THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY

Article Date: February 8, 2003

EDA: Avtex marketed to tech businesses

Heavener wants Warren County to be competitive alternative to metro area

By:  Mary Beiler

As it prepares to open the doors of the former administration building at Avtex, the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority is hoping to market the office space to technology-related businesses eyeing the Northern Virginia area. 

“We are trying to position Warren County as a competitive alternative to the Washington, D.C., metro area for office and technology companies,” said EDA Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener.

Heavener added that there is a direct correlation between marketing the office building and the business-recruitment survey being conducted to get a picture of the area’s labor force.

According to Heavener, the Northern Virginia technology market will continue to move westward as traffic congestion increases and telecommunications advances are exploited.

The former administration building is ideally suited for smaller technology companies looking to move out of the city, Heavener said, adding its location is ideal because of its proximity to services, financial institutions, governmental services and a skilled labor force.

The building will house five offices, ranging from 900 square feet to 4,200 square feet, once renovations are complete sometime in April.

The EDA itself will be moving into the building, leaving four offices available.

“We need to convince four office-type companies to locate into the administration building,” Heavener said.

The building will serve as a model for future marketing of the redeveloped site and will signify the first jobs on-site since the plant was shut down in 1989.

“It will give us the opportunity to market a building [on the Avtex site],” Heavener said.

The EDA has started to recruit companies to the site, with plans to invite high-profile Northern Virginia real estate brokers to tour the building in May, he added.

After concentrating on attracting large distribution centers to the area, the EDA is now beginning to focus on technology and office-related businesses due to a lack of available land.

The first step is to profile the county’s workforce.

In order to help move in that direction, a telephone survey is being conducted to collect data on the county’s workforce, especially people who commute every day, in order to find out what jobs are needed in the area to keep them here.  The EDA hopes the survey will determine the skills, experience, education and related characteristics of those daily commuters.