Tier Technologies Inc., until recently based in Walnut Creek, Calif., is exactly the sort of prize that economic development agencies all over the country dream of: a profitable, publicly traded company that has highly paid employees, doesn't pollute and can operate anywhere that has smart workers and a good airport.
When Tier Technologies decided it wanted to move, it quickly rejected Boston and other locations in California as too expensive, tossed aside other major cities for not having enough skilled technology workers, and decided on the Washington area as the most logical place for its headquarters. But that was only the start of the decision-making.
The lanes at Bowl America in Gaithersburg are off limits to smokers. The company said Montgomery County's smoking rules hurt business. Virginia is less strict.
(Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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Companies moving to the District and the eight Maryland counties and eight Virginia counties in the greater Washington region face a sometimes bewildering variety of tax structures, regulatory environments and geographic features.
Virginia, Maryland and the District have different corporate income taxes. Taxes on property, business equipment and occupational licenses vary by counties. Montgomery and Calvert counties are considering laws to make it more difficult for certain big-box stores to operate, while Prince George's officials said they welcome big-box and other retail stores. Maryland has tougher anti-smoking laws than Virginia, and Montgomery County is even tougher. Commercial real estate in Frederick, Charles and Stafford counties costs less than in Montgomery and Fairfax counties and the District.
Localities sometimes offer financial sweeteners to try to lure desirable businesses. Virginia and Fairfax recently pledged $1.2 million to persuade International Business Machines Corp. to put 1,250 new high-paying government contacting jobs in Fair Lakes. Two years ago, Maryland offered $1.25 million in incentives to keep Giant Food Inc. from moving its distribution center and 550 jobs to Delaware or Virginia.
For professional services firms, the kind that create many of the high paying jobs in the Washington area, good schools, the pool of available workers, cultural and sports offerings and other quality-of-life issues play a key role. Many such companies have experiences similar to that of Tier Technologies.
Chief executive James R. Weaver said Tier Technologies was not offered financial incentives here. The company reviewed local taxes but decided that the differences weren't enough to be a deciding factor.
Other issues were more important, Weaver said. He wanted to move near a large concentration of high-tech workers. He wanted to be near major airports, because employees need to be able to quickly get to clients.
Tier Technologies set up shop this year in Reston -- not coincidentally, 10 miles from Weaver's house in Oakton.
For similar reasons, Bechtel National Inc., a unit of the giant engineering firm, decided two years ago to move about 250 people who run that division from San Francisco to Frederick County. Bechtel had offices in Frederick, the District and McLean. But many of its employees lived near Frederick, and real estate in the more rural county was easily accessible and cheaper than the two other areas.
