IEDC names Prince William County its 2026 Economic Development Organization of the Year for communities of more than 500,000

Prince William County is competing and winning at the highest level of the economic development profession.

The Prince William County Department of Economic Development and Tourism (PWCDEDT) has been named the 2026 Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the world's largest association for economic development professionals.

Prince William County took the top honor in IEDC's largest population category, recognizing economic development organizations serving communities of more than 500,000 people. The award places Prince William County alongside recent honorees representing major metropolitan areas including Sacramento, Tulsa, New Orleans, Detroit, Phoenix and Montréal.

"This is an extraordinary recognition for Prince William County and for the team that has worked to fundamentally change what economic development looks like here," said Christina Winn, Executive Director, PWCDEDT. "We set out to build an organization that could compete with the very best anywhere. To now be recognized among the best by our peers is an incredible validation of that work and an even greater motivation for what comes next."

The recognition follows a remarkable period of growth for both Prince William County and its economic development organization.

Since 2020, PWCDEDT has supported $20.35 billion in capital investment and 9,597 new and retained jobs. In 2025 alone, the department recorded 32 project wins and $9.7 billion in capital investment, with 21 wins in the county's targeted industries.

Over the past several years, Prince William County has deliberately built an economic development organization designed to do more than compete for projects. PWCDEDT now brings business attraction and retention, entrepreneurship, workforce development, tourism, redevelopment, placemaking, research and marketing together under one strategy.

The results are showing up across the county:

• Prince William County established Nexus234, Northern Virginia's first officially designated Innovation District, encompassing 5,900 acres, more than 700 businesses and 12,000 employees.
• The department's business attraction project success rate increased from 7 percent in 2021 to 56 percent in 2025.
• The county's Calibrate Small Business program delivered more than 1,000 small business counseling sessions in 2025 and supported 211 jobs created or retained.
• Tourism generated $289 million in visitor spending across 3.1 million trips in 2025.

The department has accomplished these gains with a team of just 31 professionals, operating less than 20 miles from Washington, D.C., in one of the most competitive markets for investment, talent and jobs in the United States.

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Since 2020, PWCDEDT has supported $20.35 billion in capital investment and 9,597 new and retained jobs. In 2025 alone, the department recorded 32 project wins and $9.7 billion in capital investment, with 21 wins in the county's targeted industries.