Demographics

Montgomery County, Maryland is a great place to live, learn, start a business and raise a family. We are truly the Smart Business Location for innovative and diverse businesses emerging from around the corner, and around the globe. Montgomery County is the economic engine of Maryland which, despite the ongoing economic downturn, faired better than the nation overall, reporting a 0.4 percent employment growth rate during the first 10 months of 2008, representing the addition of 11,000 jobs.

As of June 2008, Montgomery County's roughly 32,750 business establishments accounted for nearly 380,000 private sector jobs with an average weekly salary of $1,049.

Despite these tough economic times, we continue to promote the creation of high quality, knowledge-based jobs throughout the County.

Central to this effort is Montgomery County's thriving Business Innovation Network. The Network is a program of the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. This Department works to create in Montgomery County a globally-competitive, highly-diversified and knowledge-based economy that provides for the retention and growth of existing companies, stimulates new job creation and enhances entrepreneurial opportunities for all businesses.

The Network consists of five facilities strategically located throughout the County and provides over 150,000 square feet of incubator office and lab space, and currently houses some 140 companies that employ 350 county-based employees. Since 2000, the Network has graduated over 85 companies that have created more than 1,800 jobs and occupy well-over 500,000 square feet of commercial space in the County.

The Network offers tenants turnkey office and/or wet lab space, fully-integrated conference rooms, and key resource and support services including business, legal, intellectual property, and technical assistance. All this combines to make this an extremely beneficial program for the emerging and young businesses looking for a smart business location within the mid-Atlantic region.

Through the County's Department of Economic Development, we stand ready to assist businesses from diverse industry-sectors throughout the County and around the world. We offer an array of targeted programs, services and resources to help businesses start, relocate or expand in Montgomery County. These include strategic outreach and business assistance to international companies looking to establish a U.S. presence, strategic financial programs designed to support the creation and retention of businesses and jobs within the County and targeted workforce staffing and training assistance for employers as well as programs, services and resources for job seekers and dislocated workers.

Montgomery County also boasts a thriving agricultural community, which injects over $250 million annually into the local economy and includes 70,000 acres of farmland protected under easement, the highest percentage of protected farmland in the nation. Montgomery County offers an outstanding community in which to live, work, learn and raise a family. Bethesda was recently ranked "most educated small town" in the Country by Forbes.com and students from more than 160 nations are represented in our County's public school system.

Montgomery County truly has so much to offer, but we are not immune from the adversity facing many businesses during this severe national economic crisis. With that in mind, I recently announced a series of initiatives to aid local businesses caught in the recession. These range from increasing County procurement opportunities for local small businesses, to delaying the effective dates of new legislation and regulations that have a substantial economic impact on businesses. These and other key initiatives are all aimed at helping local businesses during these tough times.

Through ethical leadership, fiscal prudence, and sustainable practices, policies and initiatives, Montgomery County,Maryland remains a Smart Business Location and I am confident we will emerge from this current economic storm more resilient than ever before.