According to a press release regarding the upcoming lecture series hosted by the Gaithersburg Community Museum, “there is evidence that 2024 will turn out to be the “Year of the Cicada.” There are many cicada landmarks this year, and it is the first time since 1803 that broods 13 and 17 will co-emerge.”
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?”
Recent rumors of a Home Improvement reunion via a possible reboot of the show have been swirling, but Montgomery County native Patricia Richardson put an end to them in a recent interview on the Back to the Best podcast.
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.
Law enforcement will enforce local and federal laws regarding Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, during the ongoing recovery and salvage operations underway on the Patapsco River and areas surrounding the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Earlier this year a man received federal felony charges related to his flying a drone over M&T Bank stadium during the National Football League’s AFC Championship game in Baltimore on January 28, 2024.
Montgomery County Health Officials are advising residents who may have had contact with a rabid coyote to contact their primary care physicians.
The Popeyes location inside of the Westfield Wheaton Mall food court (11160 Veirs Mill Rd) has gone dark.
Metro is currently offering a property for development, located in the Eisenhower Avenue Corridor in Alexandria with a mix of residential, retail, and business development. The approximately half-acre site is a short walk from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro Station on the Yellow Line, and next to the Metro Building at Eisenhower. New development solicitations are expected soon for a North Bethesda site as well.
The Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on Tuesday, April 2 and Tuesday, April 9. Full details below courtesy Montgomery County: (more…)
Montgomery County has released additional information regarding the coyote attacks that occurred on Thursday, March 28, as well as information on what residents should do if they encounter coyotes.