Incentive programs reduce the costs of opening or expanding facilities in Prince William County. By assisting employers who want to invest their future here, the Prince William County Department of Economic Development (PWCDED) can better foster the relationships that make this community home to a diverse and talented economic ecosystem.
The highly successful PWCDED Target Industry Program, founded by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 1997, was updated in 2020 to feature a streamlined application and annual reporting requirement. The program offers eligible businesses fast track permitting, reducing the permit turnaround time by up to 50 percent. In addition, the program can provide site development fee reductions for certain projects.
Targeted industries also receive a dedicated project manager—an important element to ensure timelines are met and issues are efficiently tackled. Businesses value the Target Industry Program’s expedited timelines because it cuts startup costs and gets their facilities online more quickly to generate revenue.
“By making our targeted industry status more formalized, we can expect annual snapshots year-over-year to showcase not only our successes in attracting new employers, but also track the competitive growth of our companies and measure economic impact,” says Christina Winn, Executive Director. “We are interested in learning about our companies experiences as they make Prince William County home.”
The department completed the first program survey in June, featuring 13 Prince William County companies. This benchmark 2020 data, includes important positive economic impacts, including:
- more than $116 million in capital investment in our community,
- more than 119 new jobs, in addition to the 228 already existing jobs, and
- over 4.4 million square feet developed.
"We chose Prince William County for our 83-acre Manassas campus because of its proximity to the heart of the world's largest data center and network ecosystem as well as the more economical land price and the size of the land parcel, which enabled the necessary space for us to enhance our protocols to achieve the strictest security and compliance certifications for our customers," says Hansen Troy Hill, director of data center operations at Iron Mountain. "Our strong relationship with the Department of Economic Development has helped amplify our goals of setting good benchmarks and standards in our industry for sustainability and community partnership."
As much as PWCDED can interest businesses in the department incentives, such as the Target Industry Program, it is foundational work of the Department of Development Services that supports land and building development projects.
“The Department of Development Services works closely with the commercial development community to ensure our permitting processes are effective and efficient and allow businesses to meet local, state and federal regulations," says Wade Hugh, director of Development Services. "We have an excellent working relationship with other County agencies as well as the Prince William Service Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation. We welcome the opportunity to meet with business owners in advance of the plan submission process, so we can talk through the nuances of the project and provide helpful tips for a success."
