Amazon 'HQ2' Coming to Northern Virginia; Economic Impact Will Be Felt Throughout the Washington Region

Business Wire 13-Nov-2018 12:25 PM

Regional economy will benefit from huge company investment and creation of tens of thousands of high-paying tech jobs

Amazon today announced that a Northern Virginia site would be part of its second headquarters (HQ2) location. The decision will create tens of thousands jobs and billions of dollars in investment in the Washington, D.C., region, lure many companies that want to work with Amazon, and spur development of new industry strengths for the area.

The announcement ends a high-profile, 14-month competitive search process that received bids from 238 locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Northern Virginia and New York City, which also will be part of HQ2, were among 20 finalists that Amazon toured.

The Northern Virginia site chosen by Amazon is called National Landing, which is centered on the Crystal City area of Arlington County. Fairfax and Loudoun counties had submitted a site called Innovation Station straddling the county borders and adjacent to Metro and Washington Dulles International Airport. Innovation Station is close to an Amazon Web Services east coast campus and company data centers.

"Congratulations to Arlington County and New York City!" said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova. "We look forward to welcoming Amazon as our neighbor here in Northern Virginia. This is a big win for our region!"

"Amazon's decision to continue to explore our region as a site for HQ2 will result in more passenger traffic through Washington-Dulles International Airport," said Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall. "It will mean more employment opportunities for our families, not only with Amazon but also with the companies that will grow up around Amazon. It will boost our economy as Amazon employees and clients spend money in our stores, restaurants and hotels. A rising tide lifts all boats, and we look forward to the whole community benefitting from Amazon's second home in Northern Virginia and the D.C. Metro region."

Innovation Station is now available to organizations looking for a campus location in the Washington region. The premiere 338-acre site is situated in a community that offers strong local and regional talent – particularly in software development and related fields – and boasts a stable and business-friendly environment and easy access to rail, road and air transportation.

"Having HQ2 in Northern Virginia will bring important jobs, business diversity and more innovative technology to the area," said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. "We look forward to continuing to work with Amazon Web Services to expand its presence here and are excited to collaborate with other innovative companies that will be putting down roots in Fairfax County soon."

"We congratulate Arlington and Alexandria on being selected in the process for Amazon HQ2," said Buddy Rizer, director of Loudoun Economic Development. "We consider this a win for the entire region. Many of Loudoun's highly educated professionals will join the Amazon workforce, and many of Loudoun's wine country and other retail and recreation venues will become favorite destinations for Amazon employees throughout the Northern Virginia/DC Metro region. We will continue to market Loudoun County as a world-class location for global businesses like Amazon, and we look forward to making some exciting announcements about new Loudoun companies soon."

Northern Virginia is a particularly strong location for technology companies and for headquarters operations. The Washington metropolitan area, which includes Northern Virginia, has the second-largest technology workforce in the United States, second only to the New York City metropolitan area. Washington-area universities produce more than 70,000 degrees annually, which includes nearly 13,000 technology degrees. Northern Virginia has one of the highest concentrations of professional and technical jobs and company management jobs as well.

About the Fairfax-Loudoun Community

Together, more than 1.6 million people live in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. For more than a decade, the two counties have been in the top three communities in the nation for median household income. The combined workforce has one of the highest education levels in the U.S. and is the highest concentration of tech workers on the east coast. Fairfax County has long been a magnet for FDI, having offices in the United Kingdom, India, Germany, Korea and Israel as well as California. Loudoun County's Data Center Alley is known by I.T. professionals around the world as the home of the Internet; up to 70 percent of all global web traffic flows through Loudoun County data centers every day. Find more details at www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org and www.biz.Loudoun.gov.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business.

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