Retail and restaurant news, specifically openings and closings, is a big part of what we cover at The MoCoShow. In November of 2020 we released a list of restaurant closures that occurred since March 17th of that year, the start of the pandemic.

Our list of closures were not necessarily caused by the pandemic, since there is no way to determine every reason behind a closure, but 17% of restaurants (over 110,000) closed from the time it started until our November article, according to Business Insider.

David Blair, Democratic candidate for Montgomery County Executive, today released his plan to create a thriving business environment for restaurants.

The plan can be seen below:

After announcing his campaign for Montgomery County Executive, Blair convened a Restaurant Roundtable of local restaurant owners and operators to hear their experiences of doing business in Montgomery County. These insights led to the creation of Restaurants Are Better With Blair policies.

“Perhaps no industry was hit harder during the COVID-19 pandemic than restaurants and it troubled me that the county government imposed restrictions without input from restaurant owners and operators,” Blair said. “Many of the restrictions were inconsistent with surrounding jurisdictions and the county whipsawed restaurateurs with last-minute changes that made it difficult – if not impossible – to run a business.”

The full plan is available on the Blair campaign’s website; highlights include:

• Opening up Montgomery County’s Depression-era liquor monopoly to competition, giving restaurateurs choice in where they procure their alcohol.

• Ensuring Montgomery County regulations are comparable to regulations in surrounding jurisdictions and not duplicative of state or federal rules.

• Creating a simplified restaurant inspection process with no room for misinterpretation, guaranteeing turnaround times for licenses and permits and holding inspectors accountable.

• Consolidating Montgomery County’s small-business development programs and expanding opportunities for restaurateurs to secure capital.

• Transforming the County’s Agricultural Reserve into a more viable source of food for restaurants by creating local food processing facilities and expanding opportunities for wineries, breweries, and distilleries.

• Expanding childcare, including pre-K, early childhood education, and afterschool programs, so parents can work with the assurance their children are well cared for and learning.

Recently, the Blair campaign shared these policies with more than 1,100 restaurant owners and operators in Montgomery County

The Democratic Primary for County Executive is set for June 28, 2022 with Early Voting from June 16, 2022 through June 23, 2022.

Current County Executive Marc Elrich has announced that he will run for re-election, County Councilmember Hans Riemer announced his candidacy, and County Council President Tom Hucker formed an exploratory committee ahead of his expected run.