Between December and February, the District was hit with a trio of distressing economic development announcements, all involving the potential exits of major users of downtown commercial space.
Two of the three deals ultimately turned out to be duds, changing the narrative and serving up big wins for D.C. as 2024 rolled on. But it wasn’t the proactive, behind-the-scenes actions of the District government that salvaged victory from the jaws of defeat, as it should have been.
Attract and retain are the bedrock responsibilities for the economic development leadership in any county, city or state. The former is splashy. It makes headlines. “This Fortune 500 company will move its headquarters to X.” “Tech giant to lease four floors downtown.” And so on.
The latter rarely catches the public’s eye. “[Insert name here] happy to stay where it is” doesn’t often make the evening news. Still, retention is arguably more important than attraction, if they’re not two sides of…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
