Va. gov: State used incentive package of $12M to $14M to help lure Northrop HQ from Calif.

Va. gov: State spends $12M-$14M to lure Northrop

ARLINGTON, Va. — Virginia used an incentive package worth $12 million to $14 million to help it beat Maryland and the District of Columbia to land the corporate headquarters of defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp., Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday.

McDonnell considers the money well spent. On WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” program, he said the relocation of the defense contractor from Los Angeles will result in $30 million in new tax revenue over the next 10 years.

He said the incentive package was less than what was offered by the D.C. government, which had been reported to be as much as $25 million.

“People see Virginia as a great place to do business, a great place to bring families to,” McDonnell said.

The state announced Monday that Northrop, after months of wooing, will move its headquarters from to Virginia. About 300 jobs with an average salary of $200,000 are associated with the move.

Officials in Maryland said Monday that they put together a competitive package but that the real estate in Virginia was more attractive to Northrop, in part because of its proximity to the Pentagon.

McDonnell said a final site within Virginia has not yet been selected and that sites in Fairfax County, Arlington County and Alexandria are under consideration.

McDonnell said the incentive package is in line with what Virginia used recently to lure headquarters of the Hilton hotel chain and government contractor SAIC Inc.

While McDonnell did not spell out exact details of his incentive package for Northrop, it appears to be significantly larger than those deals. Hilton Worldwide received incentives of about $4.6 million for a relocation from Beverly Hills to Tysons Corner that also involved about 300 jobs.

SAIC is scheduled to receive about $10 million for a project expected to create about 1,200 new jobs in Virginia.

Northrop is a Fortune 100 company that employs 120,000 people worldwide in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services. McDonnell said Northrop already employs about 30,000 in Virginia, including a massive shipbuilding operation in Newport News.