Spotlight Hits Fairfax County from All Directions in 2007

Announcing Fairfax County’s Top Seven Business Highlights of ‘07

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This will be remembered as a banner year for Fairfax County, a year that solidified its reputation as one of the world’s most desirable and dynamic business locations.

“The year has been a remarkable one for Fairfax County”

“The year has been a remarkable one for Fairfax County,” said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). “But, it’s important to remember that the successes we had during the year did not happen by accident, and that we must continue to strive to help this economy grow.”

Here are Fairfax County’s “top seven of ’07:”

1. Volkswagen— Volkswagen of America announced it will relocate its headquarters to Fairfax County (Herndon specifically) and create 400 jobs here. CEO Stefan Jacoby cited the area's creative and motivated workforce as one reason for the move.

2. National Conference on the Creative Economy— The 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy, organized and hosted by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, attracted almost 400 leaders from the worlds of business, government and academia, who heard from speakers including Thomas Friedman, Richard Florida and Alvin Toffler. To see summaries of each session, and photos from the event, visit www.creativeeconomies.org.

3. Best of everything—Fairfax County and Virginia were included on 2007 “best of ” lists, ranging from best schools (Newsweek), to best place for entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur.com), to best state in which to conduct business (CNBC and Forbes).

4. Federal study on job creation—The U.S. Department of Labor reported that “Fairfax County has emerged as the Washington metropolitan area’s private-sector job leader.” From 1990 to 2005, job growth in the professional and business services industry in Fairfax grew an astonishing 123 percent.

5. “One of the great economic success stories”—Time magazine called Fairfax County the "epicenter" of the Washington region's job boom and "one of the great economic success stories of our time." Weeks later, The Wall Street Journal called Fairfax County the center of the government contracting industry. National Public Radio and CNBC spotlighted Fairfax County as a center of foreign-owned businesses.

6. Long Island Index—An independent study entitled “A Tale of Two Suburbs” compared local government services and satisfaction on Long Island and northern Virginia (including Fairfax County). It noted a striking optimism among northern Virginia residents, including a higher satisfaction with county services and the value received for their taxes, and a better balance between a positive business atmosphere and quality of life.

7. Dulles-to-China air service—The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded United Airlines the right to fly non-stop from Washington Dulles International Airport to Beijing, increasing economic ties between the two fast-growing capital regions.

While 2007 was successful, the FCEDA’s work to promote Fairfax County as a business location will be even more critical in 2008. “As the business base grows, the county is able to provide high quality public services to residents while keeping to a minimum the burden of the costs,” Gordon said.

Business growth helps Fairfax County, just outside Washington, D.C., fund public services such as a top-ranked public school system that improve the quality of life.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA maintains marketing offices in Silicon Valley, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Seoul and Tel Aviv.