Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park join seven other localities in regional economic growth plan

Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park have teamed up with seven other Northern Virginia localities to form the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance (NOVA EDA).

The Alliance is comprised of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Arlington County, City of Fairfax, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, City of Falls Church, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park, and Prince William County Department of Economic Development.

According to a news release, localities in Northern Virginia have occasionally banded together on projects or marketing missions when an opportunity arose. These efforts were sporadic and unstructured, but demonstrated the impact of collaboration to the participants.

In 2017, when Amazon released its Request for Proposals for its HQ2, the company strongly encouraged a regional response—a move that inspired four NOVA jurisdictions to bid on the project jointly.

Through the proposal process, the four jurisdictions, together with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), created the first Northern Virginia regional brand- innovation lives here- which included collateral, a website, and a wealth of information that highlighted the strength of the region as a whole.

The release went on to say that, “Amazon’s desire to evaluate regional assets mimics trends seen across various industries- companies do not see jurisdictional borders and are looking for regional workforce, transportation, housing and livability assets.”

Highlighting these things from a regional perspective makes Northern Virginia one of the most competitive places in the country for business attraction and growth. Ultimately, the regional pitch to Amazon resulted in Northern Virginia winning the biggest economic development project in modern history. Additionally, it bolstered the case for creation of a Northern Virginia regional economic development effort, proving that Northern Virginia localities are stronger together.

Economic development officials believe that by building a “robust, recognizable regional brand for Northern Virginia,” this will propel these local communities to the top of site selection lists that will generate new leads, resulting in more business investment. 

The local economic development leadership reports that it has also been encouraged to collaborate by local and statewide leaders. Over recent year, Northern Virginia elected and appointed leaders have been working across borders and aisles to tackle affordable and workforce housing, transportation, education, and other challenges facing our region, collaboratively.

At the state level, Stephen Moret, who took the helm as President & CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in 2017, has supported the telling of regional stories, providing additional resources to regional groups throughout the Commonwealth.

Now, these ten jurisdictions have acknowledged the importance of coalescing formally together on regional business recruitment efforts.  According to the NOVA EDA news release, regional economic development organizations are common in other areas of the United States, and the new group joins 16 other regional groups across Virginia,. This will keep the region competitive and relevant nationally and internationally, the release stated,

The new NOVA EDA plans to work closely with VEDP to access to more economic development tools, while working together to create a strong brand and story that showcases all of the talent and benefits of doing business in Northern Virginia.

For more information about the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance, go to novaEDA.org.

Adrianne Griffith, NOVA EDA Communications Lead, can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 703.652.5349.