On Thursday, Governor Wes Moore launched the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Response Website, which “serves as a central hub for Marylanders in search of federal, state, and local resources and programs related to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
The Prince George’s County Police Department has announced that 27-year-old Edward Mejia-Sandoval of Silver Spring, along with 34-year-old Alexis Romero of Fairmount Heights, have been charged with fatally stabbing 23-year-old Lusvin Espana Espana of Hyattsville. The incident occurred at a restaurant in Chillum, MD, close to Takoma Park.
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?”
Frederick County Deputies were dispatched to the intersection of RT 355 and RT 85 for an injured subject laying in the roadway on Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 11:48 pm.
Big Bounce America, the largest touring inflatable event in the entire world, is returning to Maryland. “We’ve created an action-packed day out suitable for all ages and featuring some of the most unique and exciting custom-built inflatable attractions ever made.” Starting May 25th and going until June 9th, you’ll be able to attend at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington (Prince George’s County).
October 10 & 11, 2026
The MoCo Epic is a festival celebrating mountain biking, natural surface trails, and the community that makes this region a great place to ride! 2026 marks the 16th anniversary of the MoCo Epic.
26-year MCPS veteran, Margarita Bohórquez, is this year’s winner of the Dr. Edward Shirley Award for Excellence in Educational Administration and Supervision. Bohórquez is director of International Admissions and Enrollment (IAE) for the school system.
Dr. Helen Bailey and her team at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, are studying how often dolphins come into the Chesapeake Bay, how long […]
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) released the following community message on Thursday, April 12: (more…)
&Shawarma (AndShawarma) is now open in the space that was recently home to Galito’s Flame-Grilled Chicken and previously home to Nirvana Reflexology Spa at 15918 Shady Grove Road in the Shady Grove Center (the shopping center that is home to The Melting Pot).