Monthly changes in professional and business services employment and federal employment in Northern Virginia, June 2011 to June 2016. Despite a decline in federal employment and procurement, NoVa’s Professional & Business Services sector is performing handsomely. Source: “2016 State of the Commonwealth Report.”
As Northern Virginia goes, so goes Virginia. The wealthy Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., account for 45% of the state’s economic output. If NoVa is in a slump, as it has been the past few years, a peppy performance in Richmond, Hampton Roads or elsewhere won’t do much to counteract it.
The sequestration-driven decline in federal government employment and a cutback in procurement contracts hit Northern Virginia hard over the decade. But James V. Koch, an Old Dominion University economics professor and author of the “2016 State of the Commonwealth Report,” sees hints of a turnaround. Major NoVa employers, once tethered to the federal government, have been diversifying their business base by making inroads into the private sector.
What’s his evidence?
Federal spending in the Washington metropolitan economy has declined over the decade. “Between mid-2011 and 2014, federal employment each month was consistently lower than the comparable month in the previous year,” writes Koch, in the report, which was sponsored by the Virginia Chamber Foundation. “This had, and still has significant consequences for the region because annual average wages per federal employee approximate $100,000.” Moreover, federal procurement spending in the Washington region declined dramatically, from a peak of $82.5 billion in 2010 to $71 billion in 2015.
The good news:
Since the middle of 2014 … a new pattern has emerged. The professional and business services sector has begun to grow even though federal employment and procurement remain relatively flat. While it is a bit early to declare that this signals the emergence of a new economic model for Northern Virginia, clearly this is a potentially significant change. It appears that professional and business services companies in Northern Virginia may be diversifying their markets and becoming less reliant on federal spending. If so, it bodes well for the region.
The professional & business services sector contributed roughly one-third of the 35,400 net new jobs created in Northern Virginia between June 2015 and June 2016, Koch notes.
It will not be easy for NoVa’s tech companies to shift from a business-to-government model to a business-to-business model, says Koch, but he sees the region’s expertise in cyber-security as an obvious way to make inroads with private-sector clients. He also sees potential in the biotechnology sector. However, for NoVa’s economy to take off, other industries will have to make the switch as well, and it is less clear what they might be.
“Northern Virginia has the assets to turn the corner and become a more business-oriented, globally competitive region,” he says. “But will it happen? Stay tuned.”
