Increase in Hiring, Spending on Professional & Business Services, and Technology Upgrades Demonstrate Stronger & Faster Recovery in Greater Washington

Washington , DC; June 24, 2009 – Between February 2009 and June 2009, Greater Washington business executives’ positive outlook on the region’s economy increased 26 points, according to a recent survey conducted by Clarus Research Group for the Greater Washington Initiative’s parent organization, the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

The region’s private-sector leaders are hopeful about the future of doing business in Greater Washington – 58 percent expect the region’s business conditions to improve over the next six months.

Furthermore, the view of current regional business conditions has improved significantly since February, with a 13 percent jump in the number who view Greater Washington’s condition as mostly good – a signal that things are already improving and confirming the region’s economic resilience.

“This survey bears out the strength and resilience of Greater Washington’s regional economy, especially the private sector,” said Matt Erskine, executive director of the Greater Washington Initiative. “The region’s business executives are feeling better about the current conditions in the region, and they are optimistic about the future – both for the region and for their companies.”

The survey indicates that 59 percent of executives expect their own businesses to strengthen, a 19 percent jump from just four months ago. Supporting this optimism is the fact that 25 percent expect to increase their number of employees, a 13 point jump from February.

Those executives will find a talent-rich environment for hiring. As detailed in GWI’s recently released 2009 Regional Report (available for download at www.greaterwashington.org), Greater Washington possesses the best-educated workforce in the US - with 47 percent having a Bachelor’s degree and 22 percent having an advanced degree.

New investments and initiatives are also planned, including the purchase of new equipment (10 percent jump over the last four months), upgrades to computer technology (up 9 percent) and increases in advertising and promotion (up 7 percent). Businesses are also planning to increase spending on professional services such as legal, accounting or other consulting services, which bodes well for Greater Washington.

Twenty-three percent of Greater Washington’s jobs are in professional and business services – the largest and fastest-growing segment of the region’s economy. In fact, from 1998 to 2008, Greater Washington added almost 50 percent more jobs in professional and business services compared to second place New York, and 200 percent more jobs compared to third place Dallas-Fort Worth.

With 59 percent of the region’s executive expecting revenues and sales to increase over the next year, Greater Washington will continue to emerge faster and stronger from the recession, proving that the region truly is strong, stable, and resilient.

The survey was sponsored by a grant from Tatum, LLC, a leading professional services company supporting the Office of the CFO and was based on a representative sample of 201 business executives in the Greater Washington region with a margin or error of +/- 2.8 percent. The interviewing was conducted June 5 to 11, 2009 by live telephone interview. The full Business Outlook Index is available online at www.bot.org/businessoutlook/.

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The Greater Washington Initiative (GWI) is the regional economic development, marketing and research organization that promotes the area encompassing the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland as the premier business location. GWI is an affiliate of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. For more information, visit www.greaterwashington.org.