MoCo Announces 4 Percent Job Growth Rate
Montgomery County today announced its workforce has increased by nearly 25,000 jobs since 2010, a 3.9 percent growth rate that a press release pointed out tops Fairfax County and Washington D.C.
Many have criticized Montgomery’s business climate because of perceived regulatory hurdles in the zoning approval process and Virginia’s willingness to provide tax incentives to major companies. The release notes the 3.6 percent job growth rate in Fairfax City and County and the 2.8 percent job growth rate in D.C.
The Department of Economic Development made the announcement, using data from consultant Economic Modeling Specialists Intl.
“The positive job growth in the county from 2010-2012 is good, but we can’t stop there,” County Executive Isiah Leggett said in the release. “We can do even better.”
He said the county’s Economic Development staff is working proactively with large, small, public and private businesses and entities to help with grants, loans and assistance with permits, zoning and site selection.
Professional, scientific and technical services accounted for a boost of almost 5,300 jobs, making it Montgomery’s top job-gaining sector. Government, retail trade and health care/social assistance each added more than 3,000 jobs during the three-year period.
Capitol One, which has offices in Bethesda, added almost 300 jobs, according to the county. The Bethesda-based Henry M. Jackson Foundation added more than 200 jobs.
The Department of Economic Development and the Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County recently partnered to produce a three-minute promotional video that aired last month on US Airways and American Airlines flights.
Bethesda The Best City For Finding Employment Right Now
Bethesda is the best city in the country for finding a job right now, according to a report from Forbes.com and human resources firm Adecco Staffing last week.
Adecco created the top 10 list by using Department of Labor employment statistics and their own job growth and demand data. The metropolitan areas were then rated based on diversity of industry, cost of living, range in size of companies offering employment and education levels.
Bethesda (though presumably the Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick metropolitan area as defined by the Department of Labor) came in No. 1, beating out Austin, Texas and Jacksonville, Fla. New York City came in No. 8:
The best place for finding employment right now is the Bethesda, Md. metro area, where the unemployment rate is 5.2%, as of February 2013. That’s 2.5 percentage points lower than the national rate, which was 7.7% in February.
“Bethesda has a very low unemployment rate and has proven to be a major competitor with its highly educated job market and growth in a number of sectors including hospitality and healthcare,” [Adecco Staffing President Joyce] Russell says. “The housing market is doing well and Bethesda often appears on lists ranking most livable cities. Maryland is also ranked No. 1 in the nation for schools, which also feeds into a positive outlook in the area for employment opportunities and a great quality of life.”
The most in-demand skills in the area: Specialty trade contractors, accounting and bookkeeping, and food service and hospitality. The top hiring industries right now? Hospitality, construction, healthcare.
“The growth in construction and hospitality positions are encouraging to local manufacturing and distribution companies as they are optimistic the impact will reflect in their overall bottom-line as well,” says Lisa Imler, Adecco Staffing’s regional vice president of the Chesapeake Region.
Morning Notes
“Roc Bar Live” In Doubt — The future of the former Box Bar and Grill space (7525 Old Georgetown Rd.) is unknown after the owner of the Box said his new Roc Bar Live music venue is on hold “indefinitely.” Jason McCarther, who said he would open the bar on March 2, also has closed his Roc Bar nightclub in D.C. [Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row]
Marriott To Cut Hundreds of Bethesda Jobs — The hotel company will reportedly layoff hundreds of IT workers at its Bethesda headquarters starting next month. [Washington Business Journal]
State Lawmakers Vote To Repeal Death Penalty — Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) argues why he sought a death penalty repeal, a measure that lawmakers in Annapolis passed on Friday. [Politico]
Flickr photo by im_apatel
Bethesda Named Among Best 2013 Housing Markets
A real estate website says Bethesda will have the third healthiest housing market in the U.S. in 2013, thanks in part to one of the highest job growth rates in the country.
NBC News released results from real estate analysts at Trulia.com that rank Bethesda among big cities such as Houston, San Francisco and San Antonio for “2013′s Top 10 Healthiest Housing Markets.”
Trulia took data from the Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD area as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 2.8 percent job growth rate in the first 10 months of 2012 was one of the nation’s highest and low vacancy and foreclosure rates helped rank Bethesda at No. 3:
The 2.8 percent job growth in the first 10 months of 2012 was one of the highest rates in the United States. Area home prices have been pushed upwards by limited supply: the Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick area had one of the nation’s lowest vacancy rates, at 1.2 percent in November, as well as one of its lowest foreclosure inventories, at just 2.7 homes per 1,000 units during October. Through November, the asking price per square foot for homes in the area was lower than only 14 other metro areas. Over the last year, asking prices have risen just 5.5 percent and median price per square foot was $169.15, slightly higher than Washington, D.C.
Houston came in first and San Francisco was second. San Antonio, Austin, Texas, Seattle, Omaha, Neb., Peabody, Mass., Fort Worth, Texas and Louisville, Ky., followed.
Flickr photo by Bethesda Bungalows; h/t @livability
Bethesda Companies Make ‘Fastest-Growing’ List
A number of Bethesda companies made Inc. magazine’s just released list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing companies in 2012.
Leading the way at No. 265 on the Inc. 5000 list is IT market research company RainKing Solutions, which matches up IT vendors with companies buying their products. The Rockledge Drive firm brought home $8.6 million in revenue in 2011 and has added 57 employees to its total staff of 92 in the past three years.
Other Bethesda companies that made the top 500 include wedding services company WeddingWire at No. 309. The company recently announced it will be moving into a bigger office space in the Chevy Chase Metro Building in Chevy Chase. WeddingWire made a reported $10.1 million in revenue in 2011.
IT services company LongView International Technology Solutions came in at No. 489. The North Bethesda company on Rockville Pike near Old Georgetown Road made $21.8 million in revenue in 2011.
Hundreds of Maryland companies made the list. You can view them here.
