Loudoun Hosts Fam Tour
The Loudoun County Department of Economic Development recently held a familiarization tour for site selectors from outside the national capital region. This 2.5-day event generated a broader awareness of Loudoun’s unmatched access to workforce, infrastructure, logistics, opportunity and quality of life among the participating site selectors, who expressed an appreciation of the many facets for sustained competitive growth in Loudoun.
The participants represent clients from many industry sectors, including headquarters projects, service call centers, back-office processing centers, high technology, energy technology, information and communications technology, heavy manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, distribution, logistics, food processing and industrial.
Saturday was the arrival day, anchored by a dinner held at the beautiful Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg. Scott York, the chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, welcomed the site selectors to Loudoun. His remarks were followed by a presentation from Sharon Virts-Mozer, founder of FCi Federal, which was recently listed as one of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. by Inc. magazine. Part of the evening’s festivities were sponsored by Comstock Partners, which is developing Loudoun Station, a mixed-use development near a future Loudoun metro rail station.
Sunday began with a bus departure to FedEx Field for the Redskins’ home game against the Carolina Panthers. Staff and site selectors were joined by Broad Run District Supervisor Shawn Williams and his wife, and by Economic Development Commission Chair Shaun Kelly and Vice Chair Joe Paciulli.
A partial eastern Loudoun and Dulles Corridor tour ensued as the bus drove its route to the stadium. Along the way site selectors asked insightful questions about Loudoun development.
Tailgating in the Hall of Fame tent preceded the game, which was then viewed from a skybox suite, courtesy of Loudoun County’s marketing agreement with the Redskins. The suite was visited by former Redskins player alumni Mark Schlereth, Mark Mosely, Mark Rypen, Ken Harvey, Charley Taylor, Paul Krause and others, providing a memorable highlight for our guests. The site selectors were also treated to a jumbotron media presentation of Loudoun County, and the covers of their program guides featured Loudoun County as well. Part of the festivities were sponsored by One Loudoun, which is now under construction near the intersection of Route 7 and the Loudoun County Parkway.
Time during the game provided an excellent opportunity to visit extensively with each site selector, getting to know them better, getting to know their business better, answering their questions about Loudoun, and filling in the particulars for them. Ideas about potential projects began to materialize, laying the groundwork for future lead development. Overall the experience was fun and exciting, with a high level of appreciation expressed by the site selectors.
Monday began with a breakfast meeting with a presentation by Economic Development Director Tom Flynn. Staff then took the site selectors on a tour of commercial real estate properties in eastern Loudoun.
In departing, each site selector expressed appreciation for the outreach, hospitality, enjoyable activities, good company, and especially for the eye-opening experience of knowing and fully appreciating Loudoun as a vital site consideration for a number of prospects.
Two site participants indicated that they might each have highly qualified customers for a particular building as a service call center. One site selector said that he has numerous clients to whom he would now present a Loudoun brief. Another said that the tour showed him a couple of his firm’s national clients already in Loudoun that he could use as testimonials for presenting to other clients about considering Loudoun as well. Two others said they would go home thinking about potential fits for Loudoun and come up with referrals. Staff will continue to follow up with participants with the goal of leading to more businesses moving to or expanding in Loudoun.