Taiwan's MedVoyage Global chooses Virginia over Maryland for U.S. headquarters

Is Northern Virginia tired of winning yet? No! And fortunately for them, Montgomery County and Maryland elected officials aren't tired of losing. Thus it is that the Taiwanese firm MedVoyage Global has chosen Virginia, not Maryland, for its U.S. headquarters. The MedVoyage HQ will be at 10300 Eaton Place, at the Mason Enterprise Center (MEC) in Fairfax City. MedVoyage is a leading firm in the future of healthcare, using a low-Earth-orbit satellite network to deliver telehealth and pharmacy services to remote areas in 40 countries, to ships at sea, and to over 80 bricks-and-mortar medical centers across the globe, as well as connecting these remote customers with emergency response units.

Now MedVoyage is expanding into the North American healthcare market, and has chosen Northern Virginia as its base to scale up system and sales operations, as well as to navigate federal regulatory red tape. "Over the next two years, the company plans to scale its local workforce with systems engineers, clinical compliance specialists, and commercial sales executives," the Fairfax City Economic Development corporation said in a statement this morning. FCED added that this latest victory "further strengthens Fairfax City’s role within Northern Virginia’s innovation economy."

"Selecting Fairfax City for our U.S. headquarters is a foundational step in our global scaling strategy," MedVoyage Global CEO Nemo Teng said in a statement. "MEC Fairfax offers the ideal soft-landing environment and unparalleled access to the Northern Virginia tech ecosystem, placing us minutes away from critical federal and defense stakeholders such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense. This facility allows us to rapidly build strategic U.S. partnerships, access premier regional engineering talent, and deploy our emergency and maritime telehealth solutions across North America."

Anyone familiar with local geography will realize that Montgomery County is also in close proximity to these same federal and defense stakeholders. So, why does Northern Virginia keep winning, and Montgomery County keep losing?

You can look at the most obvious difference, which is the low tax environment of Virginia versus Montgomery County, which weighs down its residents and businesses with the highest total tax and fee burden in the region. But let's again go a step further, and see how once again Northern Virginia's superior infrastructure triumphs over Montgomery County's incomplete master plan highway system and poor airport access.

MedVoyage Global's new U.S. HQ will sit right beside an on-ramp to Interstate 66, and directly adjacent to U.S. Route 50. That will give MedVoyage a straight shot to Dulles International Airport via Route 50, or even faster with tolls via I-66. In contrast, Montgomery County and Maryland elected officials continue to block construction of the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing of I-370 from Gaithersburg to Dulles. 

As much as Northern Virginia enjoys winning, so do corporations that need to make something called profits. Winning is contagious. And winners like to have direct access to the only airport in the region with the frequency and variety of flights to international destinations that international businesspeople require to compete - Dulles International Airport. Thanks to our anti-business, Marxist "leadership," Montgomery County continues to lack that strategic advantage - by choice!!

In another delicious coincidence, did you know that Montgomery County's unfinished master plan highway system would have also extended I-66 access into Bethesda? The unbuilt Northwest Freeway, which would have paralleled Wisconsin Avenue through Bethesda, Friendship Heights and Tenleytown, would have crossed the Potomac on the also-unbuilt Three Sisters Bridge and (surprise!) also-unbuilt I-266 near Georgetown University. And you wonder where Montgomery County got all that land for tiny parks and big parking garages between Wisconsin Avenue and the Town of Chevy Chase!

By learning to love losing.

Postal worker robbed at gunpoint in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed robbery in the King Farm neighborhood yesterday afternoon, August 3, 2026. The victim was a United States Postal Service employee delivering mail. At least one suspect wielding a firearm confronted the postal worker outside of a townhome in the 1100 block of Elmcroft Boulevard at 3:40 PM Monday. Montgomery County police say the worker was robbed of unspecified property. 

Police have not released a description of the suspect(s) as of this writing. Typically, criminals robbing postal workers are attempting to obtain the USPS arrow key they carry. These are master keys that unlock all mailboxes within a particular area. Thieves then use the key to obtain checks from mailboxes that they can wash, and cash in their name for an inflated amount. 

Squatter found inside vacant apartment in Rockville

A man arriving to what he expected would be a night of construction work at an apartment in Rockville discovered something - or someone - else. Entering the vacant apartment unit in the 100 block of Talbott Street at 6:46 PM Saturday night, he was startled to find a squatter inside. The squatter ran out of the apartment, and fled the complex, Montgomery County police say. 

Rockville City police officers, who responded to the scene, found no preliminary indication that anything had been removed from the unit. A description of the squatter was not released.

Montgomery County Council seeks to remove neighborhood veto power on "benefit performances"

The Montgomery County Council is proposing to strip residents of their existing veto power over "benefit performances" staged in their residential neighborhoods. Currently, entities and organizations - with a few exceptions, such as fire departments and religious institutions - who propose to hold a live music event, carnival, festival, or other performance to raise charitable funds must obtain consent from 75% of residents whose homes are within 600 feet of the performance site. Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 26-11: Temporary Uses - Benefit Performances would entirely eliminate this veto authority from neighbors. If passed, the ZTA would merely require that those residents be notified that they are going to be treated to a benefit performance, whether they like it or not. The performances could last as long as 15 days(!!).

I would venture to say that few Montgomery County residents are even aware that they currently possess this veto authority, much less that the Council is conniving to relieve them of it. The move continues a trend for the Council - when they're not banning stuff or raising taxes, they're systematically removing residents' ability to express objection or input on controversial matters they want to ram through, from development and road diets to bike lanes, bus depots, landfills and jails. A public hearing on the ZTA is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM.

Rockville Taco Bell closes for remodeling

Taco Bell has temporarily closed at 1100 Rockville Pike for a complete remodeling of the restaurant. The demolition and construction are expected to take four to six months, according to a restaurant employee. This is, hands down, the best Taco Bell in Montgomery County, so it will be a long four to six months! Based on newer store models being rolled out elsewhere in the country, you can probably expect to find a dual lane drive-thru, more Fight For $15 ordering kiosks, and a design that favors speedy fulfillment of delivery and mobile orders. 

Potbelly closes at Gaithersburg Square

Potbelly has closed at 544 N. Frederick Avenue at Gaithersburg Square. Signage has been ripped off the storefront, and the interior appears to have been cleared out. The sandwich chain is actually in an expansion mode of significant growth, only closing low performing stores. Once again, the anti-business policies of the Montgomery County Council - and the resulting moribund economy - claim another victim.

Fashion Q returning to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Red alert! Fashion Q is making a triumphant return to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The Los Angeles-based fashion wholesaler closed almost exactly one year ago at the mall, after less than a year in business, a victim of the moribund Montgomery County economy. Now they're giving it another go, this time in the former Forever 21 space on Level 1, across from Build-A-Bear. 

Fashion Q traces its roots back to the 1980s. It chose its "Q" logo because a one-letter sign was cheaper than using the whole brand name. The cost savings extend to its merchandise, which is purchased wholesale here and abroad.