All politics is local, especially when it comes to the game of landing a big business in your jurisdiction. The wooing is done with what politicians call “incentives.” You and I might think of them as sweeteners or, if we are cynics, corporate bribes. Leaving aside any judgments on the methods, we can agree that the competition over major corporations can be as brutal as the wooing of an athletic franchise.
The stakes are similar. Sports franchises are supposed to bring tax revenues of various kinds, jobs, development around the stadium, perhaps, and psychic rewards of promoting the city spirit. All of these benefits are debatable. Many economists have concluded that sports franchises and the stadiums they require the public to build are actually bad deals for taxpayers.
I would argue that corporations bring greater value. They hire more people, often with better jobs. They pay tons of taxes. They often become solid members of the community. They can help attract more businesses.
For all of these reasons, the competition over Northrop Grumman Corp. will be intense and well worth watching. Will Northrop land in Virginia, Maryland — or D.C. Think of it as the sport of bringing home the business.
Defense giant Northrop has announced that it would move its headquarters from Los Angeles to the D.C. region. Ten years ago the question would have been: Where in Virginia would Northrop find a home? Tysons or Dulles? Now the District of Columbia is in the game.
“We have a real shot at making this happen,” says Kwame Brown, chairman of the D.C. Council’s economic development committee. “Ten years ago we wouldn’t have been having this conversation. D.C. wouldn’t have been at the table.”
What’s changed? Why did Northrop President Wes Bush phone Mayor Adrian Fenty just to say “Hey, we’re coming to town.”
This is not your Daddy’s D.C. The dysfunction of the Marion Barry administration is so last decade. Eight years under Tony Williams and three under Adrian Fenty have brought competence to city government. When Kwame Brown joined last week with D.C. development director Valerie Santos and colleague David Catania to meet with Northrop board member Vic Fazio, they could offer a package of tax breaks and incentives for employees.
Incentives are swell, but politics could determine the winner. Here, the District is at a disadvantage, especially in Congress. Virginia and Maryland can have two senators call on Northrop. D.C. has the estimable Eleanor Holmes Norton, our nonvoting delegate, but she’s no match for scores of congressmen.
The political playing field is far from level.
Fazio could make the game more fair. He’s a Washingtonian in the way that Lyndon Baines Johnson was of our town. Fazio served 20 years as a congressman from California. He co-sponsored legislation to make D.C. a state. He retired in 1998 and stayed here as a lobbyist. He’s one of us.
“We have a real shot to make this happen,” says Brown.
And a better shot with Fazio as an ally.
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
