What a difference four years makes.
January 15, 2020 – Marc Elrich delivers a “State of the County” address to employees of the sprawling Montgomery County government and spends a minute bemoaning how Montgomery County has “not a good reputation” regarding business. CE Elrich claims (direct quote) he wants “Montgomery County residents telling other Montgomery County residents to open their business here, not in Frederick, not in Arlington, not in the District.”
Apparently, the news hasn’t traveled as intended. MoCo’s business climate remains very stagnant, chilled under the weight of new taxes and regulations — plus residential rent control regs. Several employers have left MoCo for neighboring Northern VA. Frederick County MD at least appears to be courting energy-hogging data center businesses… although how to power these up under Maryland’s regulations will be a challenge (an expensive challenge).
Where is Marc Elrich on May 23, 2024? In China wearing a red shirt, trying to court some Maoist, card-carrying member of the Chinese communist party (remember – it ain’t a democracy over there, there aren’t alternate political parties) to invest a little cheese halfway across the world, near Washington DC.
No word on whether he visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but maybe he can get a fun t-shirt to take home, if he does.
