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MCEDC leaders brief council as board searches for a new CEO and budgets remain tight
Summary
The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation board chair and staff told the county committee they are conducting a national CEO search, postponed the strategic plan to July 1, 2025, and warned recent budget cuts reduced marketing capacity and staffing.
Board and MCEDC staff told the Economic Development Committee that the organization is in transition and seeking a new chief executive while continuing core work on attraction, retention and marketing.
Yolanda Fine, chair of MCEDC’s board, said the board has launched a national search and has engaged a search firm; board transition committees are led by local business leaders. "This is a time to be investing in economic development," Fine told the committee, urging sustained funding to allow MCEDC to execute its mission.
Committee materials show the council approved $4,670,000 for MCEDC in the prior budget year; the county executive had recommended $4,000,000 and MCEDC requested $5,950,000. Staff explained MCEDC supplemented its appropriated funds with one-time reserves during FY25 to maintain operations despite staffing reductions.
Laurie Babb, MCEDC director of economic development, outlined near-term initiatives including co-hosting a biotech connections event with the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing and a regional InnovateED summit to connect industry, academia and workforce partners. Annalise Hashmi, MCEDC’s marketing director, described targeted B2B campaigns and outreach to life-science clusters in Boston and San Francisco.
Council members raised concerns about cuts to marketing and communications staff, asked for comparative data on peer-jurisdiction economic-development spending, and requested MCEDC provide district council members with draft regional-service-center materials before public release. MCEDC agreed to provide additional detail on metrics, retention outcomes and marketing return-on-investment for the committee’s upcoming budget deliberations.
Why it matters: council members expressed concern that reduced MCEDC marketing capacity could weaken the county’s competitiveness in attracting firms and talent at a time when the county faces federal workforce reductions and housing pressures. The committee signaled it will weigh funding restorations and clearer performance metrics as part of FY26 budget review.
Next steps: MCEDC will deliver requested follow-up on comparative budgets, metrics tied to the job-creation fund and lists of businesses engaged and retained for committee review ahead of the FY26 budget hearing.
