Fairfax County EDA President Wins Fulbright Grant to Study Scottish Economic Development Issues

Business Wire, July 8, 2008

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. -- Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), has been granted a prestigious Fulbright Award to develop recommendations on building a skilled employment base in northern Scotland when a nuclear power plant closes.

Gordon is taking annual leave in Scotland for four weeks to explore the region's potential for renewable energy and come up with ways to drive investment into the northern Highlands region as the Dounreay reactor is shut down. He has consulted on economic development goals and strategies with U.S. local and state governments as well as in Puerto Rico, Poland and Micronesia.

Gordon has been with the FCEDA since late 1983, during which time Fairfax County, just outside Washington, D.C., has developed into one of the world's foremost technology business centers. Time magazine last year described Fairfax County as "one of the great economic success stories of our time." It is home to more than 5,400 technology companies, including more than 60 from the United Kingdom.

"My real role is to identify the strategic options in both the short and longer terms, and identify the companies that might get involved," Gordon said. "There is a reservoir of engineering and technical skills across a multitude of fields in this region and it is vital that they are retained as a business asset of the northern Highlands."

Gordon's work is being coordinated by the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission, which was created by treaty in 1948 and approves grants for study in a wide variety of fields.

Lord Robert Maclennan, chairman of the North Highland Initiative, which is working on ways to develop the economy north Scotland, said he was delighted that Gordon is working on the project.

"We are fortunate to have the services of such a distinguished and successful economic developer from the U.S. as Dr. Gordon. His work will contribute in practical ways to achieving our vision for sustainable growth - a crucial objective in itself but more so in the light of Dounreay's decommissioning."

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA maintains marketing offices in San Francisco, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Seoul and Tel Aviv.

Through the efforts of the late Sen. J. William Fulbright, the U.S. and U.K. governments established the US-UK Fulbright Commission (www.fulbright.co.uk) after World War II. It promotes peace and understanding through educational exchanges, and operates more than 20 award programs for students, lecturers, researchers and professionals. More than 15,000 U.K. nationals have been to the U.S. and nearly 27,000 U.S. citizens have worked in the U.K. through the Fulbright program. This group includes 37 Nobel Prize recipients.