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Category: Quality of life

June 2023 unemployment rate is lowest in more than 30 years for Montgomery County, Maryland

Posted on by Amanda Bosland
Montgomery County Seal with Background Image

Economic indicators for June 2023 show continued positive post-pandemic business trends

Montgomery County, Md., Aug. 9 2023 – The June 2023 preliminary unemployment rate in Montgomery County, Maryland was just reported the lowest *June rate in more than 30 years at 1.5%, according to the BLS State and Local Area Unemployment Statistics series. This key metric is the lowest of any June tracking to 1990.

The June unemployment rate was also lower than Maryland’s overall rate, which was 1.7%, compared to the Washington MSA at 2.5% and the national average at 3.8%.

In another positive economic trend, May Montgomery County employment in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services subsector was robust, showing an increase of 2.9% year over year, which is well above the rate of the state and the Washington MSA.

The leisure and hospitality subsector continues to improve, increasing positions by 6% since last May and is now about evenly paced with 2019. Healthcare and social assistance jobs increased 5.5% year over year, ahead of Maryland, the Washington MSA and the nation.

“It is extremely gratifying to see these positive trends in our economy,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “These trends are a sign that businesses are coming back following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are fortunate to have a diverse economy that is anchored by several federal agencies, a strong biotech industry as well as travel and tourism. We collectively support our businesses to build a stronger economy as we continue post-pandemic recovery efforts.”

“The growth in Montgomery County, with unemployment at a record low 1.5%, shows the strength and resilience of our business community,” said MCEDC President & CEO Bill Tompkins.” It is also exciting to see the substantial growth in professional, scientific and technical services, areas where Montgomery County continues to shine.”

*All figures, including U.S., are non-seasonal.

Watch County Executive Marc Elrich’s press conference here.

See the economic indicators infographic here.

 

About Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC)

The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) is the official public-private economic development organization representing Montgomery County, Maryland. Created in 2016, MCEDC is led by a Board of Directors of business executives. Its mission is to help businesses start, grow and relocate in Montgomery County by helping them gain access to top talent, business and market intelligence and prime locations. For more information, visit https://thinkmoco.com/

Link to press release: https://thinkmoco.com/blog/montgomerycounty-june2023-unemployment

Rockville named 12th safest suburb in the United States

Posted on by Amanda Bosland
View of tree-lined street

Rockville placed 12th out of 370 suburbs in SmartAsset's 2023 report

SmartAsset, an online consumer-focused financial information website has released a study of 370 U.S. suburbs with a population of at least 5,000 that are within 15 to 45 minutes of the 100 largest U.S. cities. 

Rockville, MD was ranked the 12th safest of the 370  U.S. suburbs analyzed in SmartAsset’s 2023 report

To find the safest suburbs, SmartAsset compared the data for the 370 suburbs by the following metrics:

  • Violent crime rate
  • Property crime rate
  • Vehicular mortality rate
  • Drug poisoning mortality rate
  • Percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking

All metrics were measured at the county level, with the exception of violent and property crime data which was measured at the city level.

Read the entire SmartAsset report at: https://smartasset.com/data-studies/americas-safest-suburbs-2023

Rockville ranked 8th best place to live in Maryland in 2023 Niche report

Posted on by Amanda Bosland
outdoor photo of Rockville

Rockville's diversity, public schools, health & fitness and family-friendly appeal helped earn the city a top spot on Niche's list

Niche.com, a popular website that provides rankings, reviews and data on various aspects of cities, schools, colleges, neighborhoods, and workplaces around the U.S., recently published its 2023 ‘Best Places to Live’ lists, ranking Rockville as the 8th best place to live in Maryland.

Niche’s ranks over 50,000 U.S. cities by collecting and analyzing data from federal and local government data sets including education, housing, diversity, crime rates, employment opportunities and amenities.

Niche’s top 10 Best Cities to Live in Maryland in 2023 are:

  1. North Bethesda
  2. North Potomac
  3. South Kensington
  4. Chevy Chase
  5. Bethesda
  6. Ellicot City
  7. Potomac
  8. Rockville
  9. Fulton
  10. Four Corners

View Niche’s profile on Rockville at https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/rockville-montgomery-md/

Rockville ranked as eight most ethnically diverse city in U.S. in 2023

Posted on by Amanda Bosland

Rockville placed 8 of 501 in WalletHub's 2023 study of cities in America

According to a study of ethnically diverse places in America conducted by WalletHub, Rockville ranks eight overall and fourth among small cities for its ethnic diversity. More than one-third of Rockville’s 67,117 residents were born outside of the U.S.

Four of the top 10 most diverse cities in the country are in Montgomery County, Maryland. The personal finance website placed Germantown, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring and Rockville among its top ten “2023 Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Cities in the U.S.” Rockville has ranked within the top 10 spots of WalletHub’s ethnic diversity study from 2017-2022.

WalletHub compared the most populated U.S. cities across three key metrics:

  1. Ethnoracial Diversity
  2. Linguistic Diversity
  3. Birthplace Diversity

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most ethnic diversity. The weighted average across all metrics were determined to calculate the “Ethnic Diversity Score” for cities and the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.

The top 10 most diverse cities in America, in order, were:

  1. Germantown, MD
  2. Jersey City, NJ
  3. Gaithersburg, MD
  4. Silver Spring, MD
  5. New York, NY
  6. Kent, WA
  7. Spring Valley, NV
  8. Rockville, MD
  9. San Jose, CA
  10. Oakland, CA

Learn more about Rockville’s economy, workforce and amenities here

To view the full list of cities in WalletHub’s 2023 report, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-and-least-ethno-racial-and-linguistic-diversity/10264

 

Rockville Little Theatre’s PRIDE@PREJUDICE advances to Eastern States Festival after Maryland Community Festival win

Posted on by Amanda Bosland
Left to right: David Gross, President-MCFTA; Teresa Gillcrist, P@P Producer, RLT, Laura W. Andruski, P@P Director, RLT; Scott loom, VP-MCTFA. Photo credit: Vanessa Bisbee Markowitz

Rockville Little Theatre's PRIDE@PREJUDICE garnered multiple accolades including 'Outstanding Production'

Rockville, Md., Feb. 20, 2023 – Rockville Little Theatre performed a 45-minute selection from their recent production of PRIDE@PREJUDICE by Daniel Elihu Kramer at the Maryland Community Theatre Festival (mctfa.org) held in La Plata on February 11 – 12.  PRIDE@PREJUDICE was originally performed at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville, MD  from January 28 – February 5.

RLT competed against six other productions: Kentland’s Community Players, Port Tobacco Players, Raging Hag Productions, Newtowne Players, New Direction Community Theatre and The British Players.

PRIDE@PREJUDICE was directed by Laura W. Andrusk and produced by Teresa Gillcrist.  The Assistant Director/Technical Director was Aaron Skolnik. The cast included Niranjali Amerasinghe, Lena Winter, Meghan Williams Elkins, Ian Swank and Joseph Coracle.

PRIDE@PREJUDICE garnered the following accolades:

  • Outstanding Stage Manager to Aaron Skolnik,
  • Outstanding Ensemble Performance,
  • Outstanding Achievement in Acting to John Coracle,
  • Ed-Ro-Char Award for Technical Excellence, and
  • Outstanding Production.

The win for Outstanding Production allows Rockville Little Theatre the opportunity to take their production to the Eastern States Theatre Festival (estafestival.org/) in Wilmington, DE on April 14  –  16.

About Rockville Little Theatre

Rockville Little Theater (RLT) was founded in 1948 and is the oldest continuously operating 501(c)3 nonprofit live theatre in the Rockville area. RLT provides high quality performances at reasonable prices. We strive to entertain, enlighten and educate all who attend our theatrical events. RLT offers an opportunity for community members to step out of their everyday lives and to assume new roles as playwrights, actors, directors, costume designers, set designers, and audiences. Learn more at http://www.rlt-online.org/

Rockville ranked 20th Best Place to Live in the U.S. in 2022 by digital platform, Money

Posted on by Amanda Bosland
Street in downtown Rockville, MD

A diverse city, according to Money's data, Rockville is business friendly and home to some of the most prominent biomedical and technology companies

Digital platform, Money, announced its annual ranking of the Best Places to Live spotlighting 50 cities and towns with strong labor markets, affordable homes, and racial, economic and cultural diversity.

For 2022’s Best Places to Live list, Money looked at towns and cities with a population of at least 20,000, and made its selection based on cost of living, economic opportunity, and diversity, among other factors.

“This year’s Best Places to Live ranking highlights the amazing cities and towns the country has to offer – with a hard examination of what matters most,” said Executive Editor, Mike Ayers. “Money hopes readers will find the places with the most opportunity for whatever’s next in their lives.”

Money’s Top 20 Best Places to Live include:

  1. Atlanta, GA
  2. Tempa, AZ
  3. Kirkland, WA
  4. Raleigh, NC
  5. Rogers Park, IL
  6. Columbia, MD
  7. Somerville, MA
  8. Ann Arbor, MI
  9. Tampa, FL
  10. Jersey City, NJ
  11. Boise City, ID
  12. Chapel Hill, NC
  13. Irvine, CA
  14. Fort Lee, NJ
  15. Arlington, VA
  16. Naperville, IL
  17. Milton, MA
  18. Fremont, CA
  19. Carmel, IN
  20. Rockville, MD

View Rockville’s profile on Money’s 2022 Best Places to Live here: https://money.com/best-places-to-live/rockville-maryland/

 

 

 

Rockville ranks as one of the most diverse cities in America in 2022

Posted on by Amanda Bosland

Rockville placed 10 of 501 in WalletHub's 2022 study of cities in America

According to a study of ethnically diverse places in America conducted by WalletHub, four of the top 10 most diverse cities in the country are in Montgomery County, Maryland. The personal finance website placed Germantown, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring and Rockville among its top ten “2022 Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Cities in the U.S.”

WalletHub compared the most populated U.S. cities across three key metrics:

  1. Ethnoracial Diversity
  2. Linguistic Diversity
  3. Birthplace Diversity

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most ethnic diversity. The weighted average across all metrics were determined to calculate the “Ethnic Diversity Score” for cities and the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.

The top 10 most diverse cities in America, in order, were:

  1. Jersey City, NJ
  2. Germantown, MD
  3. Gaithersburg, MD
  4. Silver Spring, MD
  5. Spring Valley, NV
  6. New York, NY
  7. Kent, WA
  8. San Jose, CA
  9. Oakland, CA
  10. Rockville, MD

Learn more about Rockville’s economy, workforce and amenities here

To view the full list of cities in WalletHub’s 2022 report, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-and-least-ethno-racial-and-linguistic-diversity/10264

 

Maryland Women’s Business Center Shop Local incubator featured in Fox 5 DC’s Zip Trip in Rockville

Posted on by Amanda Bosland

The segment included interviews with a MWBC Shop Local vendor and a graduate of the program - Saints Valley

On July 8, 2022 regional news channel, Fox 5 DC, aired their popular series ‘Zip Trip’ live from Rockville. Zip Trip is part of Fox 5 DC’s weekly series that highlights the best spots to visit around the D.C. region.

The Maryland Women’s Business Center Shop Local was invited to participate in Zip Trip as one of Rockville’s local business highlights. The segment included an overview of the MWBC Shop Local program with the Training & Events Manager, Thomas Squire, interviews with a current Shop Local vendor, Sheila Rose of Great Glass Creations, and a program graduate Lilit Ghazaryan who owns Saints Valley in Rockville Town Square.

Check out the MWBC Shop Local’s segment below!
About MWBC Shop Local

Shop Local is a retail business incubator program of the Maryland Women’s Business Center, an SBA-certified business development center, under Rockville Economic Development Inc. The program began in Rockville in 2018 with the partnership and sponsorship of Federal Realty Investment Trust. Shop Local provides support to the program’s entrepreneurs by providing free mentorship, expertise, access to investors, and in some cases, working capital in the form of a loan or grant. Learn more about MWBC Shop Local at https://mwbcshoplocal.com/about-the-program/

New Tourism Website ‘Explore Rockville’ launches at 2022 Hometown Holidays

Posted on by Amanda Bosland

The website includes an events calendar, suggested itineraries and a searchable directory of restaurants, things to do, recreation facilities and more

Rockville’s Mayor and Council welcomed patrons of Hometown Holidays on Saturday May 28, followed by a special announcement from Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI). REDI in collaboration with Visit Montgomery and the City of Rockville announced the launched of the city’s tourism website – ExploreRockville.org 

The new website seeks to:

  • Promote and support Rockville’s tourism, hospitality, and retail industries
  • Establish Rockville as a regional destination for arts, culture, and international cuisine
  • Support the attraction and retention of businesses, workforce and residents

The website includes an events calendar, suggested itineraries and a searchable directory of restaurants, things to do, parks and recreation facilities. Explore Rockville also highlights the city’s unique commercial neighborhoods such as Rockville Town Center, King Farm, and Rock East District, all of which have their own history and vibe.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Visit Montgomery and the City on such an important project. Explore Rockville showcases the diversity and vibrancy of our city and people, and invites residents and visitors alike to (re)discover Rockville,” said Susan Prince, REDI Board Chair.

Explore Rockville was also an exhibitor at Hometown Holidays, promoting the new website through public engagement and the distribution of branded giveaways and t-shirts.

Check out the Explore Rockville launch at Hometown Holidays: