Post 200

Major Employers | Out-of-Town Companies

Monday, May 14, 2007

Many of the region's largest employers are not based in the Washington area, but they include some well-known names in an array of industries. Fast-food giant McDonald's is the biggest, followed by weapons maker Northrop Grumman, which bought intelligence technology firm Essex of Columbia last year. The U.S. affiliate of Dutch conglomerate Royal Ahold continued working to turn around its ailing Giant Food chain and recently reached a deal to sell off its U.S. Foodservice subsidiary, also based in Columbia. Wal-Mart struggled to define itself as more than just a low-cost leader, only to see some of its tactics backfire and hurt its bottom line. Federated Department Stores spent much of the year converting the various regional chains it had bought, such as Hecht's, into Macy's or Bloomingdale's locations. The retailer now has 29 stores in the area. Verizon moved aggressively to expand a high-speed fiber-optic network in the region to compete against cable companies for phone, Internet and television service. It won approval to begin marketing the service in several counties and cities.

The Washington Post