In Rockville, business is just peachy
April 25, 2008
Rockville businesses say their immediate future looks bright, despite the uncertain economy.
The business community just wrapped up its third annual Rockville Business Appreciation Week - when, apparently, businesses were celebrated by being polled on their economic outlook.
According to Rockville Economic Development, Inc., the visits were conducted with a “diverse array” of companies in terms of size and sector. They even included a home-based consultancy business.
Here’s some highlights:
- 44 percent of the companies polled plan to grow by adding employees within the next year. Only 3 percent expect to lose employees in that timeframe.
- The “vast majority” of companies polled are confident their industry will not be affected by a recession or have already retooled to become more recession proof.
- Companies commented that international investors and customers are taking advantage of strong international currencies and are even more willing to do business with a U.S. company.
“We couldn’t have been more pleased that so many companies are planning to grow despite the current macroeconomic stresses,” said Sally Sternbach, REDI’s executive director.
Imagine that.
Good thing, too, since Rockville businesses contribute $13M annually in property taxes — money that MoCo really can’t afford to miss out on with the county’s current budget deficit.
In case you’re curious, there are more than 7500 businesses in the city of Rockville, one of our state’s largest cities, that employ more than 100,000 people.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentOne answer to $300M deficit: T.P.
April 24, 2008
Well, it’s one way to attempt to balance a budget.
Maybe not the best way.
Labor leaders are recommending that Montgomery County ration inmates’ toilet paper to save costs. It’s just one of the many suggestions on a six-page memo of recommended budget cuts given to council members by the union that represents MoCo government employees.
Apparently, the inmates often “deliberately clog toilets to cause problems” at detention centers. But the director of the county’s department of corrections says the use of T.P. is not excessive.
The county’s deficit is at $297 million.
If they decide a ration is in order, how much allotted toilet paper is fair? Two rolls a week? Three?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBethesda group: Recycling first on list
April 21, 2008
I wrote in September that Honest Tea’s CEO, Seth Goldman, seemed to be taking on global warming single-handedly.
Well, it turns out it takes a village - or a close-knit, well-funded community.
Today, the private-public group founded by Goldman and MoCo Councilman George Leventhal - appropriately named “Bethesda Green” - launched a new Web site, debuted a new logo and revealed its backers.
No surprise here - Coca-Cola, which recently purchased a helping of Honest Tea, is among them.
The first commitment from the beverage-making duo is a $30,000 donation for the “purchase and installation of approximately 30 recycling bins in the downtown area.” A local community group will handle their collection and processing.
(It is Bethesda - so they have to be really swanky recycling bins - but that breaks down to one grand per bin. Any ideas why such a hefty amount is needed for a seemingly low-budget task?)
Anyhow, the other businesses that care about the environment in Bethesda are: Calvert, Federal Realty Investment Trust, and Reznick Group.
I do like the logo they selected, which was reviewed by a “select panel of judges” including Washington Capitals player Matt Bradley.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentTurning ashes into artwork
April 9, 2008
Have you been wondering what to do with the cremated remains of a loved one?
This is the question posed by Phoenix Memorial Art, a new Bethesda company that urges you to reconsider your plans for dispersal of ashes.
Instead, they propose, set some aside and have them made into an original work of art by one of Phoenix’s affiliated artists. This way, Phoenix assures you, memories of your loved one can come alive again through art, the same way a phoenix rises from the ashes.
That’s what Phoenix founder Marjorie Hoachlander and her late husband, Eldon, chose to do with a portion of his remains. Now Marjorie has a piece of Eldon - literally - in seven original artworks.
From the release:
“Cremains are emotional material,” explains ceramic artist Catherine White, who hand-built a beautiful vessel for the Hoachlander collection. “I feel a great respect and responsibility as I work with each piece and allow its unique personality to emerge. When adding cremains to the clay, I become aware of the textural effects of the ashes as the object forms.”
Phoenix’s advisory board includes a doctor of anthropology at UMD; a doctor of psychology at Hood College; and the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
How about it: a meaningful alternative to a traditional urn, or too offbeat?
I’d want design approval pre-mortem; can you imagine being part of a work of art you disliked?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentA rather expensive pizza
April 4, 2008
I’m not nearly as clever as I think I am. Granted, my ego has set the bar pretty high — but still.
On the most recently updated list of “People I Would Like to Be,” Chris Clark of North Potomac has climbed to the top. Clark just sold the domain name pizza.com for $2.6 million. He bought it about 14 years ago for $20.
Not a bad return on investment.
We’ve all looked at some new gadget or idea and shouted to anyone who happened to be around, “I thought of that years ago!” In many cases, we even did.
How about you? What great invention or revelation did you let slip away, only to discover years later it had granted fame to someone else?
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
Sphere: Related ContentApplicants for Judge Raker’s seat
March 25, 2008
As I wrote for today’s paper, five people have applied for Judge Raker’s Court of Appeals seat: Mary Ellen Barbera, William Chen Jr., Michael Mason, Chung Pak and Patrick Woodward.
I must admit that I’m not too up on the Montgomery County legal scene, so I’m wondering what those of you who are think about this crop of candidates. Any real stand-outs on this list?
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo exec gets $65,000 bathroom
March 20, 2008
Cost of a private bathroom, small sitting room and shower for MoCo executive Ike Leggett = $65,225. Oh, and a critical story in the Washington Post.
Timing is everything; even though the bathroom’s cost was approved last spring, its construction begins as Leggett proposes 225 job cuts and increased property taxes to close the county’s nearly $300M budget shortfall.
Leggett’s security chief says that walking through a crowded lobby to use the public restroom could expose him to harm, even though former County Executive Doug Duncan used it for his 12 years in office.
“We had perfectly good bathrooms right at the elevators,” [Duncan] said yesterday. When asked whether he ever felt unsafe using the public restroom, Duncan chuckled, “Heck no.”
PG Exec Jack Johnson has a private bathroom, built prior to his election; so does DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, although he uses the public bathroom at city hall. But unlike federal office buildings, the MoCo offices don’t have security checkpoints or metal detectors.
“We have had some challenging, disgruntled employees or citizens demanding to see the county executive, and from a security perspective he can walk into that,” Chief Administrative Officer Timothy L. Firestine said. “Quite frankly, Ike didn’t want [the new bathroom], but we more or less suggested from a security perspective that he needs it.”
Call me crazy, but it sounds like what’s needed isn’t a private bathroom; it’s a metal detector.
This one only costs $4,000.
But don’t take my word for it - hear what Leggett has to say in his online town hall meeting today at noon.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo provides calculator for property taxes
March 19, 2008
Beginning April 1, home sellers in Montgomery County are required to provide their buyers with an estimate of the next year’s property tax bill.
The idea behind the new law is to “eliminate the shock” that many county homebuyers have endured after realizing they will pay significantly higher property taxers than the previous owner.
See, even though the state reassesses residential properties every three years, the taxable assessment is capped at a 10% maximum increase per year - except when the home changes ownership. The new buyer will pay tax based on 100% of the current taxable assessed value.
In some cases, the difference is in the thousands.
But the county’s making this one easy: they’re providing a web-based calculator that will reveal the answer for potential homeowners.
Have fun testing it out. I tried out a few addresses of stately homes in the Potomac area, only to cringe at the estimates.
If you do try it, remember only to put the house number and street name - ex.: 100 Maple.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentLaw blog round-up
March 10, 2008
Here are a few law links for your “this-time-change-is-making-this-Monday-morning even-worse-than-usual” Monday morning:
- Bloggers post on a variety of Maryland measures: the bill to ban foie gras, the bill to impose liability on lead-paint manufacturers, the bill to ban Marylanders from selling certain things on e-Bay and the bills on shipping wine into Maryland.
- What do you think of the lead-footed Montgomery County cops’ logic that they should not have to pay speed camera fines because they don’t own their cruisers?
- 60 Minutes last night featured a story about two lawyers who knew that a defendant hadn’t committed a murder because their own client had confessed to them. The lawyers revealed the truth only after their client died last year — despite the fact that the guy who hadn’t done it has been behind bars for 26 years. The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog asks whether the lawyers were right to follow legal ethics or wrong to let an innocent man serve time. (This case from Illinois is a lot like this one from Virginia.)
- From Ms. JD comes the news of this law review article (PDF) on women’s progress at the big firms.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo Councilmember Floreen launches blog
February 29, 2008
Welcome to the blogosphere, Nancy!
Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Floreen launched “Nancy at Large” today to connect better with her constituents.
“I know that my constituents have expertise, questions and opinions,” said Councilmember Floreen. “I hope the interactive environment of the blog will allow us to work through some of these issues together.”
Her first post concerns proposed changes to the Forest Conservation Law. Appropriately enough, the blog banner is a pleasing cherry blossom pic.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
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