A new state grant will help the fledgling National Innovation Quarter (“National IQ”) with recruitment of regional, national and possibly international companies while nurturing startups in fast-growing industries.
The $3.9 million grant spread over two years was secured by Arlington Economic Development (AED) as part of the state government’s Growth and Opportunity for Virginia initiative.
It will support economic-development initiatives in both Arlington and Alexandria, with funding distributed among a number of program partners. A key component will be dual-use technology, which can be adapted for both commercial and government/military purposes.
The state grant funding will provide “a really strong running start” as National IQ moves from concept to fully functional, said Brandon Bedford, acting director of business development at AED.
He was speaking at the June 25 meeting of the Alexandria/Arlington Workforce Development Council.
Planning for the Innovation District — spanning Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard — began about two years ago as a collaborative effort between the Arlington and Alexandria governments, the National Landing Business Improvement District and partners including Amazon, Virginia Tech and JBG Smith. It was formally launched in February.
Designed to emerge as a standalone nonprofit organization, a search is underway for an executive director, who will be responsible for fund-raising efforts to fill out the staff.
The district will serve as another support tool “both in terms of companies that are [already] here and companies that are looking to grow here,” Bedford said.
Once staff is in place, “that’s when we’ll really see programming expanding more and more,” he said.
Marian Marquez, senior vice president of Alexandria Economic Development, said the National Landing effort is patterned after similar innovation districts in Boston, Detroit and Houston, among other areas.
The local effort “actually goes way back to when the jurisdictions partnered to attract Amazon,” she said.
While that success “was challenged by the pandemic and remote work,” Marquez said the National Landing area has all the central components needed for an innovation district.
“All the key ingredients” are there, she said, from the Pentagon to major tech firms to academia.
David Remick, executive director of the Alexandria/Arlington Workforce Development Council, said the grant funding and other steps forward were “awesome.” Erik Pages, president and founder of EntreWorks Consulting, termed it “really exciting and pretty cool.”
But Marquez urged local leaders not to expect instant gratification or immediate results.
“It is a years-long process before we start seeing the economic-development outcomes,” she said.
The award to the National IQ initiative was part of more than $5.6 million in grant funding announced June 26 by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) to strengthen key industry sectors, expand workforce pathways and support long-term economic diversification across the commonwealth.
“These investments will help make sure that communities of all sizes can compete, innovate and thrive in a rapidly changing economy,” Spanberger said in a statement accompanying the grant announcement.
