By Michael S. Rosenwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 7, 2006

John Clarke, a senior executive with Elm Street Development, has been elected president of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association.

The organization lobbies on behalf of developers, who, in Montgomery County, are facing the possibility of slower development. The County Council is considering a bill to impose a temporary moratorium on building in order to slow growth.

Clarke is regional partner for Elm Street Development, a McLean company that has been operating in the Washington region for nearly 30 years. Clarke is responsible for developing new communities in Montgomery County, among others.

"MNCBIA does a phenomenal job of representing the needs and interests of its members, and I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to represent this organization in the coming year," Clarke said in a statement. He will become president Jan. 25.

Marriott International Inc., the Bethesda hotel operator, is adding five minority-owned hotels to its portfolio as part of its effort to have 500 minority- and women-owned hotels by 2010.

One of the new hotels is a Residence Inn in Prince George's County that is part of the National Harbor project. That hotel, which will have 162 rooms, is scheduled to break ground early next year. It will be owned by Integrated Capital LLC of Los Angeles.

"We are excited about expanding our Marriott portfolio," said Kenneth Fearn, founder and managing partner of Integrated Capital. "We are especially thrilled to contribute to the ongoing growth and development of Prince George's County."

Been to the county's Web site lately? Computerworld Magazine recently bestowed an honor on it -- best Web site in the nation for counties with more than 250,000 people. It beat California's Alameda County.

"This is a wonderful achievement, and I am thrilled by this ranking from Computerworld Magazine. We work very hard to make services and information easily accessible on the Web site," said Alisoun Moore, the county's former chief information officer, who was recently dismissed by County Executive Isiah "Ike" Leggett along with other members of the previous administration.

Have business news about Montgomery County? E-mailrosenwaldm@washpost.com.