Nov. 2, 2009, 12:00 a.m. - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine joined members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation and regional and federal partners to break ground on the new headquarters for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington County. The facility was considered for relocation during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, but Governor Kaine and the Virginia Congressional Delegation, along with members of the Virginia General Assembly, fought to keep it in the Commonwealth, retaining over 800 Virginia jobs.

            “Virginia enjoys a well deserved reputation as a business friendly state and a great supporter of our military,” said Kaine. “I am proud to have stood alongside many great partners—federal, local, regional, and colleagues in the General Assembly—to ensure that this valuable employer stayed in the Commonwealth. DARPA’s high tech mission fits in perfectly with Virginia’s business climate and I am very glad it is staying right where it belongs.”

 

In 2012, DARPA will be relocating to a new 352,750 square foot location in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington County, only a few blocks from its current location. The Agency, considered the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense (DoD0, manages and directs research and development projects for DoD and pursues high risk and reward projects that can provide dramatic advances in support of military missions. Some high profile projects include the blueprint for the Internet, the creation of the computer “mouse,” and the Saturn rocket engine program that allowed the U.S. to go to the moon.

 

When the DoD recommended moving DARPA out of Virginia as part of the 2005 BRAC process, a bi-partisan delegation from Virginia, led by then Governor Mark Warner and accompanied by U.S. Senators John Warner and George Allen, Congressmen Tom Davis and Jim Moran as well as local leaders testified before the BRAC Commission on July 7, 2005 in favor of keeping the agency. The decision was reversed and Northern Virginia retained the Extramural Scientific Research Agencies, which includes DARPA, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. These agencies, along with the National Science Foundation and the new Virginia Tech Research Center, comprise a center of excellence known as Arlington’s “Science Corridor.”

 

DARPA’s new facility will meet the mandatory DoD anti-terrorism force protection standards and provide valuable space to move full-time support contractors on-site and accommodate future growth in the agency. To help meet the strict standards, Kaine requested and the Virginia General Assembly approved a $10 million grant from Virginia’s Military Strategic Response Fund, a grant championed by Senator Mary Margaret Whipple and Delegate Bob Brink, Arlington’s representatives in the General Assembly.

 

           Kaine also helped break ground on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) project to widen more than 10 lane miles of Route 3 in Spotsylvania County. The project will be paid for with more than $25 million in ARRA funds.

 

            “This is a great example of the type of job the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was intended to move forward, and it would not have been possible without the support of the President and Congress,” Kaine said. “This project will put people to work, and it will pay benefits to the region and to commuters for years to come.”

 

            The Route 3 widening project has long been planned, but the Commonwealth  Transportation Board was forced to cancel it because of reductions in traditional sources of state revenue.