MCEDC Celebrates Global Diversity in Montgomery County During Economic Development Week (May 6-10)

For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2024

Contacts:
Michael Mitchell, Vice President, Marketing & Communications
michael@thinkmoco.com

Raven Padgett, Senior Manager, Communications
raven@thinkmoco.com

Montgomery County, Md. — The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) is celebrating Economic Development Week (EDW), May 6-10, by placing a spotlight on Montgomery County’s vibrant and diverse business community and the significant economic contributions they make to the county.

“Montgomery County is one of the most unique and diverse business communities in the country, and because of this — and the county’s well-established ecosystem — leading global businesses choose to locate their headquarters here. We are also home to local companies that have expanded into global powerhouses. We celebrate their contributions to help position Montgomery County as the premier place to do business,” said MCEDC’s President and CEO Bill Tompkins.

Started in 2016 by the International Economic Development Council, Economic Development Week is a global initiative to recognize how economic development transforms lives in communities around the world. More than 100,000 economic development professionals worldwide are committed to creating, retaining and expanding opportunities that facilitate long-term, equitable community growth. The impact of their work casts a wide net, including job creation and retention, increased tax revenue, thriving neighborhoods and overall improved quality of life.

During Economic Development Week, follow MCEDC’s social platforms — LinkedIn, X and Facebook — and visit here for business spotlights and video interviews with diverse companies in Montgomery County.

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ስለ ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) 

ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚክ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ, ሜሪላንድ ን ወክሎ ኦፊሴላዊ የህዝብ-የግል የኢኮኖሚ ልማት ድርጅት ነው. በ2015 የተፈጠረ, MCEDC የሚመራው የንግድ ሥራ አስኪያጆች ዲሬክተሮች ቦርድ ነው ። ተልዕኮው የንግድ ድርጅቶች ከፍተኛ ተሰጥኦ፣ የንግድ እና የገበያ እውቀት እና ዋነኛ ቦታዎች እንዲያገኙ በመርዳት በሞንትጎሜሪ ግዛት እንዲጀምሩ፣ እንዲያድጉና ወደ ሌላ ቦታ እንዲዛወሩ መርዳት ነው። ተጨማሪ መረጃ ለማግኘት ድረ ገጻችንን ተመልከት። ትዊተር፣ ፌስቡክ እና ሊንክድኢን ላይ ይከታተሉን።

Where Leading-Edge Life Sciences Happens

Drive in any direction on I-270, a major thoroughfare in Montgomery County, Maryland, and it soon becomes evident that you’re in a booming life sciences hub. The campuses of global and national life sciences companies undertaking groundbreaking and life-saving research and cures are located throughout the corridor. Close to the nation’s capital, Montgomery County is the largest and wealthiest county in Maryland. It also anchors the BioHealth Capital Region, making it a premiere location for life sciences companies to locate and expand. Last year alone, $820 million was invested in Montgomery County life sciences companies. More than 300 such companies have operations in the county, specializing in immunology, cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceuticals, research and development and manufacturing, employing about 26,000 workers. That’s 65% of the total biotech workforce in Maryland.

Montgomery County also has an exceptional and diverse talent pool to choose from. Maryland has the highest concentration of STEM jobs in the U.S. and ranks second in the country for professional and technical workers. More than 30% of adults in the county have master’s degrees or higher, and 60% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. What’s more, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and 36 federal labs call Montgomery County home. As leaders in the region prioritize upskilling and nurturing talent pipelines, critical partnerships like the one between BioHub Maryland and the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) reinforce this community’s dedication to fostering a highly trained workforce. A recent agreement establishes BioHub Maryland to serve as the exclusive provider of NIBRT-licensed training in the national capital region. “Life sciences companies can tap into one of the largest concentrations of PhDs in the country here,” says Matt Brady, principal and executive vice president at Rockville-based Scheer Partners, a corporate real estate firm with a Scientific Real Estate Services practice.

They can also tap into an advantageous real estate market in the region, Brady says. “In Rockville and Gaithersburg, which are two of the major cities on the I-270 life sciences corridor, you have 1.2 million square feet of space you can grab in varying sizes. Being a tenants’ market, companies can step into a new building or second-generation lab space. I’ve been doing this about 20 years with a focus on the scientific market, and this is one of the best markets I’ve seen from a tenant’s perspective.”

Next-Generation Cell Therapy

AstraZeneca announced plans in February to establish its newest manufacturing facility in Montgomery County, where it already employs 4,500. The biopharma giant is investing $300 million to turn an existing building in Rockville into 85,000 sq. ft. of space for production of T-cell therapies for cancer treatments. The building is less than five miles from one of its global R&D centers.

“We are incredibly excited that more than 150 new highly skilled jobs are being created to bring our scientific work and therapies to clinical trials, which could transform the lives of patients around the world,” said AstraZeneca Executive Vice President of Global Operations & IT and Chief Sustainability Officer Pam Cheng in a company statement. “This new $300 million investment will accelerate our ambition to make next-generation cell therapy a reality, ensuring that we are ready to scale and meet the demands of patients.”

In December, AstraZeneca leased a 198,000-sq.- ft. building in Gaithersburg, where it employs 3,500, from Matan Companies at a 44-acre life sciences campus facing the I-270 Biotech Corridor.

Also in December, Montgomery County executives and United Therapeutics Corp. announced a partnership that ultimately will expand the company’s footprint in downtown Silver Spring, increasing its space there by 40%. The $100 million deal involves transferring ownership of county-owned facilities to United Therapeutics and vice versa so that the medical technology company, which develops pharmaceutical therapies and technologies that make transplantable organs more available, can expand its downtown campus.

“The partnership and agreement will provide significant benefits to county residents, usher in an era of economic growth in Silver Spring, and further solidify Montgomery County’s leading biotech, life sciences and research economy,” said County Executive Marc Elrich in a statement.

Lab Space Is the Differentiator

Scheer Partners’ Matt Brady tells Site Selection that lab space differentiates Montgomery County, Md. The DC-Virginia-Maryland market is home to about 15 million sq. ft. of commercial lab space. “About 75% to 80% of that is in Montgomery County,” Brady says.

“Office space and industrial space and other asset classes become more of a commodity,” he explains, “and you can find that in other places. This market, to me, is about scientifically focused lab space.”

The firm looks at markets for clients with a four-pronged approach. First, they look at where the ideas for science-based companies are generated — the intellectual property; where capital is coming from and whether it is available as funding; whether there’s a strong talent pool to support these companies; and if there are spaces available to them.

“There are markets that have two or three of those four, but they just don’t grow,” Brady says. “They don’t grow because they’re missing that last piece. We are fortunate here in that we have all four of those — maybe not to the extent that Boston-Cambridge does. But you have to pay a lot more to be there than you do to be here. There’s a substantial cost savings.”

This article was originally published in the 2024 March issue of Site Selection magazine.

MCEDC Welcomes Frankie Clogston, Ph.D., as VP, Research and Policy, to Support Economic Development in Montgomery County, Maryland

For Immediate Release:
February 5, 2024

Contact:
Michael Mitchell
MCEDC
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
240-641-6725
michael@thinkmoco.com

Rockville, Md – Frankie Clogston, Ph.D., has joined the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) as its new Vice President, Research and Policy. Clogston brings to this position an extensive background of more than 20 years in qualitative and quantitative research and technical assistance in economic development and economic policy. 

In this role, she will serve as a member of MCEDC’s leadership team and design and execute research projects, providing support across departments. She will use data and stakeholder input to support economic growth for businesses in Montgomery County. She will also represent the organization on councils, in the media, on boards, and participate in selected task forces and workgroups.

“We are honored to have Dr. Clogston join our team, bringing to our organization her industry expertise and passion for accelerating local economic development,” said Bill Tompkins, President & CEO of MCEDC. “Her contributions in economic research and policy will be invaluable to our team, and her focus on the development of multi-year strategic plans will help create a roadmap for greater economic success in Montgomery County.”

Clogston previously worked as vice president of Knowledge Management and Development for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). At IEDC, Clogston helped design and launch the Equity Fellow Program and directed IEDC’s flagship project in equity, the Equitable Economic Development Playbook, of which MCEDC was in the inaugural cohort.

She also steered the organization’s work assisting communities recovering from COVID-19, hurricanes and other natural disasters. She was a primary contributing author of IEDC publications on topics including disaster recovery, strategic planning, workforce development and renewable energy. 

Clogston has worked in economic consulting firms in Montgomery County and Silicon Valley, where she focused on affordable housing, workforce development and economic development projects locally, nationally and internationally.

Clogston has also worked as a journalist covering policy and politics for local, national and international news outlets. Additionally, she has taught political science courses at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Labor Economics at the University of Richmond.

She holds a doctoral degree in political science and a master’s degree in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree with a double major in urban studies and economics from Stanford University.

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ስለ ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) 

ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚክ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ, ሜሪላንድ ን ወክሎ ኦፊሴላዊ የህዝብ-የግል የኢኮኖሚ ልማት ድርጅት ነው. በ2015 የተፈጠረ, MCEDC የሚመራው የንግድ ሥራ አስኪያጆች ዲሬክተሮች ቦርድ ነው ። ተልዕኮው የንግድ ድርጅቶች ከፍተኛ ተሰጥኦ፣ የንግድ እና የገበያ እውቀት እና ዋነኛ ቦታዎች እንዲያገኙ በመርዳት በሞንትጎሜሪ ግዛት እንዲጀምሩ፣ እንዲያድጉና ወደ ሌላ ቦታ እንዲዛወሩ መርዳት ነው። ተጨማሪ መረጃ ለማግኘት ድረ ገጻችንን ተመልከት። ትዊተር፣ ፌስቡክ እና ሊንክድኢን ላይ ይከታተሉን።

2023 Marks Robust Investment in Montgomery County, Maryland

For Immediate Release:
January 24, 2024

Contact:
Michael Mitchell
MCEDC
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
240-641-6725
michael@thinkmoco.com

M&A, Venture Capital, Private Investment & IPO Funding for MoCo Companies

Montgomery County, Md – Montgomery County, Maryland, companies had a strong year of investment in 2023, with more than $2.2 billion generated through more than 100 deals. Companies in a wide range of industries, from life sciences and technology to manufacturing and real estate, brought in substantial investments, showcasing a positive economic direction going into 2024.

Life sciences companies in Montgomery County continue to be a powerful driver of investment, with more than $500 million dollars generated in 2023. Montgomery County anchors the thriving Biohealth Capital Region, which rose from #4 to #3 in the top 10 of U.S. biopharma clusters.

Recent highlights for Montgomery County’s ongoing life sciences success include:

-  Deka Biosciences closed $60 million to continue developing drugs for patients suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases;
- Welcoming Amgen to Montgomery County through a $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, now building its North American technical center in Rockville;
- The impact of two life science leaders and soon-to-be neighboring companies:  MilliporeSigma and Horizon Therapeutics, together represent more than $500 million invested in new facilities;
- Selecta Biosciences merging with Cartesian Therapeutics, which included a $60.25 million private financing deal for Cartesian.

“Deka Biosciences has grown exponentially as part of Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Network,” said Deka President & CEO John Mumm. “We wouldn’t be where we are without them. They have completely enabled us to grow faster than I’ve ever grown a company before,” he explained about the incubator facility.

Nine companies in the manufacturing sector received funding in 2023, including MasPanadas, a home-grown success story. With a recent influx of investment, MasPanadas is in the process of building a space that will triple its square footage to 18,000, while adding another 70 employees.

“Our company continues to thrive here with exceptional growth in annual sales and our client base including having our products in national grocery chains,” said Margarita Womack, founder of MasPanadas. “Montgomery County has been a great partner providing connections to programs, tax credit assistance and funding. We are excited about our growth and expansion plans.”

Another highlight in the manufacturing arena is Eat the Change, which received a $14 million venture capital investment. Co-owner Seth Goldman, who is also co-founder of PLNT Burger and Honest Tea, said: “Downtown Bethesda may not be Silicon Valley or Route 128, but with its active startup community and experienced workforce, it has served us well as the perfect location to launch and scale a mission-driven tea brand…twice! Our success with Honest Tea helped us launch Just Ice Tea in 90 days, and then close our Series A $14 million financing in just 60 days. Just Ice Tea, a product of mission-based Eat the Change, is now the nation’s top-selling organic tea brand and we look forward to continued expansion into mainstream channels.”

Technology leaders continue to thrive in Montgomery County, with close to 50 companies receiving funding. Companies include Quantum Xchange, GivHero, and Aledade. Rockville-based N5 Sensors received $2.5 million in funding for its proprietary cloud-connected ecosystem of smart sensors to keep people safe from environmental hazards. N5 Sensors’ CEO Abhishek Motayed says the company has grown from seven people to over 25 in their three years in Montgomery County. “We plan to open a second facility, a high-tech semiconductor manufacturing center, to support advanced R&D and product delivery for different critical markets from defense to environmental detection.”   

Montgomery County is a welcoming home to businesses with a diverse economy, top talent pools, access to funding and anchored by major federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

“By many measures, 2023 was a very good year for the Montgomery County economy and I applaud the successful efforts of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “We are expanding our economy by building on our strengths as well as opening our doors to new opportunities. We are better equipped to address challenging issues, and we are making progress. This was reinforced during our economic development trips to Taiwan, India, and Vietnam last year. People, around this nation and throughout this world, know Montgomery County, Md., as a welcoming and diverse place with a wealth of talent and plenty of possibilities. I am looking forward to more economic success in 2024.”

“The robust investment in Montgomery County companies is a testament to our pioneering spirit, diversity, and exceptional climate for business growth,” said Bill Tompkins, president and CEO of Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. “While the country as a whole has experienced a downturn in funding, investments in Montgomery County businesses, especially in life sciences, continues to be strong.”

To learn more about doing business in Montgomery County, Maryland, go to thinkmoco.com or the Montgomery County Business Center.  See the full list of 2023 investments in Montgomery County companies here.

Source: PitchBook, Accessed on January 23, 2024

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ስለ ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) 

ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ ኢኮኖሚክ ልማት ኮርፖሬሽን (MCEDC) ሞንትጎመሪ ካውንቲ, ሜሪላንድ ን ወክሎ ኦፊሴላዊ የህዝብ-የግል የኢኮኖሚ ልማት ድርጅት ነው. በ2015 የተፈጠረ, MCEDC የሚመራው የንግድ ሥራ አስኪያጆች ዲሬክተሮች ቦርድ ነው ። ተልዕኮው የንግድ ድርጅቶች ከፍተኛ ተሰጥኦ፣ የንግድ እና የገበያ እውቀት እና ዋነኛ ቦታዎች እንዲያገኙ በመርዳት በሞንትጎሜሪ ግዛት እንዲጀምሩ፣ እንዲያድጉና ወደ ሌላ ቦታ እንዲዛወሩ መርዳት ነው። ተጨማሪ መረጃ ለማግኘት ድረ ገጻችንን ተመልከት። ትዊተር፣ ፌስቡክ እና ሊንክድኢን ላይ ይከታተሉን።