Arlington and Alexandria Win Joint State Economic Development Award
April 9, 2019 | By Alex Taylor
On March 29, Arlington Economic Development took home a Community Economic Development Award (CEDA) at the 2019 Virginia Economic Development Association Spring Conference. The award was jointly given to AED and Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP) for the coordination of Amazon HQ2 recruitment. “It’s the economic development project of the decade and meant pulling out all the stops, thinking outside every size box and collaborating with many others to seize the opportunity. In one way or another, all across the state, we are going to benefit from the impact of Amazon coming to Virginia,” said Traci Blido, chair of the CEDA’s awards committee.
The annual CEDA are given out to highlight major projects and initiatives from across the Commonwealth to inspire others to think creatively in driving community and economic development across the State. AED has won CEDAs in the past for the Startup Arlington competition and the DCisCalling website that was part of the Nestle HQ relocation project. AED is honored to receive the CEDA award as it provides external validation for the work that we do throughout the year to better our community and also that of the Commonwealth. This year’s CEDA recognized the importance of HQ2 not only to Arlington and Alexandria, where the project is centered, but for the impact the project will have on the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Amazon HQ2 recruitment also represented massive coordination and cooperation at the local and state level to land the largest economic development project of a generation. Over a year of high-level interactions between multiple state agencies and local governments and departments culminated in Amazon’s announcement that it would locate 25,000 jobs and invest $2.5 billion into its new Arlington County headquarters. AED and its staff take pride in being innovators when it comes to economic development projects and programs.
AED staff attended the spring conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia and accepted the award at the conference’s concluding lunch and award ceremony. AED and the City of Alexandria, joined the Town of Pulaski, Powhatan County and James City County in receiving awards.