The last fiscal and calendar years might go down as the most impactful in AEDP’s more than 30-year history. The headlines would have you only remember our role in bringing forward a proposal for an entertainment district in Potomac Yard—and to be clear, we are tremendously proud of our work to attract what would have been one of the biggest economic development projects in Virginia’s history. But the real monumental work AEDP accomplished is actually much bigger than that admittedly huge project— and you’ll read all about it in the pages that follow.
For the past few years, as the pandemic turned life and business upside down and our community reckoned with longstanding racial and socioeconomic divides, AEDP took the time to listen and learn, participating in comprehensive city-wide policy and strategy conversations. As a cityfunded organization, AEDP’s directives are a reflection of the strategic priorities adopted by the Mayor and City Council. The City provides the blueprint, and AEDP executes with clear goals and outcomes as guides, to create and encourage economic activity in Alexandria.
This annual report highlights AEDP’s work for this current City Council term (2022–24), and falls into three major categories:
• Business Attraction & Retention: aggressive and datadriven outreach to industries focused on innovation and committed to in-person activities, and support of the incredible companies that call Alexandria home;
• Real Estate Development: execution of our successful catalyst strategy, focused in Potomac Yard, Old Town North, and Carlyle and Eisenhower Valley; and
• Equitable Small Business Support: a complete rebuild of our entire entrepreneurship and small business program, transitioning from business recovery to growth and profitability.
A key theme you will see across all our work is our ability to pivot to a position we are most comfortable in— playing offense. As we navigated the pandemic, we were frustrated to find ourselves reacting to unpredictable and everchanging circumstances beyond our control. We managed this ongoing uncertainty by leveling our efforts around helping as many businesses as we could, as best we could.
That commitment to serve ALL businesses in Alexandria, reflected in our newly defined organizational values (at right), is foundational to AEDP’s growth. Over the past 18 months, and in order to continue to achieve the outcomes our City desires, the AEDP team has had to change. You will meet many of our new team members through the stories in this report, if you haven’t already met them out in the community.
As a team, we believe that smart, community-focused economic development can play an important role in solving many of the challenges our City continues to face, from our constant fight to create and preserve affordable housing to curbing the growing residential property tax burden required to maintain desired service levels. AEDP’s toughest, but most important, job is to provide solutions for Alexandria to consider around growing the economy, commercial tax base, job opportunities, and growth within our existing business community.
With that in mind, our annual report would not be complete without a recap of that entertainment district proposal— our take on the whirlwind three-month public process can be found on p. 8.
We will continue to proactively pursue projects that will catalyze redevelopment where it is most needed, to foster and grow the ecosystem of local entrepreneurs and small businesses, and retain the businesses and organizations that make Alexandria the amazing place it is. Next year, we will work with the incoming Mayor and City Council to make sure we’re equipped to follow their blueprint for growth!
On behalf of our whole team—the smiling faces that close out this report—we hope you’ll celebrate our recent wins and the hard work of last year along with us as we prepare for the next chapter of growth in Alexandria.
Stephanie Landrum
President & CEO