Montgomery County loses another corporate HQ to Virginia

There goes another one. Amentum Services, a leading government contractor in the fields of engineering, project management and advanced solutions integration, is moving from Germantown to Chantilly in Fairfax County, Virginia. The latest corporate decision to choose Virginia over Montgomery County will bring 157 new jobs to Fairfax County - good jobs with high pay. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced the move in a press release Monday.

According to Youngkin's statement, Virginia competed directly with Maryland to woo Amentum, which has 44,000 employees working in 85 countries around the world. “Fairfax County offers the location, access to decision-makers, and talent pipeline that global providers like Amentum are seeking, and we are proud to welcome the company’s leadership and operations team to Virginia,” Youngkin said. “Amentum joins the ranks of the Commonwealth’s diversified ecosystem of more than 800 corporate headquarters across a broad cross-section of industries.”

“I want to thank and congratulate Amentum for choosing Fairfax County for its home base,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay said in statement. “Our long-term investment into making Fairfax County the top choice to locate a global business continues to bear fruit, and I am thrilled that Amentum has chosen to take advantage of what we offer.” 

Amentum is the latest corporation to abandon moribund Montgomery County for Virginia, or choose Virginia over Maryland in a relocation search. It joins Amazon, Northrop Grumman, Volkswagen, Lidl, Hilton Hotels, Intelsat, Corporate Executive Board, Nestle, Lego, and Gerber, to name a few. 

Montgomery County and Maryland have had difficulty even gobbling up the crumbs under Virginia's dinner table. When Youngkin made the surprising decision to reject a Ford Motor Company battery plant recently, Maryland wasn't even a serious contender to grab the jump ball. That fumble apparently happened on the watch of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and the 2018-2022 Montgomery County Council, as Michigan was quickly named as Ford's backup choice. 

Armed robbery at Rockville restaurant

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a restaurant in the Fallsgrove area of Rockville late Saturday night. The robbery was reported at a restaurant in the 14900 block of Shady Grove Road at 11:52 PM, February 25, 2023. That is in the Fallsgrove Village Center. A food delivery driver was robbed at gunpoint in Fallsgrove a few days earlier, on February 18.

Police respond to fight at Rockville Town Square

Twenty-four hours after an aggravated assault was reported at Rockville Town Square, police were back at the property after a fight broke out on Gibbs Street around 2:00 AM Sunday morning, February 27, 2023. Twitter user @Trellis_DMV captured video footage of officers at the scene. "This is a sample of the nightly BS that goes on around 2am that the police make zero efforts to respond to in spite of nightly noise complaints," he tweeted.

Photo courtesy @Trellis_DMV via Twitter

Aggravated assault at Rockville Town Square

Rockville City police responded to a report of an aggravated assault at Rockville Town Square early yesterday morning, February 25, 2023. The assault was reported in a parking area on the Gibbs Street/N. Washington Street side of the development at 2:42 AM Saturday morning.

Rockville man charged in Cricket Wireless robbery and assault (Video)

Montgomery County police have arrested and charged a suspect in the recent robbery of the Cricket Wireless store, at 2102 Veirs Mill Road in the Twinbrook Center in Rockville. Craig Donnell Johnson of Rockville, age not given, was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the February 18, 2023 robbery and the assault of an employee. 

Detectives say that Johnson entered the store at 4:15 in the afternoon that day, approached a store employee, and asked to see a specific phone. As the employee retrieved the phone, Johnson allegedly covered his face and followed her to the back of the store. He then allegedly grabbed her in a headlock, and demanded she open the cash register. 

When Johnson noticed that the employee's daughter was coloring in a coloring book in the rear of the store, detectives say he ordered the child into the employee restroom. He allegedly took the keys to the register from the employee, and ordered her into the bathroom with her daughter. When he was unable to open the register with the keys, Johnson allegedly commanded the victim to come out of the bathroom and open it. When she complied, Johnson assaulted her, and ran out of the store with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Johnson has been charged with robbery and 2nd degree assault. His bail status was not disclosed by police. Detectives have released a portion of the surveillance camera video of the robbery and assault.

Signage installed at LaserAway in Rockville

The permanent sign has been installed at LaserAway, opening soon at 926 Rose Avenue, in the ground floor of the Canopy by Hilton hotel at Pike & Rose. This was previously the location of Taylor Gourmet.  LaserAway is a laser hair removal practice with locations in 24 states and the District of Columbia. It also offers botox treatments, tattoo removal, photofacials, dermal fillers, Thermage skin tightening, Coolsculpting fat removal, Clear + Brilliant laser treatments and other skincare services. 

Rockville biotech firm to expand with new lab space in Gaithersburg

Rockville-based Shuttle Pharmaceuticals will expand its footprint within Montgomery County this summer. The company announced yesterday that it is leasing additional laboratory and office space at an unspecified property in Gaithersburg. Shuttle Pharmaceuticals was founded by faculty members of Georgetown University Medical Center in 2012, and specializes in improving radiation therapy treatments for cancer, while attempting to reduce their side effects. Among the therapies in development at Shuttle is Ropidoxuridine, its lead clinical sensitizer drug candidate.