FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2011 – JUNE 30, 2012
LOUDOUN VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT
MISSION STATEMENT The Department of Economic Development provides excellent, customer-focused economic development services to attract, grow and retain targeted businesses, and to promote entrepreneurism, in order to diversify and strengthen Loudoun’s economy.
KEY SUCCESS: 143% OF GOAL Number of active commercial business prospects in the development pipeline Goal: 86 ACTUAL NUMBER ACHIEVED: 123
Director Tom Flynn (right) Assistant Director Buddy Rizer (left).
“ Loudoun has made tremendous gains in just the past 18 months. No other local jurisdiction has brought more than two million square feet of commercial real estate online over the same time frame – and we continue to grow the development pipeline.” — Department of Economic Development Director Tom Flynn
Photo: Duane Lempke, Sisson Studios
STRATEGIES The department provides direct assistance to businesses that intend to establish or expand operations in Loudoun County; markets Loudoun to existing and prospective businesses; provides tailored site selection and business expansion services; manages projects that support the strategic plan; produces high-quality research, information and web content; and provides strategic recommendations on
KEY SUCCESS: 122%
OF GOAL
Number of visits to existing businesses to build or renew relationships Goal: 300 ACTUAL NUMBER ACHIEVED: 367
economic development as requested by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and partner organizations.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Loudoun is home to more than 9,500 businesses employing a total of more than 137,000 people. This includes 86 foreign-owned firms that have a total of more than 3,600 employees. More than 900 federal government contractors are located in Loudoun, and almost 20 percent of Loudoun’s workforce is employed by the information and communications technology industry. The department currently focuses on attracting, retaining and growing businesses in these industry sectors: information and communications technology; federal government contractors; aerospace and aviation; air cargo; life sciences, and agriculture. Loudoun’s commercial vacancy rate was 12.6 percent at the end of FY2012, down from 14.3 percent in FY2011. Unemployment has remained relatively steady over this time period, averaging 4 percent.
MORE KEY SUCCESSES Commercial and industrial real estate permits issued: 1,048,838 SQUARE FEET COMPANIES THAT EXPANDED IN LOUDOUN: Metron Aviation Neustar NIITEK Rockwell Collins Volkswagen Training Facility
NEW COMPANIES IN LOUDOUN: RagingWire REI Systems Sabey
StrataScale Tier 3
NET NEW JOBS: 5,200
BUDGET
LOUDOUN HAS • A thriving rural economy of 1,427 farms on 142,452 acres; • T he largest number of women-run farms in Virginia: 468; • T he largest number of Hispanic-run farms in Virginia: 21; • T he largest equine population in Virginia: approximately 15,500 horses valued at a total of $208,855,000; • The most alpaca farms in Virginia: 31; • T he county boasts the largest number of wineries in Virginia: 32. Photo Courtesy of: Tom Lussier
Amazon Cavalier Logistics Digital Realty Equinix K2M MC Dean
LOUDOUN’S RURAL ECONOMY
KEY RURAL BUSINESS SUCCESSES Crop production: $7,979,450 in taxable sales. Animal production: $1,302,009 in taxable sales. Support activities for agriculture and forestry: $780,688 in taxable sales. Beverage manufacturing (includes wineries): $4,913,482 in taxable sales. Spring farm tour: record-breaking 7,000+ visitors to 47 farms generated $52,500 in revenue the weekend of May 19-20. Attendees at educational events sponsored by the department: 600.
THE DEPARTMENT WAS RESTRUCTURED THIS YEAR TO DEVOTE MORE SUPPORT TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
BUDGET TOTAL $2,422,963
DIRECTOR
Personnel $1,643,461
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OUTSIDE SALES
INFRASTRUCTURE & PROCESS BROKERS/DEVELOPERS
Operations and Maintenance $779,502
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER OUTSIDE SALES
ADMIN TEAM 2 FTE’S
MAR-COMM MANAGER
RURAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
OUTSIDE SALES CLUSTER MANAGER
OUTSIDE SALES CLUSTER MANAGER
MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGER
RURAL ATTRACTION AND RETENTION
OUTSIDE SALES CLUSTER MANAGER
OUTSIDE SALES CLUSTER MANAGER
COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM MANAGER
MARKETING COORDINATOR
OUTSIDE SALES SMALL BUSINESS
OUTSIDE SALES BUSINESS RETENTION
BUSINESS SUPPORT RESEARCH ANALYST
BUSINESS SUPPORT RESEARCH ANALYST
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM NEW POSITIONS
DIRECT SUPPORT TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
AG & FORESTAL DISTRICTS
FY2012 HIGHLIGHTS DED Director Tom Flynn (left) and DED Infrastructure Manager Robyn Bailey (right) at the site of the new National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation building with the former VP of Corporate Services Joe Siekierski (middle). Loudoun has more land zoned for commercial development (3,100 acres) than any other county in the area.
• T he department is partnering with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership on an initiative to increase the 300,000 tonnes of air cargo passing through Dulles each year. • T he department conducted business development outreach visits to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Germany, Las Vegas, New York, San Diego and Taiwan. • T his winter the department launched a new brand and website. Along with our existing Loudoun Farms website, the department had a total of 68,344 unique website user sessions this year. • T he department premiered seven promotional videos featuring local executives explaining Loudoun’s advantages as a business location. • This year the department helped form the Loudoun County Equine Alliance. Thousands of jobs depend on the ongoing vitality of Loudoun’s equine industry, and the LCEA advances their interests. • T he department added Pinterest to our existing social media tools Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube: www.pinterest.com/loudounbiz. Total number of followers on all social media platforms as of June 30, 2012 was 3,451.
Photo by Assistant Director Buddy Rizer.
DED Director Tom Flynn (far right) with some of the site selectors who flew to Loudoun for a tour of industrial space near Washington Dulles International Airport in November 2011.
DED increased its focus on international business development this year. Pictured: Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Scott K. York signing an agreement with the Banqiao district of New Taipei City in Taiwan. Right: Taiwan government official Lin Chun-Hsiu.
• T he department conducted its first customer satisfaction survey of more than 460 commercial and rural businesses. Of the 18 percent that responded, 89.3 percent agreed that department staff met their customer service expectations. • O n May 9, Loudoun’s largest data center operator broke ground on a major campus expansion. Digital Realty is the largest data center operator in Loudoun County, with just under one million square feet of space. Loudoun is the premier East Coast location for data centers, with more than eight million square feet either constructed or in development. Up to 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic flows through Loudoun County every day. •O n May 10, almost 500 land owners, developers, investors, brokers and site selectors toured the commercial real estate market in Northern Virginia’s technology corridor, which reaches from Loudoun County to Tysons Corner. The department partnered on the tour with NAIOP, the national commercial real estate development association. • L oudoun celebrated Small Business Week May 21-25 with a full slate of forums, workshops and networking opportunities. DED also visited the businesses below and presented them with commemorative plaques. Micronic Technologies, LLC Facility Technology Services, Inc. Guernsey Office Products, Inc. Talino Technologies Catoctin Creek Distilling Company Quarter Branch Farm
SecureForce TessArae, LLC Sagetopia Endless Summer Harvest Brossman’s Orchard
• S eventy-six percent of Loudoun businesses have fewer than 20 employees. This spring, the department launched “LoudounPreneur,” an email newsletter for small business entrepreneurs.
Loudoun County formed a marketing partnership with Loudoun-based NFL team the Washington Redskins. The partnership allows DED to use Redskins facilities, games, players and staff for economic development activities. Pictured here: DED Assistant Director Buddy Rizer with Redskins Quarterback Robert Griffin, III and Economic Development Commission Vice Chair Joe Paciulli and Chair Shaun Kelley.
• D epartment staff have been featured speakers at a number of local, regional and national events throughout the year, such as the Information Management Conference, the Bisnow State of Northern Virginia event, the Loudoun CEO Cabinet and the Collaborative for the 21st Century Appalachia. •O n June 5, the Loudoun County Design Cabinet presented the 10 winners of the annual architecture and design competition to the Board of Supervisors. The Design Cabinet is a volunteer organization made up of professional architects, planners and engineers.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
1 Harrison St. SE, MSC #63 Leesburg, VA 20175 Ph: (703) 777-0426 Toll-Free: (800) LOUDOUN Fx: (703) 771-5363 www.biz.loudoun.gov
Agricultural District Advisory Committee Blue Ridge Cattlemen’s Association Committee for Dulles Design Cabinet Economic Development Commission Greater Washington Initiative Industrial Development Authority Loudoun Beekeepers’ Association Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Loudoun County Equine Alliance Loudoun Horse Association Loudoun Towns and Villages Loudoun Valley Christmas Tree Growers Association Loudoun Valley Homegrown Markets Cooperative Loudoun Valley Sheep Producers Loudoun Winegrowers Association Loudoun Wineries Association Mason Enterprise Center Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority NAIOP Northern Virginia Technology Council Rural Economic Development Council Rural Regional Group Small Business Development Center Virginia Economic Development Partnership Visit Loudoun Washington Airports Task Force
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| Printed August 2012