Get Your Tree Coupon Here

Now is a great time to plant a tree, especially if you have a $25 coupon. Visit the Planning Department’s Leaves for Neighborhoods site to learn more about this great program designed to increase the county’s tree canopy on residential property. Trees have many environmental benefits, including protecting soil and preventing erosion; absorbing carbon dioxide and improving local air quality; and filtering stormwater runoff to improve water quality.

Earth Month Activities

It’s hard to believe we are talking about Earth Month when there is still snow on the ground, but here we go.

The following activities are approved for Student Service Learning (SSL) hours for Montgomery County Public School students.

April 2, 6, 13 and 27 – Montgomery Parks Annual Garlic Mustard Pull.  Help remove one of the fastest spreading, non-native, invasive weeds.  Volunteers under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.  Dress appropriately for the weather and to be out in the woods.  For more information go to www.WeedWarrior.org or call 301-495-2504.

Saturday, April 6, 9 a.m. - noon – Alice Ferguson Foundation’s 25th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup.  Volunteers will pick up trash from hundreds of cleanup sites around the region.  To find a site, visit www.potomaccleanup.org, or call 202-973-8203.

Saturday, April 6, 9 a.m. – noon – Rock Creek Conservancy Extreme Cleanup.  Clean up the streams of Rock Creek and its tributaries, the parks connected to Rock Creek and the neighborhoods near Rock Creek where trash originates.  Over 50 locations are available.  Visit www.rockcreekconservancy.org for more information or call 301-775-2960.

Saturday, April 13, 9 a.m. – noon – Montgomery County Road Runners Club Rock Creek Trail Cleanup.  Take part in the cleanup of the Rock Creek Trail, the Matthew Henson Trail and feeder paths as well as dry feeder streams, roadways, playgrounds and the Lake Needwood area.  For more information go to www.mcrrc.org or call 301-933-2919.

 

Saturday, April 20, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Montgomery Parks Cabin John Trail Workday.  Improve the Cabin John Natural Surface Trail in Bethesda.  Volunteer trail workdays typically include repairing eroded tread surfaces, stabilizing drainage issues, and building new trails and bridges.  For more information, go to www.MontgomeryTrails.org or call 301-495-2504.

Saturday, April 20, 9 a.m. – noon – Anacostia Watershed Society Cleanup.  Take part at 20 different cleanup sites along the Anacostia Watershed.  For more information, visit www.anacostiaws.org/earthday2013 or call 301-699-6204.

Sunday, April 21, 9 a.m. – noon – WSSC Invasive Weed Removal.  Help get rid of kudzu and other weeds so the trees and wildlife can thrive.  Students under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.  For more information, visit www.wsscwater.com or call 301-206-8233.

 
For more information and additional opportunities for Earth Day, call Montgomery County’s Volunteer Center at 240-777-2600 or visit the Volunteer Center website at www.montgomeryserves.org.

Summer Internships in Land Use Planning

Forget SimCity. Try your hand at real community planning. The Planning Department at M-NCPPC has summer internships for college students interested in planning and urban development. The department has a wide variety of opportunities to provide realistic work experiences. Apply by March 31.

Open for Business

Get a sneak peek at the three-minute promotional video produced by the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and the county's Conference and Visitor's Bureau. It will be shown aboard more than 1,700 U.S. Airways and select American Airlines Business and First Class national and international flights during the month of April. It is expected to be seen by nearly 400,000 travelers during it's month-long run.

Montgomery County Population Surpasses 1 Million

This just in from the Planning Department at M-NCPPC: Montgomery County has reached the 1 million mark.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Montgomery County’s population reached 1,004,709 last July. Recently released data shows that Montgomery County, the largest jurisdiction in the state since 1989, is now the first county in Maryland to reach the population milestone.

The Census data shows Montgomery County’s population gained over 13,000 people between July 2011 and July 2012, up from a revised 991,645 the previous year, a 1.3 percent increase.

Most of the population increase is due to births, what demographers call a “net natural increase” of 7,630 people. In the period, 13,097 births exceeded 5,467 deaths.

The rest of the increase is attributed to 8,700 people migrating into the county from abroad, offsetting the net loss of 3,100 people moving out of the county during the period. A trend of international migration that began in 1990 has not slowed.

Demographers say those changes are a result of a rebounding economy and housing market, which provides the confidence and means to set up house elsewhere. During an economic downturn, people tend to stay put.

Public Hearings on the Operating Budget

The County Executive released his Recommended Operating Budget today, and now it is up to the County Council to consider his proposals and approve a final budget at the end of May. We will hold our public hearings on the budget on April 9 at 7:00, April 10 at 1:00 and 7:00, and April 11 at 1:00 and 7:00. To sign up to speak call 240-777-7803. If you can't make the hearings, you can also let us know your views by e-mailing county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Community Ministries Celebrates 45 Years of Service

Congratulations to Community Ministries of Rockville on their 45th anniversary. CMR improves the quality of life for the most vulnerable of Montgomery County residents by providing basic services including housing, healthcare, homecare, education and assistance. Over their 45 years, CMR has served nearly 60,000 residents. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of Rockville. I was proud to congratulate them on a job well done with a County Council Proclamation today.

Learn more about poverty in Montgomery County.

Your Thoughts Wanted on Proposed Glenmont Enterprise Zone

Do you have ideas about the proposed Glenmont Enterprise Zone. If so, you are invited to attend a public hearing on March 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Glenmont Local Park Activity Building, 3201 Randolph Rd., Wheaton. The comments from the hearing will be used to develop a recommendation to the County Executive and the County Council prior to submitting an application to the State of Maryland to create a new Enterprise Zone.

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development designates the State’s Enterprise Zones, while local governments are responsible for their administration. Businesses operating within an Enterprise Zone may be eligible for a tax credit towards their state income tax filings based upon the number of new jobs created. They may also be eligible for a tax credit on their local real property taxes based upon their overall capital investment in a property.

Current Enterprise Zones in Montgomery County include Wheaton, Long Branch/Takoma Park and Olde Town (Gaithersburg). Silver Spring previously obtained Enterprise Zone status to help its revitalization efforts.

The draft application will be available for review beginning March 13 at the Mid-County Regional Services Center, 2424 Reedie Dr., Wheaton, and at the Wheaton Library, 11701 Georgia Ave., during regular business hours, and online at www.choosemontgomerymd.com.

To sign up to speak at the public hearing, call Trina Green at 240-777-2004. Comments may also be emailed to sarah.k.miller@montgomerycountymd.gov.

 

Businesses: Sign up Now for 50+ Employment Expo

Business owners: sign up now for your table at the 50+ Employment Expo. This is your chance to network with thousands of mid-life and older jobseekers at an award-winning program sponsored by the Jewish Council for the Aging and Montgomery County. The event is free to all employers, community resources and participants, and this year’s speaker will be Maureen Bunyan from ABC7/WJLA-TV. You can still participate even if you have only one or two jobs available by sharing a table with others in your industry.  Although the event is free, employers must pre-register. The program is scheduled for Friday, May 17, 10:00-3:00 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

Action Alert: Transportation Funding

Please join us in this call to action signed by all nine members of the County Council:

We are writing to ask for your help. The County Council has devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy seeking a solution in Annapolis to our transportation funding needs. But we need your help in order to succeed. Our county's future is at stake.

Tell the Governor, Speaker Busch, and our County Delegation to the Senate and the House of Delegates: FUND TRANSPORTATION - OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT!

Simply put, nothing is more important to our county's future than securing transportation funding from the state legislature this year. So much depends upon it:

• Our Quality of Life - Congestion consistently ranks as the Number One issue in our county;

• Our Economy - Transit is the key to our economic future. Without transit, including bus rapid transit, there is no Transit Oriented Development;

• Our Competitiveness - Virginia just passed a transportation revenue package that will raise more than $800 million a year. Maryland's competitiveness depends on our state achieving similar results;

• Our Environment - Automobile pollution accounts for a full third of our greenhouse gas emissions;

• The CCT & Purple Line - State officials have declared that unless the Legislature provides transportation funding this year, all work on these critical projects will come to a halt. In addition, important road infrastructure projects will also be jeopardized.

The County Council has been pushing as hard as we can for a transportation solution in Annapolis. With only five weeks to go in this year's legislative session, now is the time to express your support for a transportation funding solution to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President. They need to hear how important it is to you to fund our state's transportation priorities.

The Washington Post noted Monday in an editorial that Virginia, after much hard work and compromise, raised revenue and overcame regional differences to fund transportation. Our state can not afford to do less.

The Governor and the General Assembly have already heard from Montgomery County's elected officials. Now, they need them to hear from you.  Tell the Governor, Speaker Busch, and our County Delegation to the Senate and the House of Delegates: FUND TRANSPORTATION - OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT!

You can also spread the word by showing your support on Facebook and Twitter and using the hashtag #FundTransportation.

TV Special on Poverty in Montgomery County

Montgomery County ranks among counties with the highest median incomes. We take pride in being the economic engine of Maryland. Our schools make the lists of the best in the nation, Yet we have pockets of poverty that are not easily seen. Families of working poor and people whose circumstances have taken dramatic turns for the worse due to the economic conditions of the past few years make up an increasing portion of our community.

We have people in this county who have lost significant jobs and have been unable to find other employment. We have people who work two jobs, and when they add up their paychecks, they still do not have enough to pay their basic bills. These families live right here, and they need help—but they are not always easy to identify.

That’s why I asked County Cable Montgomery to help shine a light on the hidden poverty within our county. We often only get a chance to see the affluence in Montgomery County, and this television program, The Unseen Montgomery, gives us a chance to see a growing part of life here.

The Unseen Montgomery, a 30-minute show terrifically produced and hosted by Susan Kenedy, points out that, on average, it requires a family income of $73,000 for a family of four to provide for all of its living essentials. But it also states that, over the past five years, Montgomery County has seen a 52 percent increase in the number of people receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps) and that more than 5,600 families a month receive food from the Manna Food Center, a nonprofit that acts as the local food bank.

The first broadcast of The Unseen Montgomery will be at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 3. It will replay that day at 8 p.m. The next scheduled rebroadcast will be at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. It will be rebroadcast at various future times that have yet to be determined. CCM is broadcast as Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN and Channel 30 on Verizon. You can also see the broadcast via streaming on the County Web site or on YouTube.

The show identifies nonprofits that provide help to those in need, including Manna; A Wider Circle, which collects used furniture and household items for those in need; and the Food Recover Network, which collects unused food from restaurants and venue concession operators for nonprofit organizations that redistribute it to those in need. Also featured are the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, a structured program that seeks to get people free of assistance, and Arleeta’s Pantry at the Woodside Methodist Church in Silver Spring.

Honoring 10 Local Companies on the Inc. 500 List

I had the pleasure of presenting County Council proclamations to 10 local companies that were included in the 2012 version of the Inc. 500, which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in America. The businesses, which represent a wide variety of industries including energy, marketing, technology and health, earned their rankings based on their three-year revenue growth rate from 2008-2011.

Two of the 10 companies recognized are part of Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Network, which helps growing companies realize their potential with the help of five business incubation centers that offer office and lab space, as well as business support services, to emerging technology, life sciences and professional services companies.

In 2011, the bottom line of each of these 10 Montgomery-based companies was truly top shelf as they generated combined revenue of more than $210 million and their three-year growth rate ranged from 839 percent to 1,990 percent.

These elite local 10 are Blue Corona of Gaithersburg, Digital Management of Bethesda, E-SAC of Rockville, MBL Technologies of Rockville, RainKing Solutions of Bethesda, Sonatype of Silver Spring, Special Operations Solutions of Silver Spring, Standard Solar of Rockville, RISTA Science and Technology of Rockville and WeddingWire of Bethesda.

We at the Council congratulate these 10 companies and thank them for furthering Montgomery County’s reputation of encouraging innovation and for being one of the nation’s best places for businesses to start, grow and flourish.

Town Hall Meeting in Silver Spring

Let us know what matters most to you at our Town Hall Meeting for the Silver Spring area on Wednesday, March 13, at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road. The event begins at 8 p.m. You can voice your opinions on specific issues and ask questions of us in an organized, but informal, setting. I hope to see you there.

The meeting will be taped for later broadcast on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). For more information about the Town Hall Meeting or about the broadcast times, call 240-777-7931.

Full Report: Nonprofit Business in Montgomery County

Several people have asked where to get the full report, Beyond Charity: Nonprofit Business in Montgomery County. Well, here it is—full of interesting information including these highlights:

• Montgomery County’s 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofits paid $2.2 billion to 43,371 employees in 2011 and have nearly $4 billion in combined purchasing power.
• Nonprofits employ one in 10 workers in the County.
• Nonprofit employment in the county grew 9.1 percent between 2007 and 2011, while overall employment in the county decreased by 2.5 percent.

All Committee Meetings Now Available Live on TV or Internet

Now you can watch all of the County Council’s committee meetings from the comfort of your home or anywhere with Internet access.

All of our committee meetings now either are being broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery or recorded for later broadcast on the County’s cable station. At times when two committees are meeting simultaneously, you now have the option of seeing one meeting live on television and the other on the Internet via streaming.

The move to broadcast all committee meetings—which total approximately 190 in an average year—is part of the County’s Open Government Initiative to make more aspects of government operations accessible to the public.

The County has long had the policy of televising live all Council sessions and public hearings on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). Special events such as town hall meetings hosted by the Council or the County Executive are either broadcast live or recorded for later broadcast.