Childhood friends turned entrepreneurs, unexpected lightbulb moments, and niche ideas that bloom into business success. Small-scale manufacturers that launch in Rockville, Maryland, join a collaborative hub known for its strong, supportive network for small businesses to grow and scale up. Meet ten of our many small-scale manufacturers who are thriving in Rockville.

MasPanadas is a leading Latin food purveyor that sells its delicious products to multiple grocery stores throughout the country. Recently tripling its space, the company has seen a 600% increase in sales in 2023 alone. April 8 is National Empanada Day – but every day is a celebration of empanadas at this local favorite. It is a home-grown success story, in similar fashion to Jesse and Bens. This duo started as childhood friends with vision and pluck, and have become both entrepreneurs and restaurateurs. They’ve perfected healthy packaged fast-food treats and have grown into multiple food trucks and farmers’ markets, mobile catering and selling to grocers.

Baltimore, Md. (May 21, 2025) – Omega 3 Nutrition, Inc., a Rockville-based health food company, announced today the close of an oversubscribed Series Seed round, led by Capitalize VC, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in transformative commerce-enablement companies in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), with participation from the University System of Maryland (USM) Momentum Fund (Momentum Fund), 1863 Ventures, the Dingman Center Angels Network, 757 Angels, and several prominent angel investors. The round will support rapid national expansion of the company’s various lines of brain health snacks and cereals.

Omega 3 Nutrition offers a growing line of clean-label, brain-boosting food products designed to support cognitive health and overall wellness. The company’s flagship offerings include granola bars and cereal made with whole grains, plant-based ingredients, and enriched with naturally sourced omega-3 fatty acids. The products, which combine great taste with functional health benefits, are specifically formulated to meet the nutritional needs of students, patients, and busy professionals, while also aligning with institutional standards for K-12 schools, universities, hospitals, and airlines.

“Capitalize VC is extremely proud to partner with Omega 3 Nutrition in this round. It’s been inspiring to watch Bright and his team build such a solid foundation for the business over the past year,” commented Tessa Flippin, Founder and Managing Partner at Capitalize VC. “We were excited to become investors in the company after understanding two key things — the capital efficient and profitable nature of the business at such an early stage, and the strong B2B business model that enables them to build sticky customer relationships that keep the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio high. We also see their in-house manufacturing as a differentiator that enables Omega 3 to control much of their production costs as they continue to grow their footprint.”

Bright Djampa founded Omega 3 Nutrition while he was a nutritional food science student at the University of Maryland, College Park. To realize his vision, he collaborated with several nutrition science professors, ultimately developing a product line of affordable, accessible, and truly delicious food items designed to naturally support brain health. Since the original product was created in 2019, the offerings have gone through several iterations to better align with the K-12 market and to deliver more brain boosting nutrients.

“Launching Omega 3 Nutrition while I was a student at the University of Maryland was one of the most transformative experiences of my life,” said Bright Djampa, Founder and CEO of Omega 3 Nutrition. “The support I received from faculty and the Pitch Dingman competition played a huge role in bringing the vision to life. Winning $20,000 through Pitch Dingman gave me the runway to take this venture full-time after graduation — to hire my first team members, refine the product, and start building out a real business. University of Maryland didn’t just give me an education — it gave me the platform to pursue something meaningful and scalable from day one.”

“I have known few founders as dedicated, positive, and resourceful as Bright,” said Lottie Byram, Assistant Director of Community Programs at the Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship. “We first met when Omega 3 Nutrition consisted of little more than Bright’s first $150 in sales and dreams. Since that time, he has pursued success with relentless creativity. His way is infectious, and everyone who has met him can attest to being a little (or a lot) more fired up about solving the world’s problems. It has been a pleasure to work with him on this journey, and we’re very proud to see the founder he has become, as well as the impact he is having on our region and the next generation of young founders.”

“We’re excited to partner with Bright and his team as they take their vision for healthy snacks and cereals to the next level,” said Mike Ravenscroft, Managing Director of the Momentum Fund. “Since winning the Pitch Dingman competition in 2021, Bright has worked tirelessly to turn a dorm room dream into a thriving venture. With customers including school districts, hospitals, and even airlines nationwide, they are leading the charge to bring healthy snacks to the places where we need them the most.”

Rockville, MD – June 4, 2025 – The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) announced today the opening of its Advanced Technologies Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland. USP will use this lab, and related solutions and expertise, to develop, pilot, and scale innovations that foster more efficient and expanded production of quality medicines for stronger and more secure supply chains. 

The lab expands USP capabilities to help manufacturers overcome barriers in the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies by developing new approaches and processes for flow chemistry and additive manufacturing coupled with advanced analytical techniques such as process analytical technologies (PAT) that can enable real-time quality monitoring. The lab will also support development of alternative and novel synthetic routes to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key starting materials. Taken together, these capabilities are essential in efforts to create stronger supply chains through strategic onshoring, distributed manufacturing, and personalized medicine. 

“Advanced manufacturing technologies make possible the responsive, distributed manufacturing and onshoring strategies that make our medicine supply chains more secure and reliable. But adoption at commercial scale can be challenging, especially for generic manufacturers,” said Ronald T. Piervincenzi, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of USP. “The Advanced Technologies Lab will help launch and scale innovations that get products to patients more efficiently, while strengthening our medicine supply chains.” 

USP offers end-to-end supply chain analytics and solutions– from chemical precursors to finished pharmaceutical products. Accurate, comprehensive mapping of the medicines supply chain helps identify supply chain risks, such as over consolidation, and pinpoints opportunities for intervention. The Advanced Technologies Lab will help industry and regulators accelerate the adoption of new technologies that help to mitigate supply chain risks and, where appropriate, establish guidance that supports regulatory predictability, process efficiencies, and faster time to market, all of which can strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities. 

“The Advanced Technologies Lab exemplifies USP’s commitment to advancing efficient, quality, and sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing through the application of cutting-edge technologies,” said Emily Kaine, SVP of Global Health and Manufacturing Services. “USP’s unique capabilities and decades of expertise can help overcome the barriers that have limited the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies. Doing so will help ensure that the medicines people rely on for health are available when and where they’re needed.” 

USP currently operates more than 70,000 square feet of laboratory space across sites in the U.S. and India. USP labs provide unparalleled expertise in developing quality and process standards, establishing and validating analytical methods, characterizing impurities, and synthesizing organic compounds. The Advanced Technologies Lab is the latest of USP’s investments in advanced manufacturing technologies. USP plans to continue expanding its advanced technology footprint into an additional 8,000 square foot laboratory in 2026.   

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich joined global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and local leaders on Monday to celebrate the opening of a new $300 million advanced manufacturing facility in Rockville. The facility will produce CAR-T cell therapies—personalized treatments that are transforming how cancer is treated around the world.

“This facility represents exactly the kind of investment we want to support,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “It will save lives, create high-quality jobs, and strengthen Montgomery County’s place as one of the nation’s top bio-life sciences hubs. We’re proud to have helped make it happen.”

The 84,000-square-foot facility, located at 9950 Medical Center Drive, is part of AstraZeneca’s $3.5 billion national investment in research and manufacturing. It will support clinical trials and future commercial production of cell therapies—treatments designed to re-engineer a patient’s own immune cells to fight disease.

“AstraZeneca’s new facility in Rockville is a testament to Montgomery County’s leadership in the life sciences industry,” said Elana Fine, MCEDC Board Chair. “This investment highlights the county’s commitment to advancing healthcare and fostering innovation, while bolstering the local economy. We look forward to continuing to support them as they settle into the new facility.” 

Montgomery County’s and State of Maryland support included:

• $100,000 in targeted economic development incentives from Montgomery County.
• Additional $500,000 in support from the Maryland Department of Commerce.
• Job creation tax credits that take effect upon new employees being hired.
• Coordination through the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) to accelerate approvals and meet an aggressive construction timeline.

“What makes this effort different is the precision and purpose behind it,” Elrich said. “The County and State made targeted investments tied to good jobs and groundbreaking science. That’s the kind of economic development we should all be proud of. Montgomery County continues to be a place where science, talent, and infrastructure come together. We’ve built a strong ecosystem—from startups to global companies—and we’re going to keep growing it.”

The facility is expected to create more than 150 skilled jobs in the region. AstraZeneca already employs more than 4,500 workers in Montgomery County across multiple sites, including its 1.3 million-square-foot Gaithersburg campus.

The County’s Department of Permitting Services worked closely with AstraZeneca and development partners to speed up permitting and inspections—enabling the project to open months ahead of schedule.

This announcement adds to a series of major bio-life sciences wins in Montgomery County, including:

• United Therapeutics’ expansion in Silver Spring
• MilliporeSigma’s new facility in Rockville
• Novavax’s headquarters growth in Gaithersburg
• The launch of the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing in North Bethesda

County Executive Elrich will be promoting all of the County’s bio and life science success stories next month at the BIO International Convention in Boston, where he will meet with companies and organizations exploring new locations for expansion and collaboration.

To learn more about Montgomery County’s life sciences sector, visit www.thinkmoco.com.