"But the biggest incentive was actually the streamlining of the process," Lensis said. "We got our permits right away. We weren't caught up in months and months of red tape. We didn't have to fight city hall. I'm in the copier business; I don't want to be in the building business."
Quality of Life
Development officials around the region say that quality of life issues seem to be key in luring the Tier Technologies of the world. That's why Prince George's County has focused on getting more executive-style housing, better restaurants and more upscale retail and on improving schools, getting trash off the streets and reducing crime.
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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It's also why the Washington business community often supports more money for transportation, education, and most recently a new baseball stadium in the District, even when it means higher taxes. They say the higher taxes are offset by the benefits, including a boost to the economy and an increased ability to attract and retain workers.
Some business leaders attribute the District's economic resurgence to an improving quality of life in the city.
"The government has done an awful lot to make this a more business friendly town," said Barbara Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. "A lot of that has to do with things that people don't normally think of as business recruitment tools," such as more reliably cleaning streets when it snows and making garbage pickup more regularly, she said.
The people who advise companies on their location decisions say it takes all these things to make an attractive locale.
"Nobody is going to put a corporate headquarters in Timbuktu where there isn't access and a workforce," said Ann Woessner, senior vice president of Staubach Co., who advises companies nationwide on their location decisions. "All these things have to work for a location to make sense."
Staff writers Michael Barbaro and Michael Flagg contributed to this report
