This document provides an overview of doing business in Fairfax County, Virginia. It highlights the key advantages such as access to major markets along the East Coast within a day's drive, a productive workforce, proximity to universities and R&D centers, and assistance from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The document also discusses the major industries and business opportunities in sectors like IT, aerospace, defense, and homeland security. It provides information on taxes, real estate, workforce, education, and quality of life to help businesses decide to locate in Fairfax County.

1. Doing Business in Fairfax County
“…One of the great economic
success stories of our time.”
TIME Magazine
Siddharth Sarawgi
Director – India
FairfaxIndia@fceda.org
+91.80.64516669
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

2. What does a business require to succeed in
the United States?
• Access to markets
• A productive labor force
• University and R&D support
• Ease of transportation access
• Assistance in meeting the right people
• A desirable place for employees to live
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

3. ACCESS TO MARKETS
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

4. Fairfax County,Virginia, U.S.
Fai
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

5. Location
60% of the U.S.
population is within a Chicago, IL•
day’s drive – or a two-
hour flight – of Fairfax St. Louis, MO •
300 m
County 600 m
Charlotte, NC •
900 m
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

6. Washington Dulles
International Airport
• Adjacent to Fairfax County, 21 miles
from Washington, D.C., 12 miles from
Tysons Corner
• Served nearly 24 million people in 2008,
including 5 million+ international passengers
• Nonstop service to 83 domestic and 43 international locations
• Undergoing $4 billion capital expansion program with new runway and
underground rail system
Two other airports serve greater Washington:
• Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

7. Fairfax County Facts
Total Area............................................................ 1,023 square kilometers
395 square miles
Park Land............................................................ 416 Park facilities
22,500 acres
Population (2008).............................................. 1,015,302
Number of jobs (2Q2009).............................. 572,708
Office space (midyear 2009).................... 111.5 million square feet
Corporate base (1Q2009).............................. 33,583 business establishments
Technology companies (2008)...................... 6,184
Foreign-owned firms (2009)........................ 355
Bond rating....................................................... AAA
(Sources: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch; Virginia Employment Commission; US Census Bureau; FCEDA)
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

8. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
IN FAIRFAX COUNTY
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

9. Where Are the Opportunities?
• Federal government agencies - $80+Billion IT budget
• Federal procurement - ~$800+Billion
• Washington Greater Area, VA, MD, local government -- $1.0B
• Defense sector
 Homeland security, Transportation and Port security, Cyber security
• Partner with integrator/reseller for:
 System integration / code development
 Business Process Outsourcing
 Shared Services
 Value added knowledge service
Investments
• Real Estate Properties –very low now
• Firms in Chapter 11 status –low valuation
• Acquisitions of Service/Product companies – low valuation
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

10. Critical Mass of Technology Companies
• Nearly 6,200 technology establishments in Fairfax County directly employ
more than 143,000 people
• Tech corridor between Washington, D.C. & Dulles Airport
• The technology sector accounts for more than one in four jobs countywide
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

11. Major Technology Sectors
• Aerospace/Defense: British Aerospace, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, Raytheon
• Biotech/Biomedical: American Medical Laboratories (AML), Biovail, Covance,
Envirogenesis
• Energy: Exxon Mobil, Columbia Energy
• Internet/E-Commerce: AOL, Primus, Technology Sectors in Fairfax
County (Number of companies)
UUNet, Verisign
• Software: American Management System,
Computer Associates, Landmark System
Microstrategy, TRW, Oracle, Xybernaut
• Systems Integration: BAE, BTG,
DynCorp, EDS, Radian, SAIC
Source: FCEDA analysis of 2008 VEC data
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

12. “Access and Proximity”
Defense, HLS, and IT
$7.5
 Northern Virginia is $15.0
 Largest and strongest technology
cluster in the nation
 Of the 20 largest regional SI firms, 18
are in Fairfax County
 Foreign companies sharing in success
FY09
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

13. Federal Procurement
• According to U.S. Census Bureau‟s Consolidated Federal Funds Report,
companies in Fairfax County performed US $ 13.67 billion worth of
procurement in Fiscal 2007
• Key Steps to Success
 Understand the Federal Market
 Get Practical Help
 Identify your Niche
 Cover the Basics
 Market your Business
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

14. Trends, technologies and applications
• Network/cyber security (e.g. consulting, risk analysis,
firewalls, virus protection, e-commerce security,
biometrics etc)
• IPv6; WiMAX; Web 2.0
• Mobile applications, e.g., messaging
• Geospatial and imaging applications
• Clean/green technologies
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

15. Information & Communications Technologies
(ICT)
• Northern Virginia is “Silicon Valley” for IT and
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
 Largest and strongest technology cluster in the
nation
 Of the 20 largest system integrators in the
region, 18 are in Fairfax County
 Foreign companies sharing in success
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

16. Key IT Sectors in Fairfax County
• Information Technology
• Aerospace
• Defense/Government
• New Media
• Network Security
• Satellite Communications
• Systems Integration
• Telecommunications
• Wireless
• Green Technologies
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

17. Homeland Security: IT Ground Zero
• Federal agencies are buying IT ($80B)…… DOD, DHLS, NASA
• Safe City / Port Security / First Responders
• Transportation / Critical Infrastructure
 Network/cyber security / Bio-Defense
 Mobile applications e.g. messaging
 Perimeter defense and surveillance
• Proximity to research and academia centers.
• Leading SI and government contractors:
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

18. Corporate Trends / M&A
 Foreign-owned communications firms: BT, China Telecom, Ericsson,
Siemens, Orange Business Services/FT, T-Mobile, Detecon, TATA
Communications, TeliaSonera
 Mergers and acquisitions
 Software AG (Germany) acquired WebMethods (April „07)
 IBM purchased Consul Risk Management (The Netherlands) (Dec ‟06)
 QinetiQ acquired Apogen, Planning Systems, Analex and 3H Tech („05-‟08)
 BT (UK) to acquire Comsat International (April ‟07)
 Irdeto (The Netherlands) acquired Cloakware (US/Canada) (Dec „07)
 Finmechanica (IT) purchased DRS Technologies (May „08)
 Elbit NA purchased Innovative Concepts (Nov‟08)
 Cisco announced the $3 billion acquisition of Tandberg (Norway) (Oct „09)
 Cobham (UK) made multiple acquisitions in 2009
 CHEMRING (UK) purchase Allied Defense (Jan „10)
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

19. DOING BUSINESS
IN FAIRFAX COUNTY
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

20. Taxes
• Major Tax rates in Fairfax County
Description Tax
Corporate income 6 per cent
Business Personal Property $ 4.57 per $ 100 assessed value
Real Property (Residential) $1.04 per $ 100 assessed value
Real Property (Commercial) $ 1.15 per $ 100 assessed value
Sales and Use 5 per cent
(4 per cent + 1 per cent local)
Sales and Use (food for home 2.5 per cent
consumption) (1.5 per cent + 1 per cent local)
Personal Income 5. 75 per cent (top rate)
Hotel/ motel 4 per cent
(Transient Occupancy)
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

21. Commercial Real Estate
• Fairfax County is the largest suburban office market in the Washington
metropolitan area and the largest office market in Virginia (Nearly 112
million square feet of office space)
Average Monthly Rents for 2000 sft office space
 Class A: $ 5000
• There are about 30 executive office
suites located in the County
 Average monthly rents: $800 for 200 sft
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

22. Highly Skilled Workforce
Measure Fairfax County United States
Residents age 25+ with
College degree (2008) 58.8% 27.4%
Unemployment (4Q2009) 4.5% 9.5%
Foreign Born Population (2008) 27.7% 12.5%
Technology jobs
as a % of total (2008) 24.6% 7.8%
Median household income (2008) $106.8K $52.2K
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey; Virginia Employment Commission
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

23. Largest Fairfax County Employers
Sources: Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Dun & Bradstreet
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

24. Associations and Partnerships
• Northern Virginia Technology Council
www.nvtc.org
• TelecomHUB
www.telecomhub.org
• Center of Innovative Technology
www.cit.org
• Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP)
www.yesvirginia.org
• Greater Washington Initiative (GWI)
www.greaterwashington.org
• ITAA / WITSA
www.itaa.org
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

25. Fortune 500 HQs in Fairfax County
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

26. Foreign-owned Firms (355)
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

27. LIVING
IN FAIRFAX COUNTY
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

28. Education
Fairfax County Public School System
• 12th largest in U.S. (2009-2010): 173,573 students in
197 schools/centers
• Nationally recognized for excellence
Higher Education
• 70 colleges and universities in greater Washington
• George Mason University‟s Fairfax campus: 31,000 students, 168
degree programs
• University of Virginia and Virginia Tech: Northern VA Center,
joint undergrad/grad campus
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

29. Quality of Life
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

30. FAIRFAX COUNTY
VS.
OTHERS
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

31. Fairfax County/ Virginia Vs. Maryland
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

32. Fairfax County/ Virginia Vs. Maryland
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

33. HOW TO START YOUR BUSINESS IN
FAIRFAX COUNTY
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

34. Entering the US Market: A Roadmap
1. Market research the opportunity
2. “On the ground” business development
 Key partners (Integrator, Regional reseller, 8A firm)
 Expertise in the Federal Market sales
 Leads generation –direct sales –need reference!!
 Capture the business -- demonstrate dedicated support
3. Start small – grow gradually
4. Network with the business community
5. Build your brand presence-- PR / Marketing
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

35. How Can FCEDA Help You?
• Assisting with business introductions and connections
• Identifying and showing possible location options
• Providing information on the country‟s real estate market
• Assisting businesses with building and planning processes and zoning
regulations
• Providing current market information about Fairfax County and Washington
D.C. area
• Providing information to employees relocating to the county
• Providing information on venture financing, conventional banking services
and other financial services
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

36. FCEDA Outreach to India
• A local FCEDA office in Bangalore – Innoversant Solutions
(www.innoversant.com)
• Outreach marketing activity
• Fairfax County is home to 20+ Indian companies
 IT, Telecom, ITeS, S/W and Application development, Defense, Security
• Tata Communications, Infosys, Satyam, Wipro
• HCL Technologies America, IDS Infotech
• EAI Technologies, Epass Central, CMC America
• Indus Corp., Megasoft, Pingho Associates
• Grintex, Vasu Export, Newgen Software
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

37. Case Studies
Tata Communications
• Offers services ranging from co-location, managed hosting and storage,
security, content delivery network and TelePresence services.
• Started its operations in Fairfax in Jan, 2009
• The Fairfax office is equipped with a state-of-the-art Cisco-certified
TelePresence room to host "virtual" meetings around the world.
• The office accommodates around 100 employees
“Fairfax County has been an outstanding place to do business for Tata Communications,
and we are pleased to be able to grow into larger premises”
- Dave Ryan, EVP, Tata Communications
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org

38. Fairfax County
Economic Development Authority
Head Office:
8300 Boone Boulevard - Suite 450, Vienna, VA 22182
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org
India Office:
#62, 1st Cross, 2nd Main, Dollars Layout,
J.P. Nagar 4th Phase, Bangalore 560078
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.in
Email: FairfaxIndia@fceda.org
Ph: +91-80-64516669
Overseas Offices: Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Seoul and Tel Aviv
www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org