Montgomery County Executive Elrich Expands Business Connect Program to Silver Spring, Announces New Business Tools and More

For Immediate Release: Monday, August 5, 2019

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich officially launched the Business Connect program in Silver Spring as he emphasized his administration’s focus on growing the economy. 

County Executive Elrich was joined in the Silver Spring Library by Maryland Deputy Commerce Secretary Ben Wu and County Councilmembers Tom Hucker, Will Jawando, local officials, business leaders and County partners.

The Business Connect program consists of classes, counseling and connections to provide support to businesses as they start and grow in Montgomery County. Classes are a key component and the program offers free and low-cost business workshops and training sessions that are taught by the County’s partners. The classes feature a variety of topics from marketing a business to financial planning to negotiating a lease. Counseling sessions are available individually and connections include resources available from Montgomery County government. 

Montgomery County’s Business Connect partners include Impact Silver Spring, the Latino Economic Development Center, Life Asset, Maryland Small Business Development Center, Maryland Women’s Business Center and SCORE.

The Business Connect program is offered in several locations in the Silver Spring area including the Long Branch Community Center, the Long Branch Library, and the Silver Spring Library. Earlier this year, the Business Connect program was piloted at the Upcounty Regional Services Center in Germantown, and there are plans to expand the program to other regional areas over the next year, including East County, Bethesda and Mid-County.

The Business Connect program is managed by the Business Solutions Group, which includes the County’s small business navigator and business liaison officers. For information about upcoming Business Connect classes, visit the award-winning Montgomery County Business Portal.

In addition to launching Business Connect in Silver Spring, County Executive Elrich announced that Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) are introducing two free programs, Gale Business: DemographicsNow and Gale Business: Plan Builder, to connect aspiring and existing business owners with online resources for business planning to ensure entrepreneurs have the needed resources to thrive.  The two online resources provide business startups and current business owners with the framework to move their operations through the business development lifecycle. These new programs complement the numerous other free resources currently provided by MCPL to support entrepreneurs.  

Also, County Executive Elrich said that legislation for a Local Business Preference Program was recently sent to the County Council. That legislation is expected to be introduced after the Council returns from its summer recess.

County Executive Elrich is encouraging local businesses to take the 4Business Climate Survey, which is posted on the County’s website through Sept. 30. He said it is important to hear from the business community in order to make Montgomery County a better place for businesses to start, grow and thrive.

The survey follows six 4Business listening sessions, hosted by the county executive and Council Vice President Sidney Katz, as part of the Benchmarking to Be the Best for Business initiative. For more information about the 4Business initiative, visit the County’s website.

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Release ID: 19-272
Media Contact: Sonya Burke 240-777-6531