On November 20, 2024, the City of Gaithersburg Planning Commission approved the Final Site Plan application SP-9915-2024 for an upcoming 11,378 SF Whip Clean car wash at 353 Muddy Branch Rd in Gaithersburg’s Festival shopping center.
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?”
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection has opened registration for the 12th Annual Montgomery County Energy Summit, scheduled for April 8-9, 2025, at the Silver Spring Civic Building, focusing on strategies to improve building energy performance and comply with emerging regulations. (more…)
The Montgomery County Council will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 14, beginning with proclamations recognizing Muslim American Heritage Month and Korean American Day, followed by public hearings and votes on zoning amendments, supplemental appropriations for programs like the 988 Crisis Hotline, and the Germantown Employment Area Sector Plan update.
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We ❤️ Teachers 5K celebrates educators through movement. On race day, runners and walkers across the country will participate in host city races, school celebrations, and virtual events — all in support of teachers and educator wellness. We'll be in beautiful Wheaton Regional Park, Join Us!
Walk it. Run it. Move for the teacher who moved you.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) is urging residents to plan ahead and avoid driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis during the holiday season. To address impaired driving, MCPD has launched a “Holiday Task Force,” running sobriety checkpoints and patrols from November 20 through January 11. (more…)
Per Montgomery County: Council President Kate Stewart issued the following statement on behalf of the Council about the passing of Montgomery County Master Firefighter Christopher Higgins who lost his life on January 11 while responding to a house fire in Laurel, Maryland. (more…)
A drunk driver lost control and struck a Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) 6th District officer’s vehicle on I-270 early Saturday. There were no injuries reported. (more…)
Last week, we reported on the growing popularity of “Maryland Style Pizza” in New York City. In this article, we turn our focus back to our area as we look at the Washington Post’s top-ranked New York Style pizza restaurant in Maryland.
A juvenile male was arrested in Germantown on January 7, 2024, and charged with four counts of second-degree burglary for three break-ins at a Tobacco Hut in Wheaton-Glenmont in December 2024, before being released to his guardian. (more…)
Are fellow parents feeling the pressure of having to schedule an entire summer’s worth of camp six months in advance? Well, if that sounds like you then you might want to check out Planuary. The PTA at Oakland Terrace Elementary School is holding its first annual summer camp fair on Sunday, January 19 from 9-12.
The Gaithersburg Parks, Arts & Recreation Corporation (G-PARC) Arts & Culture Alliance, in conjunction with the City of Gaithersburg’s Stormwater Management Program & Cultural Events & Services Division, have announced the 2025 Storm Drain Art Contest, designed to bring attention to the importance of protecting our Chesapeake Bay watershed.