When the RFP for Amazon’s HQ2 arrived in September 2017, Stephen Moret (MBA 2001) had been on the job as president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) for only eight months. The commonwealth was not known for the generous direct incentives that other states were likely to offer, but Moret knew immediately that Virginia could make a strong case. Both his own career and the planning he had undertaken in the early months of his tenure were perfectly aligned with what he called “the ultimate opportunity.”

Moret had spent years in economic development in Louisiana, a prime vantage point at the intersection of the public and private sectors that allowed him to “envision a future state and bring it to life.” In his new role at VEDP, he was in the midst of developing a comprehensive strategic plan for economic growth in Virginia, a plan that included growing the tech sector through a large investment in computer-science education. That idea would become the centerpiece for the commonwealth’s bid for the Amazon headquarters. “People think about economic development folks making pitches to companies, and wining and dining, and that is part of it,” says Moret. “But what really matters is creating a great operating environment for companies: stable and attractive tax and regulatory climate, outstanding talent, workforce development.”

The 14-month Amazon bid process was both familiar and unprecedented, Moret says. “It was similar to any RFP in its elements, but the stakes were enormously different. It’s probably the largest private-sector, competitive economic development project in US history.” And it was successful for Moret and the estimated 500 other people who worked on Virginia’s proposal. In November 2018, Amazon announced that it would open a headquarters in Arlington, and over the next several months the Virginia General Assembly began funding the ambitious tech-talent pipeline VEDP championed. “This is going to be transformational for us,” Moret says.

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