Rockville businesses say their immediate future looks bright, despite the uncertain economy.

The business community just wrapped up its third annual Rockville Business Appreciation Week – when, apparently, businesses were celebrated by being polled on their economic outlook.

According to Rockville Economic Development, Inc., the visits were conducted with a “diverse array” of companies in terms of size and sector. They even included a home-based consultancy business.

Here’s some highlights:

• 44 percent of the companies polled plan to grow by adding employees within the next year. Only 3 percent expect to lose employees in that timeframe.

• The “vast majority” of companies polled are confident their industry will not be affected by a recession or have already retooled to become more recession proof.

• Companies commented that international investors and customers are taking advantage of strong international currencies and are even more willing to do business with a U.S. company.

“We couldn’t have been more pleased that so many companies are planning to grow despite the current macroeconomic stresses,” said Sally Sternbach, REDI‘s executive director.

Imagine that.

Good thing, too, since Rockville businesses contribute $13M annually in property taxes — money that MoCo really can’t afford to miss out on with the county’s current budget deficit.

In case you’re curious, there are more than 7500 businesses in the city of Rockville, one of our state’s largest cities, that employ more than 100,000 people.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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I wrote in September that Honest Tea’s CEO, Seth Goldman, seemed to be taking on global warming single-handedly.

Well, it turns out it takes a village – or a close-knit, well-funded community.

Today, the private-public group founded by Goldman and MoCo Councilman George Leventhal – appropriately named “Bethesda Green” – launched a new Web site, debuted a new logo and revealed its backers.

No surprise here – Coca-Cola, which recently purchased a helping of Honest Tea, is among them.

The first commitment from the beverage-making duo is a $30,000 donation for the “purchase and installation of approximately 30 recycling bins in the downtown area.” A local community group will handle their collection and processing.

(It is Bethesda – so they have to be really swanky recycling bins – but that breaks down to one grand per bin. Any ideas why such a hefty amount is needed for a seemingly low-budget task?)

Anyhow, the other businesses that care about the environment in Bethesda are: Calvert, Federal Realty Investment Trust, and Reznick Group.

I do like the logo they selected, which was reviewed by a “select panel of judges” including Washington Capitals player Matt Bradley.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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Have you been wondering what to do with the cremated remains of a loved one?

This is the question posed by Phoenix Memorial Art, a new Bethesda company that urges you to reconsider your plans for dispersal of ashes.

Instead, they propose, set some aside and have them made into an original work of art by one of Phoenix’s affiliated artists. This way, Phoenix assures you, memories of your loved one can come alive again through art, the same way a phoenix rises from the ashes.

That’s what Phoenix founder Marjorie Hoachlander and her late husband, Eldon, chose to do with a portion of his remains. Now Marjorie has a piece of Eldon – literally – in seven original artworks.

From the release:

“Cremains are emotional material,” explains ceramic artist Catherine White, who hand-built a beautiful vessel for the Hoachlander collection. “I feel a great respect and responsibility as I work with each piece and allow its unique personality to emerge. When adding cremains to the clay, I become aware of the textural effects of the ashes as the object forms.”

Phoenix’s advisory board includes a doctor of anthropology at UMD; a doctor of psychology at Hood College; and the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

How about it: a meaningful alternative to a traditional urn, or too offbeat?

I’d want design approval pre-mortem; can you imagine being part of a work of art you disliked?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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I’m not nearly as clever as I think I am. Granted, my ego has set the bar pretty high — but still.

On the most recently updated list of “People I Would Like to Be,” Chris Clark of North Potomac has climbed to the top. Clark just sold the domain name pizza.com for $2.6 million. He bought it about 14 years ago for $20.

Not a bad return on investment.

We’ve all looked at some new gadget or idea and shouted to anyone who happened to be around, “I thought of that years ago!” In many cases, we even did.

How about you? What great invention or revelation did you let slip away, only to discover years later it had granted fame to someone else?

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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Cost of a private bathroom, small sitting room and shower for MoCo executive Ike Leggett = $65,225. Oh, and a critical story in the Washington Post.

Timing is everything; even though the bathroom’s cost was approved last spring, its construction begins as Leggett proposes 225 job cuts and increased property taxes to close the county’s nearly $300M budget shortfall.

Leggett’s security chief says that walking through a crowded lobby to use the public restroom could expose him to harm, even though former County Executive Doug Duncan used it for his 12 years in office.

“We had perfectly good bathrooms right at the elevators,” [Duncan] said yesterday. When asked whether he ever felt unsafe using the public restroom, Duncan chuckled, “Heck no.”

PG Exec Jack Johnson has a private bathroom, built prior to his election; so does DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, although he uses the public bathroom at city hall. But unlike federal office buildings, the MoCo offices don’t have security checkpoints or metal detectors.

“We have had some challenging, disgruntled employees or citizens demanding to see the county executive, and from a security perspective he can walk into that,” Chief Administrative Officer Timothy L. Firestine said. “Quite frankly, Ike didn’t want [the new bathroom], but we more or less suggested from a security perspective that he needs it.”

Call me crazy, but it sounds like what’s needed isn’t a private bathroom; it’s a metal detector.

This one only costs $4,000.

But don’t take my word for it – hear what Leggett has to say in his online town hall meeting today at noon.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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Beginning April 1, home sellers in Montgomery County are required to provide their buyers with an estimate of the next year’s property tax bill.

The idea behind the new law is to “eliminate the shock” that many county homebuyers have endured after realizing they will pay significantly higher property taxers than the previous owner.

See, even though the state reassesses residential properties every three years, the taxable assessment is capped at a 10% maximum increase per year – except when the home changes ownership. The new buyer will pay tax based on 100% of the current taxable assessed value.

In some cases, the difference is in the thousands.

But the county’s making this one easy: they’re providing a web-based calculator that will reveal the answer for potential homeowners.

Have fun testing it out. I tried out a few addresses of stately homes in the Potomac area, only to cringe at the estimates.

If you do try it, remember only to put the house number and street name – ex.: 100 Maple.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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Welcome to the blogosphere, Nancy!

Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Floreen launched “Nancy at Large” today to connect better with her constituents.

“I know that my constituents have expertise, questions and opinions,” said Councilmember Floreen. “I hope the interactive environment of the blog will allow us to work through some of these issues together.”

Her first post concerns proposed changes to the Forest Conservation Law. Appropriately enough, the blog banner is a pleasing cherry blossom pic.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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• Warren Brown, the owner of CakeLove bakeries (with an upcoming Canton location) who we recently profiled for his environmental practices, is facing new competition. The (Washington) Examiner reports that “cupcake wars” began with the recent opening of Georgetown Cupcake. Apparently, employees at G.C. say they’ve sold more than 1,000 cupcakes a day at $2.75 a pop. You have to wonder how many bakeries the sweets market can bear…

• Is recreational golf a dying industry? Our sister publication in Long Island and the NY Times each examined the declining popularity of the corporate leisure activity.

• MoCo Council President Mike Knapp explains the county’s new gender identity law, which aims to protect the rights of transgender citizens. The crux? “Some people are confused about the effect of this new law on … the use of a public bathroom or locker room,” said Knapp. “Nothing is any different than it was before. People can feel safe and confident that they can walk into the restroom. Their safety is as protected as it ever was.” Whew.

• Paul Gordon at Maryland Politics Watch writes about the “blurring of the line between civil marriage and religious marriage” in last year’s legislative debate on the Orthodox Jewish divorce law. He points out one opponent of said law, Sen. Anthony Muse (Democrat-Prince George’s), who, he says, is a “pivotal committee vote on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act” now up for debate.

• For our attorney readers: how would you feel if your nomination to become a federal judge was publicly protested by a former inmate?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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In this hour, MoCo Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal are holding a press conference in Rockville to announce a bill that would require employers to sign a written employment contract with certain types of domestic workers. The county is lauding it as potentially the “first legislation nationally of this type.”

The bill would require an employer to present a written employment contract to the potential employee and offer to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment. It would apply to employers of housekeepers, childcare workers, and caretakers for the elderly or sick, among others.

A 2006 study found that MoCo domestic workers have limited access to information about their rights under state and county law and few have written contracts. Consequently, many of them are paid less than the required minimum wage and do not receive overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours per week.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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At No. 21, Bethesda ranked higher on the Forbes’ Best Cities for Jobs in 2008 list than D.C. (No. 25) or Baltimore (No. 35).

Perspective check: Wilmington, DE beat all three.

Five equally-weighted data points were used to configure the list: unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living. Bethesda’s (above) high scores for median income and low unemployment rate propelled it up the list, outweighing the city’s high cost of living (ranked 92 out of 100).

Here’s Baltimore’s breakdown: 24th in median income; 29th in unemployment; 54th in income growth; 65th in cost of living; 57th in job growth.

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

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