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Video Transcription:
Hello to all the judges!
We are team 1-g and our proposed solution for the city of Gaithersburg is a DNA Alley Pipeline Program and Rent Stabilization Model. When our team first tackled the issues facing Gaithersburg, we quickly identified a high cost-of-living and a high level of rejections from selective STEM programs and trades schools. After speaking with experts from various fields and backgrounds, we determined that the local high schools required our closest attention when it came to making a change that would impact the people who needed it most.
Giving the young people of Gaithersburg a future career in their hometown will further increase its development into a metropolitan area, bringing in more industries and therefore more jobs, as well as boosting the economy and making rent and housing more affordable, giving young people a foreseeable future in their city.
Our proposed solution is to introduce corporate, state, and government-backed career pathway programs in underprivileged schools. This will remove barriers such as GPA requirements, competitive application processes, and high education fees to instead focus on teaching students the real-life skills they will need to build strong career paths through paid internships and work with skilled professionals.
We wanted to come up with a solution that could help the largest number of students possible. We believe that Gaithersburg holds a very important role in the future of biomedical R&D at a time when the world is making rapid advances in this sector. Thank you for watching, if you want to hear more about our proposed solution, you can find all the details in our summary and further explanation reports.
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Emeric Peltier
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Marvin Domingo
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Valentin Ailoaie
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Alex Nawrocki
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Gaithersburg, Maryland, sits inside one of America's most valuable biotech corridors, "DNA Alley," yet nearly 50% of its households rent, and many spend 30–50% or more of their income on housing. Critically, Gaithersburg is the only major city in Montgomery County exempt from the county's 2024 rent stabilization law, leaving renters with zero legal protection against unlimited increases.[1][2]
The students at Watkins Mill High School (66% economically disadvantaged, 94% minority enrollment) and Gaithersburg High School (57.6% economically disadvantaged) are the children of these renters. With a math proficiency rate of just 12% at Watkins Mill, and a graduation rate that dropped nearly 10 percentage points in a single year,[3]Â these students are being systematically excluded from every selective STEM and trades program in the county, programs that consistently require GPAs, transportation, and stable home environments that cost-burdened households cannot reliably provide.
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The DNA Alley Pipeline Program is a corporate-backed career pathway built right into Watkins Mill and Gaithersburg High Schools. We removed the usual hurdles: no GPA minimums, no applications, and students earn paid stipends starting Day 1
Corporate donors fund this via the Endow Maryland tax credit (MD Tax-General § 10-736). This provides a 25% state credit on donations between $500 and $200,000, capped at $50,000 annually, alongside the standard federal deduction [6].
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Three significant uncertainties underlie this proposal. First, corporate participation is voluntary; we assume biotech anchor employers will see a workforce pipeline investment as rational self-interest, not charity. We mitigate this by leading with the quantified tax benefit and documented precedents (Amazon, Microsoft).[7] If initial uptake is slow, we propose piloting with a single corporate sponsor and one school before scaling.
Second, student retention in multi-year programs is difficult in high-poverty schools with high mobility. We mitigate this with paid stipends from Day 1, in-school delivery (no transportation required), and multilingual outreach.
Third, building retrofit project availability for Track B apprentices depends on the pace of the parallel Rent Relief Fund's property acquisitions. We propose a phased start: Track B students begin on MCPS-partnered construction training sites while the first retrofit properties are identified.
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To successfully implement the DNA Alley Pipeline Program and Rent Stabilization Model in Gaithersburg, we identify four primary stakeholder groups: young people, affordable housing developers, biotech institutions, and government actors. Each plays a critical role in addressing housing affordability, workforce development and long-term economic sustainability.
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Young people (Future Owners & workforce)
In Gaithersburg, where housing costs are 91.6% above the national average, young residents face limited pathways to homeownerships and long-term stability. The DNA Alley Pipeline provides paid career tracks, debt-free scholarships, and apprenticeships paying $25 to $35 an hour, scaling to $100,000+ within four years, aligning income growth with local housing costs.
Affordable Housing Developers
Affordable housing developers struggle to compete with luxury buyers due to delayed or inflexible financing. In a market with 93%+ rental occupancy, speed is critical. The Endowment-backed model provides zero-interest gap loans and flexible capital, enabling rapid property acquisition and long-term rent stabilization.
Biotech Institutions
With AstraZeneca`s $2B investment anchoring the biotech corridor, workforce stability is essential. Housing shortages threaten Recruitment and retention. Through the Endow Maryland 25% state tax credit, corporations fund a local talent pipeline that delivers paid placements, scholarships, and guaranteed interviews, aligning workforce development with housing stability.
Government
Government stakeholders seek economic resilience amid federal contraction and rising cost burden. By leveraging tax incentives like MD Tax-General § 10-736, public dollars catalyze private capital, supporting rent stabilization, workforce development, and tax base protection without assuming full fiscal burden.
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