Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to the 13900blk of Palmer House Way in Silver Spring at approximately 7:09pm on Tuesday, July 9, for the report of a house fire.
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?”
Peter Chang Restaurant opened at 637 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg last April, taking over the location that was occupied by Ichiban since 1985 (Ichiban closed in September 2021 after 35 years in business.) The restaurant, along with another new Peter Chang outpost (NiHao in Crystal City), were recently reviewed by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema.
The Montgomery College and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) partnership is offering the Middle College Program to qualified MCPS students from three different high schools.
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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.
The University of Maryland College of Education has named former MCPS superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight as its inaugural Dean’s Fellow and Superintendent in Residence, effective August 23. According to the University of Maryland, the new position has been created “to help strengthen partnerships between the college and PK-12 schools across the state.”
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has announced that it will be conducting a training exercise that may lead to loud noises and a large police presence on Wednesday evening.
The Office of Governor Wes Moore issued the following news release on Tuesday, July 9:
Montgomery County’s Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) is now accepting applications for its Healthy Communities Fund grant program. This program offers $1.5 million in funding to support Asian American and […]
Montgomery County issued the following news release on Tuesday, July 9:
The Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on Tuesday, July 16 and Tuesday July 30, 2024. Full details below courtesy Montgomery County:
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One person has been pronounced dead after an incident involving a contractor bucket making contact with power lines on Tuesday, July 9 in Ashton, MD. (more…)