Members of the Greater Washington Initiative, an economic development group in the District, on Sunday wrapped up their efforts in Paris to attract aerospace business to the area.
The International Paris Air Show — which ran through Sunday — brings companies and clients from all over the world to see the latest advances in air technology.
“The purpose [of the initiative’s] visit is to talk to global companies who are in the aerospace and defense industry who want to expand their presence in the United States or establish a presence in the United States,” said Angie Lawry, director of marketing and communications for the initiative. “We have assets and resources and a cluster of [aerospace] businesses in the region.”
Initiative Director of International Business Development April DuBois and initiative Executive Director Tim Priest attended the show. They held a conference on conducting transAtlantic business and a networking session earlier last week.
They also released an overview of the aerospace industry in the region, which found that more than 800 companies in the Washington area are conducting business in the aerospace field. According to the report, the region has the largest number of people working in the aerospace field in the United States, with 3,700 of those employees working as aeronautical engineers.
Alexis Allen of the Arlington-based Aerospace Industry Association said proximity to Capitol Hill and the Pentagon are the main reasons so many of these companies are in the region.
“One of the main customers for the industry is the federal government,” she said. “NASA, the [U.S. Department of Defense] and the Federal Aviation Administration are the main three agencies that interface with the aerospace industry.”
