Northern Virginia Business

[calwinston]

Northrup Grumman HQ is moving from Los Angeles, CA to Northern Virginia next year.

Its really not that much of a surprise because of Virginia's lower corporate taxes and also the Pentagon being located in Arlington. Also 90% of Northrup Grumman's revenue is federal contracts. Big government all the way!

I find it funny that the CEO Wes Bush contacted Sen Mark Warner of the move to Virginia instead of Gov Bob McDonnell. Looks like Sen Mark Warner was the one instrumental in the process, while Gov Bob McDonnell stands by the wings and takes credit.

http://www2.timesdis...-184201/340155/

[The Voice of Reason]

The DC metro trgion has made incredible strides in the last 10 or so years.

remember the murder capital of the world? Mayor Barry doing crack with Hookers?

Now, its a place that business is more and more getting done. countless blocks have been redeveloped into some really really nice areas with block after block of 8-10 story mixed use buildings.

NOVA is more and more turning into the business center of the capital region, heck, even baltimore has come a long way in improving itself.

in another 10-20 years I see more and more office towers being built in NOVA, and really there is the possibility of many more companies moving there.

mind you firms like Danaher are more likely to be found in the region than say insurance companies or retailers.

I also think the DC area climate is pretty agreeable to most. its not cold, and its not too hot. people like myself from the North East do not see DC as too far south, too hot too, I dont know, whatever it is I dislike about the south.

and Southerners do not see DC as Yankee country or too cold or whatever it is that makes New England so unattractive to move to.

without a doubt greater DC is growing into a major major city regardless of the Governemnt being based there. but obviously partially because the government is based there.

[calwinston]

The DC metro trgion has made incredible strides in the last 10 or so years.

remember the murder capital of the world? Mayor Barry doing crack with Hookers?

Now, its a place that business is more and more getting done. countless blocks have been redeveloped into some really really nice areas with block after block of 8-10 story mixed use buildings.

NOVA is more and more turning into the business center of the capital region, heck, even baltimore has come a long way in improving itself.

in another 10-20 years I see more and more office towers being built in NOVA, and really there is the possibility of many more companies moving there.

mind you firms like Danaher are more likely to be found in the region than say insurance companies or retailers.

I also think the DC area climate is pretty agreeable to most. its not cold, and its not too hot. people like myself from the North East do not see DC as too far south, too hot too, I dont know, whatever it is I dislike about the south.

and Southerners do not see DC as Yankee country or too cold or whatever it is that makes New England so unattractive to move to.

without a doubt greater DC is growing into a major major city regardless of the Governemnt being based there. but obviously partially because the government is based there.

The renaissance of the region around DC has been growing and expanding since the 1970's(subway). Tysons Corner(12th largest business district in the USA)(over 100,000 people work there)(expanding even more with the subway line opening 2013), Bethesda, Arlington(mulitiple business districts), Silver Spring,Alexandria, Downtown DC, Downtown Baltimore and Harbor, the list goes on. They are three major aiports in the region Dulles International(subway line opening 2015), Regan National(has international flights but still called a national airport), BWI. The Washington-Baltimore Region is home to 9 million poeple. Also the area is home to 40 coleges and universities. The region has the second largest percentage of commuters that travel by transit (%35) in the United States.

What is catching up now is Washington, D.C.(inner city). DC was falling apart because of the massive control that congress had over the District. This control lead to the city government breaking down. Since that has been resolved businesses and the people can now deal directly with DC government instead of Congress intervening. In retorspect what makes you think that a congressman from Nebraska cares of what is in the best interest of DC? The answer would be none. He/She would only care about their home state. I agree the DC region will continue to expand but the only issue now is the traffic problem(3rd worst in the country) even though 35% of commuters use transit.

[calwinston]

'A headquarters heyday'Fairfax County draws new corporate tenants. Northrop Grumman could be next.

In 2007 Fairfax wooed and won the North American headquarters of Volkswagen of America, in part by offering $1.5 million in road and land improvements. Some 400 VW employees now work in 185,000 square feet in Herndon, just three miles from Washington Dulles International Airport.

VW has been “very pleased” with Fairfax’s “high-energy, fast-growing environment,” says David Geanacopoulas, the company’s general counsel. “The great school system [also] really was important to us. We wanted institutions that would turn out graduates we could hire.”

Hilton Worldwide recently succumbed to the county’s blandishments, too, which reportedly included a $4.6 million package of incentives offered through both the county and the state. Last August, the hotel chain spurned Montgomery County and instead moved its 325-person corporate offices into about 118,000 square feet at Tysons Corner. Hilton’s spokeswoman Katherine Mikesell cited the quality of life in Fairfax County as a major factor in the decision and added that Hilton employees have been “very positive about the move” — no small compliment considering that the corporation formerly had its headquarters in glitzy Beverly Hills, Calif.

Other Fortune 500 corporations Fairfax has managed to snag include Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), which is expected to generate 1,200 jobs during the next three years; Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), which already had about 3,000 employees in the county; and PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will bring 200 jobs to Fairfax.

In all, the county says it worked with 123 companies in 2009 to generate an expected 5,000-plus jobs. Gordon calls that “a real testament to the kind of business environment [we have] in the county.”

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/a-headquarters-heyday

[calwinston]

KPMG is adding 350 jobs to its workforce in Tysons Corner! The only question I have is why did the Governor give KPMG $250,000 to stay and expand here when they are not going anywhere and the plan to expand was a business decision!

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/KMPGGAT15_20100615-144401/351275/

[calwinston]

Sallie Mae (SLM) is moving from Reston, VA to Newark, DE

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/sallie-mae-will-move-headquarters-from-reston-to-delaware/242321/

[calwinston]

'Washington region ranks as the best-educated in the country'

Honestly the Washington region has been one of the best educated in the country for the past 40 years. With 50% with a bachelors and 20% with a professional degree.

If there is some confusion over the identity of the best-educated city, that's partly a matter of how "city" is defined. The District, exclusive of its suburbs, isn't quite so well-educated as either Seattle or San Francisco. Even Bethesda can stake a claim as smartest city, if smaller jurisdictions are included in the list.

If there is some confusion over the identity of the best-educated city, that's partly a matter of how "city" is defined. The District, exclusive of its suburbs, isn't quite so well-educated as either Seattle or San Francisco. Even Bethesda can stake a claim as smartest city, if smaller jurisdictions are included in the list.

But as a metropolitan area -- city and suburbs -- Washington is without peer. The District is surrounded by the five best-educated counties in the country, as measured in bachelor's degrees, a necklace of demographic pearls: Arlington, home to the Pentagon; Alexandria, the upscale Colonial city, classified by the census as its own county; Fairfax County, headquarters of Sallie Mae and the CIA; Howard County, with its massive Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; and Montgomery County, home to the National Institutes of Health. There are Washington suburbs where seemingly every neighbor is a doctor or lawyer, scientist or spy. "I remember when I was knocking on doors as a candidate: You get to talking to somebody and find..........

http://www.washingto...ST2010071500135

[calwinston]

'Reality gap: U.S. struggles while D.C. booms'

The DC metro area will never faulter unless their is a drastic cut in government spending! In the meantime If their is a drastic cut in spending this will affect Maryland and Virginia enormously. These two states depends on the high paying government jobs to bring money back home! Politicians from both of these states depend on the federal government and it also keeps them from making hard decisions because most of the time the governemnt foots a larger percentage of the bill from transportation to schools than for other states. An example is the DC Metro Subway which the federal governemnt is footing half of the bill!

Washington has been largely shielded from the economic downturn, even in 2009, when most states and cities were hit the hardest.

During 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 11,000 initial claimants for unemployment insurance associated with extended mass layoff events in the Flint metropolitan area and less than half that number for the D.C. metro area — a region that includes the District itself and the wealthy, highly educated counties of Northern Virginia and southwest Maryland. It’s a sobering reminder of the District’s distance from the epicenters of the Great Recession.

In part, that’s because the federal government drives about a third of the national capital region’s economy by direct employment — Uncle Sam employs about 10 percent of the area’s 3 million-person work force — or by federal procurement dollars, more than $20 billion of which landed in nearby Fairfax County, Va., alone last year.

“This is our auto industry, or financial services, or entertainment,” said Stephen Fuller, director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, alluding, respectively, to the economic foundations of the Detroit, New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. “The federal government is our business. And on top of that, we have an administration that’s clearly expanding the role of the federal government in the context of the national economy — as a manager and as a provider of funds. That hasn’t been the case in the past, except in the case of wars.”

The economic crisis has been a job creator for those outside government, too. Many New York firms have opened new offices and created new jobs in D.C. to deal with the growing web of regulations. Northrop Grumman — one of many contractors profiting from government growth — is moving its operations from Southern California to Northern Virginia. Several other firms have moved here of late, too.

Even media companies, which have been hammered by the economy and bad industrywide trends, are hiring in town. Competition among Bloomberg, POLITICO and other outlets has resulted in bidding wars for reporters with sophisticated understanding of government policy.

Read more: http://www.politico....l#ixzz0u9Y8pJY5

http://www.politico.....html?refresh=1

[calwinston]

"Volkswagen sales up 16 percent"

Volkswagen of America continued its streak of sales growth in July, reporting a 16 percent increase in car sales over July 2009.The Herndon-based company said it sold 23,880 total units during the month, marking its 13th consecutive month of sales growth. Volkswagen’s year-to-date sales have grown 27.5 percent over the same period last year.

The company also sold more vehicles in July than in any month since December 2005 (except for August during the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” deal.)

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/volkswagen-sales-up-16-percent/273577/

[calwinston]

"CACI International wins $22 million task order"

CACI International has won a $22 million task order to support for the U.S. Strategic Command’s joint training objectives.

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/caci-international-wins-22-million-task-order/274547/

[calwinston]

How Virginia won the prize

A Fairfax County office building close to Uncle Sam pulls in Northrop Grumman

Boswell knew Virginia would be up against stiff competition. Indeed, the decision by the Los Angeles company to relocate sparked a bidding war between Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. For months, the region’s commercial real estate community talked of little else: Where would Northrop Grumman go? Would it buy or lease?

After months of speculation, Northrop Grumman — whose biggest client is the federal government — made up its mind. It opted to buy an existing office building in Fairview Park near Falls Church. According to Northrop spokesman Randy Belote, the 336,000 square-foot, 14-story office tower offered “the total package.” Namely, it was available, affordable and close to many defense agencies served by Northrop Grumman, one of the world’s largest security companies.

The story behind the biggest economic development deal in Virginia this year began in late December. That’s when Boswell got a tip from a consultant. “He said, ‘I’m working with a Fortune 100 defense company that’s going to announce they’re … moving their operation to the D.C. region.’”

http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/how-virginia-won-the-prize

[calwinston]

Lockheed Martin's Savi Technology headquarters is relocating from Mountain View, CA to Alexandria, VA

Lockheed Martin’s Savi Technology is relocating its headquarters from Mountain View, Calif., to Alexandria, to be closer to its expanding base of public sector and commercial customers.

Savi Technology provides solutions and services that leverage wireless sensor networks.

http://www.virginiab...xandria/281375/