Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Monday evening said it will move its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Northern Virginia in the summer of 2011.
“Our final decision was driven largely by facility considerations, proximity to our customers, and overall economics,” Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
The company said it is in negotiations with several building owners in Falls Church and Arlington County and expects to announce a specific building location in the coming weeks. About 300 employees will be located at the new headquarters location.
Northrop Grumman in January announced its intention to move its headquarters closer to its federal customers (Defense Daily, Jan. 5).
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said yesterday that the state’s incentive package to Northrop Grumman ranges between $12 million to $14 million. That doesn’t include the local incentives, which will be finalized once Northrop Grumman decides on a site.
“To gain the corporate headquarters of one of the largest defense and global security contractors in the world is a testament to the strong business climate that we are focused on continually improving, McDonnell said in a statement. “The foremost priority of our administration is creating new jobs and getting our economy back on track. This administration will keep taxes and regulations and litigation at a minimum to attract job creators from around the world to our state to ensure more new opportunities for all Virginians.”
Northrop Grumman, which is a Fortune 100 company, also had considered moving its headquarters to Maryland and Washington, D.C. The company has 120,000 employees, 30,000 of whom are in California. General Dynamics [GD], a major shipbuilder for the Navy like Northrop Grumman, is based in Falls Church.