(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Hot on the heels of Boeing moving its corporate headquarters to Arlington, another Fortune 100 company is about to call the county home.
Raytheon Technologies, which has an existing office at 1100 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn, is planning to move its global headquarters to the neighborhood, the company and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced this morning. It is currently based outside of Boston, where the company was founded a century ago.
Raytheon, a major defense contractor and aerospace company, is slightly larger than Boeing in terms of revenue and global workforce — $64.4 billion and 174,000 employees, respectively, in 2021. It currently has 116,000 square feet of space in one of the “twin towers” buildings in Rosslyn, after renewing its lease there in November 2020.
Youngkin hailed the move as proof that “the Commonwealth is the best destination for the aerospace and defense community.”
Four of the top five U.S. aerospace and defense companies will now be based in Northern Virginia: Boeing and Raytheon in Arlington, plus Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics in Fairfax County. (The fifth, Lockheed Martin, is based in Bethesda but has offices in Arlington.)
Welcome to Virginia @RaytheonTech! https://t.co/S8l4OUVnIQ pic.twitter.com/sHEUuoVKYp
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) June 7, 2022
Arlington Democrats also touted the move this morning, saying that “the County attracts business by smart public investment and being welcoming to everyone.”
Raytheon will be the latest company to call Arlington home
The County attracts business by smart public investment and being welcoming to everyone
Progressive values lead to economic development and make Arlington a great place to be https://t.co/ANeICvjR0r
— Arlington Democrats (@arlingtondems) June 7, 2022
Raytheon, meanwhile, said its move “increases agility in supporting U.S. government and commercial aerospace customers.”
“Defense executives have long cited access to decision makers as a reason to be in the Washington region,” industry publication Defense One noted this morning.
A Raytheon spokesperson told the Boston Globe that that there would be “no reduction in the defense company’s Massachusetts workforce as a result of the move” and that “there would not be a net increase in employment in Arlington as a result.”
The spokesperson also noted that the “corporate address change” will take place between July and September and would only result in a “‘slight expansion’ of Raytheon’s existing leased space in Virginia,” per the Globe.
Other notable corporate headquarters in Arlington include the U.S. operations of Nestle, in Rosslyn; Amazon’s HQ2, under construction in Pentagon City; as well as AES Corporation and E-Trade, both in Ballston.
The full press release from Raytheon is below.
Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) announced today that it will establish its global headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The location increases agility in supporting U.S. government and commercial aerospace customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry. Washington, D.C. serves as a convenient travel hub for the company’s global customers and employees.
The company will maintain its strong U.S. presence which includes 600 facilities across 44 states and territories. Each of the company’s four business units currently have operations in Virginia. The new global headquarters office will be in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood alongside the Raytheon Intelligence and Space business.
Raytheon Technologies has not accepted or sought any financial incentives from any state or municipality to support the establishment of the global headquarters office in Virginia.
About Raytheon Technologies
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With four industry-leading businesses ― Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense ― the company delivers solutions that push the boundaries in avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, and quantum physics. The company was formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses.