When I tallied all corporate facility investment projects across all industries that qualified for Site Selection magazine’s Conway Projects Database in 2024, the sector that showed the most dramatic leap upward was business & financial services, increasing from 772 projects in 2023 to 954 in 2024 (a 24% spike).
Judging from business & financial services activity over those two years in Washington, DC, the nation’s capital is a capital location for the sector, which accounted for 36 of 41 total projects. Among the organizations recently expanding in the city are Meridiam, Acumen, United Airlines, Texas A&M University, Boston Consulting Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Amalgamated Transit Union and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, which in 2023 moved into the former Newseum property on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Many firm are benefiting from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s (DMPED’s) Vitality Fund, which was created in 2023 through a $10 million investment by Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. The fund is a multi-year, performance-based incentive program designed to support companies in target industries that are actively planning to relocate, expand or retain space and create jobs in DC.
One beneficiary is association management company Kellen, which in 2024 invited Mayor Bowser to cut the ribbon at its new headquarters relocated from Atlanta to The National Press Building. The move doubles its footprint to 32,000 sq. ft. in DC (where it’s had an office since 1990) and brings around 50 new jobs to the District. Moreover, by the transitive property the relocated HQ means 47 of the more than 100 associations Kellen serves now are officially headquartered in DC too. The firm received a $150,000 grant over three years from the Vitality Fund.
“Kellen has long maintained a thriving and expanding presence in Washington DC, recognizing its unparalleled role as the nation’s political, regulatory, and policy epicenter,” Kellen CEO Travis Rush tells me via email. “In recent years, our public affairs division has been a critical growth area that necessitates a strong and strategic presence in Washington, DC. This expansion complements our core expertise in association management, event planning and organizational coordination. When evaluating potential headquarters locations, factors included proximity to influential decision-makers, access to industry leaders and the ability to engage directly in policy discussions. Ultimately, Washington, DC, emerged as the optimal choice to meet our clients’ evolving needs while advancing our long-term goals.”
Were there defining moments in the location decision-making process? “The strong commitment from Mayor Bowser gave us the confidence to solidify Washington, DC, as our headquarters,” Rush says. “The partnership with her office and compelling incentives underscored the city’s dedication to fostering business expansion. Additionally, securing an extended lease at the National Press Building was a key factor — this prime location provides immediate operational flexibility while ensuring ample room for future expansion. As part of our strategic growth plan, we aim to increase our DC-based workforce from 85 to approximately 135 employees within three years.”
Finding the talent to fill those roles is not difficult thanks in part to “a steady pipeline of terrific graduates” from globally recognized educational institutions in the area, Rush says, including his own alma mater George Washington University. “Washington, DC, is an exceptional talent hub, offering a diverse and highly skilled workforce committed to excellence,” he says. “The city attracts professionals from a wide range of sectors, including government, nonprofits, policy, law, technology and international affairs — many of which closely intersect with association management. This cross-industry expertise brings valuable perspectives and deepens the talent pool available for organizations looking to grow.”
Even amid the swirling winds of politics, the city and District can be a bedrock location for a company with global connections. Asked if DC is an evergreen location for Kellen’s HQ regardless of presidential administration or federal government expansion or drawdown, Rush replies, “Kellen’s presence in Washington, DC, spanning three decades and multiple administrations, reflects our unwavering commitment to being at the epicenter of these essential activities.”
He says the nation’s capital is on a growth trajectory and is “an increasingly attractive destination for companies like ours, with unparalleled opportunities for organizations to scale operations, form meaningful collaborations and establish enduring partnerships that drive success. Additionally, Washington, DC, remains a premier global destination for influential groups seeking to engage on critical issues.”
Championship-Caliber Performance
Kathrine VanLiew, senior director of international business attraction at the Washington DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP), came to her position through sports and event attraction. Are there natural connections between the two fields of endeavor? With exciting projects like the redevelopment of RFK Stadium, last year’s Army-Navy football game, growth at soccer venue Audi Field and major venue and community recreation investment from Washington Capitals, Mystic and Wizards owner Monumental Sports, she says, “it’s something we’re looking to continue to leverage more, with a bigger focus on large-scale sporting events” in addition to the constant flow of major national and global conferences that bring stakeholders within arm’s reach.
The confluence of those worlds was on display in 2023 when the Atlantic 10 conference (whose men’s basketball championships took place in the nation’s capital in March) moved its headquarters from Newport News, Virginia, to Dupont Circle in the city. “It is right in the heart of the A-10 footprint, which stretches from Davidson in North Carolina north to St. Bonaventure in New York and west to Loyola Chicago,” A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade told Site Selection magazine’s Ron Starner that year in an interview. Three airports with direct flights will make a big difference in getting to all those schools too. “We are a fly conference and a basketball-centric league,” she said. “DC is a pivoting point.”
WDCEP Executive Vice President of Corporate Attraction Suzanne White says the Vitality Fund created by the Bowser administration has provided corporate occupiers with a more traditional economic development tool that functions as a financial bridge or closing grant and pairs nicely with the Partnership’s Global Soft Landing program for companies in the scale-up stage of growth.
White says one growing prospect was considering expansion in a state in the Southeast where the organization had an office vs. its location in DC, where the organization liked the tech-forward vibe, mass transit and culture. A tenant adjacent to the firm’s DC office had put in its termination right, but the landlord was not offering any tenant improvement dollars. “Ultimately the Vitality Fund was a bridge for that,” she says, paying for substantial tenant improvement costs.
“When evaluating potential headquarters locations, factors included proximity to influential decision-makers, access to industry leaders and the ability to engage directly in policy discussions. Ultimately, Washington DC emerged as the optimal choice.”
— Travis Rush, CEO, Kellen
Sometimes, as with architecture and design firm KTGY, the location, amenities and culture alone do the trick. The Maryland-based firm was considering new locations in that state, DC and Virginia. But suburban Northern Virginia wasn’t offering the same vibe that company decision-makers liked in offices in such cities as Denver and LA. Ultimately, says White, they decided to locate their regional office in DC because the cachet of a DC address sends the right message about the priority of serious architecture and design.
The firm did not access the Vitality Fund but is still accessing the vitality.
Even when such funds are not taken advantage of, White says, their mere availability signals to growing firms “that we are serious about attracting corporations to the city in a way we’ve never been before.”
Talent Is a Long-Term Play
The Partnership continues to target the professional services, marketing, media and tech sectors — and that strategy applies no matter what’s going on with federal job cuts.
“Two of the top reasons people come to DC are proximity to decision-makers and top talent and workforce,” she says. “What we are really working hard on as a city is making sure we don’t experience a brain drain in this current environment.”
In other words: If indeed there are hundreds or thousands of former federal employees, an already rich pool of talent suddenly gets richer.
“A lot of corporations make decisions based on the fact that they can’t possibly get enough people to come to Chicago or LA, but they can harness our workforce here in DC,” White says. The region’s talent base, she says, “is a long-term play.” As for that proximity to power, in some respects, she says, this federal administration is more receptive than ever to more in-person presence from those who want to be close to the levers of government.
What White characterizes as a “catalytic experience” right now applies to potential federal real estate opening up.
“There are a lot of opportunities with regard to real estate that will be transformative for the city in terms of diversifying the economy and creating a mixed-use environment that we couldn’t do without having this federal property made available.”
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Kellen CEO Travis Rush cut the ribbon in September at the company’s new global headquarters in the National Press Building.
Photo courtesy of Kellen
The unfolding situation also meshes well with a general return-to-office trend, which will drive action in such locations as Metro Center and the mile-long waterfront destination along the Potomac River known as The Wharf, says VanLiew.
“Being able to connect that through the National Mall really does create an opportunity to expand,” says VanLiew. “We are working to address the real pain in the short term, but we also know we have a real opportunity to take underutilized federal space and create a DC that works better for everyone.”
