How DC is both innovator and customer on the tech front.
For more than two centuries, Washington, DC, has been the most important city in the world. Its global leadership position firmly established and unquestioned, the nation’s capital does more than write history on a daily basis; it lays the foundation for political and economic progress in this country and many others.
Consider the full weight of this city’s influence. The 709,428 people who live here form the heart of national government and make decisions that impact the lives of hundreds of millions of citizens at home and abroad.
As the center of a tri-state region of 6.4 million residents, DC serves as the engine that drives an annual metro area GDP of $726 billion — the seventh highest in the U.S. The District of Columbia alone accounts for more than $186 billion of this output.
Where does this influence come from, and how does it work? Ever since George Washington established the District of Columbia as the nation’s capital on July 16, 1790, this 68-square-mile city on the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers has set the standard for global influence.
The historic decisions to end slavery, give women the right to vote, desegregate schools, extend civil rights and ensure voting rights for all peoples, abolish the draft, liberate Europe, defeat Communism, bring down the Berlin Wall and send men to the moon all emanated from the Oval Office, Capitol Hill or the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, and the people who occupied them at the time.
They did not make these decisions in a vacuum. They made them because America was the first place on earth to establish a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” In America, we don’t bow down to kings, worship supreme leaders or pledge fealty to tyrants. “We the people” hold the power and use that authority to select those who represent us in the nation’s capital.
For that reason and others, DC possesses a moral authority and mandate that no other city on the planet can match; and it is the axis on which the world turns.
Companies worldwide know that in order to have any influence on the decisions made in DC, they must take up residence in the capital city. That is why today you will find 176 international embassies and over 640 international companies located in DC.
Tech Startups Gravitate to DC
U.S. companies flock here too. Amazon founder and owner Jeff Bezos, the second richest person on earth, selected National Landing next to DC for the second headquarters of his firm. Every day, tech companies follow suit.
The city’s roster of businesses now reads like a Who’s Who of the high-tech world. CaryHealth, No. 83 on the list of fastest-growing tech companies in the U.S., recently established a presence in DC. So did Virtru, Arcadia, Goodshuffle, Sorcero, Mapbox, Fabric Health and KeyCaliber.
This is not a new phenomenon. For decades, the planet’s most innovative minds have gravitated to DC and launched world-altering ventures. CoStar, the world’s largest data collection company for real estate, runs its global headquarters out of DC and is the parent company to Homes.com, LoopNet, Apartments.com, Ten-X, BizBuySell, Land.com, Thomas Daily and other successful brands.
Kevin Morgan, Senior Vice President of Tech Sector Attraction and retention for the Washington DC Economic Partnership, says the presence of the federal government drives this economic activity and corresponding site selection. “The tech market in DC is strong and growing,” he says. “The federal government may be in a state of transition, but we will always have a well-skilled and resilient workforce in DC. It is highly educated, technical and mission driven. The federal government will continue to be the world’s largest purchaser of technology products. For that, you need a workforce that is operationally ready.”
WDCEP stands ready with resources to help these firms grow. “We have contracting opportunities for businesses,” says Morgan. “They can learn from us how to engage as a tech company. Cybersecurity and AI is our top target sector. McKinsey Consulting did the research that identified the industries that represent the highest potential for growth in the District. And right now, they are companies in high tech.”
“If you look at the quantity of talent, quality of talent, and diversity of jobs available, those three factors make DC a highly attractive market for tech talent.”
— Caroline Bour, Senior Vice President, CBRE
The Washington DC Department of Employment Services offers training incentives that can help pay for things like upskilling and new skill development for workers at technology companies, according to Morgan.
Want to network with like-minded business leaders? WDCEP helps with that too. “We streamline the matching of employees looking for jobs with employers who are actively searching for workers,” says Morgan. “DC Tech Meetup was named DC Program of the Year last year. We bring 400 to 500 people together for company tech demos and job matching with companies that are hiring. This drives early stage investments with tech firms. The Greater Washington DC Hiring Fair had over 800 participating candidates. We matched them with more than 25 employers in the DC area. There is overwhelming demand for that program. We will scale it up this year.”
CityCenter DC and Dupont Circle are vibrant hubs of city life that regularly attract millennial and Gen Z tech talent from around the world to come live and work in DC.
Photos courtesy of Destination DC
CBRE: DC Acts as Tech Talent Magnet
Caroline Bour, senior vice president of advisory and transaction services for CBRE, says DC emerged as a national tech hub due to the outsized presence of defense and government contractors in the region. “Washington, DC is consistently ranked as one of the top tech talent markets because of its quality of life, international airports, great housing and other factors,” says Bour. “If you look at the quantity of talent, quality of talent, and diversity of jobs available, those three factors make DC a highly attractive market for tech talent.”
She adds that “Washington, DC, has the highest concentration of tech workers of any U.S. market after the Bay Area and Seattle. More than 260,000 tech workers are employed in the DC metro area. That is fourth largest in North America.”
Higher education drives this influx of talent, Bour says. “DC is consistently reported as having one of the most highly educated populations, as 67% of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to the national average of 36%.”
The 75 colleges and universities in DC also act as a tech talent magnet, says Bour. “Higher ed leasing is an important growth sector for downtown DC,” she says. “Almost every major college and university is establishing a hub there now. The Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will be close to Amazon HQ2 and will have an outsized impact on tech.”
