In recent years, many restaurant owners have shared how difficult and time consuming the process to open a restaurant in Montgomery County can be. Today the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved executive regulations to reduce red tape and speed up the approval process for restaurant permitting.
Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Diana Briceyda Portillo-Lopez, a missing 15-year-old. (more…)
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?”
An additional thirteen Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have earned college- and university-sponsored National Merit Scholarships in the final round of awards from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
Alloy Personal Training is opening its second Maryland location at 404 King Farm Blvd Suite 120 in Rockville. Construction has begun at the local franchise of the national personal training brand that has locations nationwide.
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.
Olney, MD Art Gallery and Studio to present a Pop-Culture themed group Art Exhibit and Artists’ Alley event.
Highly Animated is a 2-month long celebration of the vibrant world of fan art. From classic JRPG nostalgia, to the latest anime obsessions, to amazing original characters, this exhibition will highlight the passion, creativity and talent within fan communities.
“SOLD OUT. We’re sorry but we did not anticipate the quantity of burritos y’all can throw down.” San Pancho Burritos, which recently opened at 7056 Carroll Ave in Takoma Park, was forced to close early on Monday after selling out of burritos. The restaurant will reopen on Wednesday morning at 8am.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services responded to the 14800 block of Braemar Crescent Way in Gaithersburg/Darnestown at approximately 5pm on Monday, July 15, for the report of a house struck by lightning. (more…)
A Montgomery County, MD man, 23-year-old Jordan Jones of Silver Spring, was sentenced Friday for voluntary manslaughter while armed for the killing of Noel Nicol, an 18-year-old from Silver Spring, in Southeast D.C. in October, 2021.
Montgomery County Police responded to the Sunoco gas station in the 12000 block of Cherry Hill Road for the report of a commercial burglary at approximately 2:03am on Tuesday, July 16. (more…)
Hootie and the Blowfish will be returning to the area with two local concerts in August. The first will be in Columbia, MD at Merriweather Post Pavilion on August 3rd followed by a show in Bristow, VA at Jiffy Lube Live on August 17th. This is somewhat of a homecoming as half of the band, Mark Bryan and Dean Felber, are graduates of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown.
The National Weather Service is warning of “another dangerously hot and humid day ahead” with temperatures reaching the hundreds and heat index values of 110° as the Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect until 8pm this evening.