Case Study: Fairfax County, Virginia
On the surface, the success of Fairfax county may seem simple and straightforward—an affluent county has remained affluent over several decades. The reality is that a tremendous amount of forethought and deliberate action is behind the county’s meteoric growth and prosperity.
The story of Fairfax County is really the story of three distinct groups in delicate balance.
The first is the business community—not just locally or regionally, but internationally. To accomplish this, Dr. Gordon and John Siddall worked together to redefine Washington’s importance to the nation’s business community as well as to the world. These early forays into advertising were preludes to what would become a robust global advertising effort that would establish Fairfax County as a “brand” unto itself, attracting new businesses to secure the tax revenue to support superior services and quality of life measures.
The second group is the potential workforce. John Siddall and Dr. Gordon recognized that the best and the brightest workers in America want the most challenging work and best lifestyle possible. To attract employers and bright, young workers, a campaign using the theme line, “The Power of Ideas” ran in business publications in technology centers across the US.
The final group is perhaps the most complex—the existing residents of Fairfax. Already faced with congestion, it was essential for residents to support an increase in new businesses in the face of the potential drawbacks of growth. New businesses and new residents brought increased tax revenue that reduced the individual’s tax burden while maintaining or increasing the overall quality of life in the county. To communicate with residents and local business leaders, a campaign highlighting the meaningful lives of residents was signed, “Your Life, Balanced.”
The Results
In 1976, the population of the county was around 450,000 people. Today, it is about 1.2 million. In 1960, the United States Census reported that the population of Fairfax County was 96% Caucasian. Today, it stands at 52%, while the other 48% is comprised of minority American-born people and individuals from every country in the world. The number of jobs has grown from the 1983 level of 242,000 to more than 600,000 today. The population has boomed, but job growth has kept pace. More importantly, companies are now contributing to the real estate tax base to such an extent that the real estate tax rate for residents has now declined from its 1976 high of $1.74 per one hundred dollars of assessed value to $1.13. And, not only has the volume of public services increased dramatically over that period of time, the quality of those services has increased as well.