Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council Vice President Sidney Katz are encouraging local business owners to attend and participate in the second of two 4Business charrettes as part of the “Benchmarking to Be the Best for Business” initiative.
The second charrette is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9, at the Wheaton Community Recreation Center located at 11701 Georgia Ave. in Wheaton. The first 4Business charrette was held Nov. 20 at the Upcounty Regional Services Center.
The charrettes follow six 4Business listening sessions, an online business climate survey of local businesses and options to submit feedback through the website by email and a digital form.
“The goal of these charrettes is to involve the business community - our stakeholders - in this process as we continue our work to improve the business climate in Montgomery County,” said County Executive Elrich. “We are committed to making changes as demonstrated during the 4Business listening sessions. After receiving input from business owners, we streamlined some of the paperwork in the procurement process and, also, introduced legislation for a Local Business Preference Program. We want business owners to locate, to grow and to thrive in Montgomery County, and we need their help in identifying areas for improvement.”
The charrettes are designed to engage the business community in developing a vision to make Montgomery County’s business climate the best it can be. The charrette format will include an overview of the 4Business initiative and results of the initiative to date. There are five theme areas: Business Support/Economic Development, Procurement, Permitting/Public Construction Impacts/Transportation, Government Access/Communications and Regulations/Taxes/Fees.
At the charrettes, participants will work in groups at the topic tables of their choosing to provide feedback on proposed improvements and develop additional ideas to be considered for implementation. At the end of the evening, each working group will make a presentation with its results.
“We want Montgomery County to be the best place to do business,” said Council Vice President Katz. “These charettes are being held so that we can hear directly from the business community as we continue our benchmarking processes. I like the charette process because it brings many stakeholders together to share ideas and concerns, and I encourage business owners to participate in the process.”
For more information about the 4Business charrettes, including transcripts from the listening sessions, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DPS/business/4Business.html.
