Northern Virginia firm to get $840K in corporate welfare for expansion

Gotta point out the welfare to millionaires, since the MAGAs love to point out the welfare to people who can barely afford to keep the lights on.

Virginia is giving a company calling itself Blue Sky Innovators an $840,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to go toward a $7 million expansion in Northern Virginia that was announced earlier this week.

We’re told, from a news release from the office of Gov. Abigail Spanberger, that this expansion will create 175 new jobs.

The first time I got yelled at by a PR flak for pointing out that this is corporate welfare was way back during the term of Mark Warner as governor in the early ‘aughts.

Every governor since – the tally on that would be, four Democrats, two Republicans – gets me pointing out what to me should be the obvious.

From the Spanberger PR, Blue Sky Innovators plans to build out 20,000 square feet of space above its existing Fairfax County office for a secure modular agile collaboration hub software innovation laboratory called SkyLab to accommodate government customers.

To which we could say, Great, why not do that on your own dime?

“With the establishment of SkyLab, Blue Sky Innovators is showing what a commitment to innovation and collaboration really looks like,” Spanberger said, per a quote from her office’s PR.

“By expanding aggressively in Reston, their leadership is showing the defense technology industry why Virginia is leading the way in our changing economy,” Spanberger said. “With unparalleled access to the nation’s top talent and decision makers, the Commonwealth is ready to help businesses grow as we build an economy that works for every Virginian.”

Well, not every Virginian.

Forty percent of Virginia households live paycheck to paycheck, according to research from United for ALICE.

That’s 1.33 million Virginia households, by the way.

Paycheck to paycheck means, one slipup, and you might need at least temporary help to make ends meet.

Our government is doing a lot less of that, and a lot more of helping those who already have a lot to get access to more.

Seems fair.