Marion Pearson, 67, of Durham, NC, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, suspending all but 17 years, for second-degree rape and sexual offense charges stemming from attacks in 1981, and will serve two years of supervised probation and register as a lifetime sex offender.
The Maryland Department of Health reported the first three cold-related deaths of the 2024-2025 winter season, urged precautions to prevent cold-related illnesses, and provided resources for warming centers, safe heating practices, and winter weather safety. (more…)
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?”
Yelp has released its 2024 list of “Top 100 Chinese Restaurants” across the country and two Maryland restaurants (including one in Montgomery County) have made the list.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) will conduct a sobriety checkpoint at an undisclosed location on Saturday, December 21, 2024, starting at 10 p.m., focusing on enforcing impaired driving laws. The locations of checkpoints are selected based on statistics based on impaired driving arrests. (more…)
When I moved back to Northern Virginia after several years in New York, most of my old friends had moved away. I found myself rebuilding a social circle from scratch.
I had plenty of people I could connect with online, but that wasn’t translating into anyone to grab a beer with after work, play trivia with, or text when I wanted to get out of the house. Making new friends as an adult required far more deliberate effort than I remembered.
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 Montgomery County Government has released a list of schedule and program changes for Christmas Day, Wednesday, Dec. 25, and New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1: (more…)
On Thursday, Governor Wes Moore announced $129.5 million in FY 2025 funding to support seven state revitalization programs, enabling 304 projects focused on affordable housing, community spaces, infrastructure improvements, and economic development in Maryland’s disinvested communities.
In October, we reported that the Big Lots at 20926 Frederick Rd in the Milestone Shopping Center, Germantown, would be permanently closing. It now appears that the Montgomery Village Center location, along with the chain’s remaining 900+ stores, will also close.
Sixty Vines, the restaurant known for its revolutionary wine on-tap program and vineyard-inspired cuisine, is making its move into Maryland. It was previously reported that the restaurant signed on in Bethesda and now business filings show Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown neighborhood as an address for a “Sixty Vines Montgomery County, LLC” taking over 212 Ellington Blvd– the former home of Pour House.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has issued a statement addressing reports of suspicious drone activity, clarifying that no local investigations are underway. (more…)
The Maryland State Police will increase highway safety patrols, including specialized impaired driving enforcement, over the next two weeks to ensure road safety during the busy holiday travel season, following a year with 537 traffic fatalities in Maryland. (more…)
