[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 183 (Tuesday, November 20, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING DR. GERALD L. GORDON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 20, 2018

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize an individual who has 
made an indelible mark on the Fairfax County community and the Northern 
Virginia region as a whole. Dr. Gerald L. Gordon, President and CEO of 
the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, is retiring from 
that role after 35 years of extraordinary service. During his tenure, 
he has guided Fairfax County through incredible transformative changes.
  When Dr. Gordon joined the EDA in 1983, Fairfax County had a 
population of approximately 661,000. Our commercial sector was small 
compared to those of our regional neighbors, with 32 million square 
feet of office space supporting 243,000 jobs. Fairfax County was 
largely a bedroom community for federal workers who commuted to 
Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area. Fast forward 35 years and 
today, the population of Fairfax County has nearly doubled to more than 
1.1 million.
  Fairfax County is home to a thriving commercial sector anchored in 
Tysons with over 117 million square feet of commercial real estate 
supporting over 600,000 jobs across the county. Ten Fortune 500 
companies make their headquarters in Fairfax County, more than 30 
states. Fairfax County has evolved from a bedroom community to the 
economic engine of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Dulles corridor, 
which stretches from Tysons to the Loudoun County line supports more 
tech jobs than any other region of our country outside of California. 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in 
Fairfax County at the end of September, 2018 was 2.5 percent lower than 
the Commonwealth of Virginia rate of 2.9 percent and more than a full 
percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.7 
percent.
  Successfully managing this explosive growth and economic expansion 
requires visionary leadership from the Fairfax County Board of 
Supervisors to make the necessary investments to ensure that the 
groundwork could be laid for the transformation that is well underway. 
Visionary leadership is not enough by itself however. It is also 
critical that the County government had a willing and able partner in 
Dr. Gordon and the Economic Development Authority. The benefits of the 
partnership that we were able to forge are still being recognized and 
will be for decades to come.
  Dr. Gordon leaves an extensive legacy of accomplishments. These 
include the creation of the Emerging Business Forum to support small 
minority and woman-owned businesses and the successful campaign for 
Fairfax County to host the 1998 World Congress on Information 
Technology. He has also received a litany of awards, including the 
Virginia Business Person of the Year Award from Virginia Business 
Magazine in 2010, the Leadership Fairfax Northern Virginia Leadership 
Award in 2011 and the Jeffrey A. Finkle Organizational Leadership Award 
from the International Economic Development Council in 2015. Virginia 
Business has listed him annually as one of its 50 Most Influential 
Virginians since 2013. He is also a widely respected author who has 
written 13 books on economic development and strategic planning.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Gordon for his many decades of service to 
our community and congratulate him on his vast array of 
accomplishments. While he will be dearly missed and leaves behind 
sizeable shoes to fill at EDA, he will be leaving Fairfax County better 
positioned to face tomorrow's challenges. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in wishing him continued success and all the best in his retirement.

                          ____________________