High School Sports Scores for May 17, 2024 (powered by www.MoCoAI.com):
MASTIHA Bakery at 2387 Lewis Ave. in Rockville has closed. MASTIHA opened its Rockville location in April 2023 after relocating from 10560 Metropolitan Ave. in Kensington, where it was formerly known as Baklava Couture.
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?”
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich released his weekly update to the community. It’s available via video above or written below:
A site plan was submitted earlier this month by Rosenfeld Investments for the redevelopment of Loehmann’s Plaza at 5200 Randolph Rd. in Rockville. Renderings available below, courtesy of Montgomery Planning.
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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.
Catherine Ladd, a 1st grade teacher at Wood Acres Elementary in Bethesda (MCPS), is a semi-finalist for “America’s Favorite Teacher.”
The Montgomery County Council has announced it will commemorate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month on Tuesday, May 21 at 1 pm. (more…)
Montgomery County has announced that this Saturday’s “Truck Day” in Rockville has been postponed to Saturday, June 1.
Officers from the Gaithersburg Police Department will conduct increased traffic enforcement on aggressive and unsafe driving Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19, 2024, according to Gaithersburg Police.
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Per Montgomery County Police: “Bethesda Elementary School is currently in lockdown following a reported threat. MCPD is confirming the validity of this report. More information will be released as it becomes available.” This article will be updated as we receive additional information.
Montgomery County Police has released surveillance photos of a person wanted in connection to two armed robberies that occurred earlier this week in Bethesda. (more…)
A Silver Spring man, who is already scheduled to stand trial in a separate murder case involving the death of his pregnant girlfriend, has been found guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of a 61-year-old man at a Shell station in Silver Spring in February 2022.