Montgomery County Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) announced Monday he is proposing a $20 million special appropriation focused on creating jobs and supporting businesses in the county at a press conference.
“There’s no question that we have economic challenges. We have to be honest about that. And they have been compounded by events over the last several years,” Friedson said. “I am as confident today as I have ever been that our long term opportunities far outweigh our near term obstacles and that Montgomery County has every tool in our toolkit. And we’re going to seize the moment.”
The Jobs, Opportunities and Business Support (J.O.B.S.) Initiative would create three funds, taken from the county’s undesignated reserves in the 2024 budget – a $10 million job creation fund, a $7 million innovation fund and a $3 million equity fund.
Friedson will formally introduce the initiative during Tuesday’s council meeting, and it will need a favorable vote from the council to proceed. Aa vote has not yet been scheduled.
Six councilmembers joined Friedson on Monday in support of the legislation — Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4), Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large) – indicating it is likely to be approved by the 11-member council.
Friedson said the intent behind the initiative is to align the county’s various economic development strategic plans.
“When you have seven strategic plans … you don’t have a plan. You’ve got a bunch of ideas, a bunch of people going in different directions,” Friedson said. “So the idea was to bring everybody together, to put it under the auspices of our designated economic development organization, Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. to make sure that businesses on the front end had a role in the development of this effort.”
The job fund would provide employers with $10,000 for each new job created, as long as it is salaried at $100,000 or more. Employers would be required to create a minimum of five jobs, with a limit of $500,000 in grants per company. An employer could receive $12,000 per job if it is located in one of the county’s Equity Focus Areas, which are characterized by Montgomery Planning as “high concentrations of lower-income people of color, who may also speak English less than very well.” The Equity Focus Areas are primarily located along the I-270 corridor, the Route 29 corridor and in the southeastern part of the county.
The innovation fund would grant up to $100,000 to companies working to develop new technologies, designs and processes. The equity fund would grant up to $80,000 to businesses in the Equity Focus Areas that are considered to be in early or growth stages.
The announcement comes ahead of Thursday’s release of County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1. In a recent newsletter, Elrich said he plans to include $27 million for economic development initiatives.
Elrich wrote that his allocation would fund “expanded and improved incubators that include increased innovation, technical assistance and increased programming and capacity. It also will add a BioHub in conjunction with the State that will create a state-of-the-art life sciences training facility to help fill jobs in a key County industry sector.”
Friedson was joined Monday by several local commerce leaders who support the bill.
“Our small business community here in Montgomery County … is supported entirely by small businesses that are our backbone,” said Gigi Godwin, president and CEO of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. “So their success is our economic imperative. It is always the right time to do the right thing.”
Stephanie Helsing, president and CEO of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, said she believes this initiative would “pay dividends long into the future.”
“We continue to face high vacancies in our office downtown market. Attracting new companies and fostering business expansion for existing companies is vital,” Helsing said. “This J.O.B.S. Initiative will help jumpstart our local economy, particularly in Silver Spring, with new higher paying jobs.”
As proposed, the J.O.B.S. Initiative is a one-time allocation of funds. If the council approves the initiative, Friedson said his plan is to assess after a year whether it was successful and should continue.