearly $29 million in Maryland and beyond. (more…)
The Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on Dec. 3, 2024, and Jan. 14, 2025, to receive testimony on proposed supplemental appropriations, legislative bills, and other resolutions. Full details below courtesy Montgomery County: (more…)