“Bringing Women Back to Work” will be the theme from noon-1 p.m. on Friday, June 11, when Montgomery County’s COVID-19 Economic Revitalization and Recovery program continues its series of virtual town hall meetings to keep businesses informed on strategies for doing business as the County turns the corner toward recovery.
County Executive Marc Elrich initiated the series of town halls held every other Friday to share timely updates on COVID-19 topics of interest to the business community.The town halls give businesses an opportunity to hear directly from County leaders. Judy Stephenson, the County’s small business navigator, will host the June 11 session. There will be updates on business grant programs and Travis Gayles, the County health officer, and Earl Stoddard, the County’s director of Emergency Management, will update attendees on the status of reopening and the vaccine rollout.
Nationwide, there were 1.9 million fewer women in the workforce in the first quarter of 2021 than in the first quarter of 2020. The U.S. female labor force participation has hit a 30-year low.
During the June 11 town hall, Ms. Stephenson will host a panel of experts addressing the impact of the pandemic on women in the workforce and strategies that businesses and workers can pursue to bring women back to work. She will be joined by Lynne Stein Benzion of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, Jennifer Arnaiz of the Montgomery County Childcare Resource and Referral Center, Morgan Wortham of the Maryland Women's Business Center and Tazeen Ahmad of the Montgomery County Commission for Women.
If business owners, employees or residents have questions they would like to see addressed at the June 11 town hall, they can be submitted by Wednesday, June 9, to BizPortal@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov.
“We are fortunate to have resources available to help businesses and women develop strategies to ensure everyone benefits equally from the recovery,” said Ms. Stephenson. “This should be an informative discussion on a critical topic.”
To join the broadcast, go to https://zoom.us/j/98584224354?pwd=ekdBd05kT08zRmxCekQzajkwdW9LZz09
The webinar ID is 985 8422 4354. The passcode is 057204. Spanish interpretation is now available.
The town hall will be broadcast on County Cable Montgomery (cable station CCM), which is available on Comcast and RCN (channels 6 and HD996) and Verizon (channel 30). The town hall can be viewed live via County social media at https://www.facebook.com/montgomerycountyinfo.
Town halls are recorded and available through the Montgomery County Business Portal at https://montgomerycountymd.gov/Biz-Resources/covid19/4BizNews.html
