A Job Center With No Jobs   Thanks, Wes & Evan

It’s always heartwarming to see Montgomery County leaders gather for a photo-op at the American Job Center, smiling proudly as if they’ve just solved unemployment. Governor Wes Moore, Council President Evan Glass, and the rest of the County Council stand there like economic superheroes caped crusaders of job creation. There’s only one problem:

You can’t celebrate jobs when your policies scare away the employers.

But hey, credit where credit is due. If you’re going to raise taxes, jack up fees, punish small businesses, demand more mandates, and lecture employers about “equity plans,” at least you had the foresight to invest in a shiny job center. Because in Montgomery County, you’re going to need one.

A Job Center… in a County Where Businesses Don’t Want to Be

Let’s get real. Wes Moore and the Montgomery County Council talk endlessly about “opportunity,” “workforce pathways,” and “wraparound services.” Wonderful words. Inspirational even. But none of those things matter when businesses are leaving the county faster than residents can say “how much is that new property tax again?”

Evan Glass and his progressive allies love to pretend they’re champions of working families, but it’s hard to champion workers when you keep driving away the companies that provide what’s the word? Oh yes jobs.

What’s the point of skills training if there’s nowhere to work?

What good is a resume workshop when the only hiring boom is in government agencies and nonprofit advocacy groups?

Oh maybe that’s the plan.

The Moore–Glass Economic Model: Tax, Spend, Repeat

Wes Moore campaigned on “Leave No One Behind.” It turns out he meant:
“Except businesses, taxpayers, and anyone who wants to actually grow the economy.”

Let’s review the Moore-Glass playbook:

• Record tax hikes? Check.
• New fees and surcharges? Check.
• More regulatory hoops than a circus act? Double check.
• Anti-business rhetoric sprinkled with moral grandstanding? Absolutely.

But don’t worry they’ve opened a job center.

Montgomery County: Open for Business (If You Enjoy Punishment)

While neighboring jurisdictions are cutting taxes, streamlining regulations, and offering incentives, Montgomery County is busy:

• Raising the energy tax
• Pushing rent control that kills housing investment
• Expanding labor mandates that crush small businesses
• Doubling down on government-run “solutions” that solve nothing

And then leadership pretends to be shocked shocke! that companies choose Virginia instead.

The Ultimate Irony: A Job Center With No Jobs to Offer

Celebrating a job center under these policies is like:

• Opening a luxury car dealership in a town where everyone rides bicycles
• Hosting a restaurant grand opening after banning cooking
• Cutting a ribbon on a pool that’s drained

You can teach all the skills you want, but if employers flee because of taxes and regulations, that job center turns into a taxpayer-funded monument to political hypocrisy.

“We Stand With Our Residents” Sure, Right to the Tax Office

Wes Moore and Evan Glass love saying they “stand with the community,” especially federal workers and contractors. Yet they’ve created an environment where even federal jobs aren’t safe, and private-sector employers avoid the county like a speed camera trap.

If they truly cared about jobs, they’d stop punishing the very businesses that create them.

But until then, the American Job Center will continue to be a nice place for ribbon cuttings, photo-ops, and press releases. Just don’t expect it to be a hub of economic activity unless you count the booming industry of government-funded bureaucratic programs.

Conclusion: Welcome to Montgomery County   Please Bring Your Own Job

So yes, a job center is a lovely thing to have. It would be even lovelier if Montgomery County’s leadership wasn’t actively making it impossible for private-sector jobs to exist.

If Wes Moore, Evan Glass, and the Council want the job center to succeed, there’s an easy first step:

Stop chasing away the employers.

But that would require economic common sense and we all know that’s the one skill the job center doesn’t teach.

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Ian Schwartz is a columnist for Direct Line Contact at Ian.Schwartz@mcgopclub.com

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