The Northern Virginia business sector is feeling the pinch of the government shutdown, according to a survey released by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
Forty-four percent of business leaders in the survey say the shutdown is causing their business to decline, and 65 percent say the shutdown is the top issue impacting business in Northern Virginia.
Fifty-two percent cite federal layoffs and inflation as key issues.
Forty-nine percent forecast a decline in the business sector in Northern Virginia over the next six months.
Tired of all the winning yet?
“Our 2025 Business Leader Surveys have demonstrated that federal policy decisions, such as the government shutdown, tariff policies, and restructuring of the federal government, have a tremendous impact on the Northern Virginia business community. And as goes Northern Virginia, so goes the region,” said Julie Coons, the president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which isn’t exactly a group of far-left lunatics, in case you’re wondering.
NVCC, marking its 100th anniversary this year, represents business and industry that employs more than 500,000 people in Northern Virginia.
The GDP of Northern Virginia was measured at $302 billion in 2023; the economy in the region is larger than the economies of 24 U.S. states.
The NoVA economy is 42 percent of the overall state GDP in Virginia.
Decline in the fortunes up there will have an impact on folks in the red areas, like our home base, in the Greater Augusta region, which is, in effect, a welfare state – we get a good bit more back from Richmond than we pay in taxes.
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Chris Graham
