Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will lead a delegation to India in November in the hopes of encouraging Indian companies to set uplocal offices inside Montgomery’s boundaries.
Representatives from the County Department of Economic Development are planning the trip and say they will be accompanied by eight to 10 business leaders from the county’s private sector. County government officials say they hope the trip will stimulate “reverse investment,” with Indian companies choosing to put resources into relationships with Montgomery County firms or even starting new companies here.
“Because we are the seat of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute[s] of Health, we have a lot of federal regulatory and research and development agencies here,” said Corinne Rothblum, a business development specialist for Montgomery County. “If foreign firms want to do research and development in the biotech or pharmaceutical sector and want to bring products to market here in the U.S., there’s a lot of interaction required with the FDA so they can get approval. Montgomery County is a logical place for them to open up shop or have a location.”
County officials say Montgomery County is home to the largest number of Asian-owned businesses in Maryland, with more than 10,800 firms, or nearly 42 percent of all firms in the state.
Rahul Singhvi, president and CEO of Novavax Inc., a 70-person vaccine firm based in Rockville, said he would attend “if participating in the delegation provides access to certain companies that could be potentially attractive partners for us.”
Leggett and the business leaders will be joined by representatives from Montgomery College. The school’s delegates will meet officials from the Indian state of Haryana who are hoping to duplicate Montgomery College’s educational system, including professional development for faculty to use technology in the classroom and strategic planning to ensure students leave schools equipped to meet the needs of local businesses.
