The Montgomery County government is collaborating with private sector partners on a coalition to address federal government cuts and support the local federal workforce, the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. (MCEDC) announced Monday.
Mobilize Montgomery is a new coalition that includes county government, MCEDC, the Maryland Department of Labor, WorkSource Montgomery, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, the city of Gaithersburg, the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Women’s Business Center, Rockville Economic Development Inc. and other local commerce chambers, according to a press release from MCEDC.
The goal of the coalition is to “serve as a centralized resource hub ensuring that businesses, employees, and residents have access to critical information and support they need during this challenging time,” the release said. The Mobilize Montgomery website will host information about job postings, webinars, opportunities for local businesses to get involved, and more in one space.
“This new collaboration among government and business leaders and workforce development organizations will provide guidance, resources and support to help deal with the impact that these draconian federal cuts are having on our federal contractors and local businesses that fuel our economic engine here in Montgomery County,” County Council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said during a press briefing Monday.
Thousands of federal workers have been fired or laid off in recent weeks by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as part of President Donald Trump’s promise to reduce the country’s federal workforce. According to CNN, more than 103,000 federal workers across the country have been laid off since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
More than 70,000 federal workers live in the county and the Trump administration’s layoffs and firings have already impacted more than 1,000 residents, according to county officials. That number does not include federal workers who reside in neighboring jurisdictions and work at agencies based in the county, such as National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring.
“Montgomery County has long been home to thousands of federal workers and businesses that rely on federal contracts, and in this time of cuts and chaos from the federal government, those impacts can ripple through our economy,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said in the MCEDC press release. “Through Mobilize Montgomery, we are collaborating with private and public partners to provide resources and information to our residents. We are working together to help businesses stay open, keep people employed, and strengthen our local economy.”
Mobilize Montgomery is just one of the recent efforts introduced by county officials to address the impact of federal government cuts on the county. Proposed council legislation introduced Tuesday would provide displaced federal workers with an advantage when applying for Montgomery County government jobs, and help ease the process of filling those personnel vacancies, according to its sponsors.
The council also started the United in Service and Support Online Informational Series, a bi-weekly webinar that aims to address questions from federal workers and their families and provide up-to-date information on local resources.
