Sorry, Pittsburgh! StarKist Co. relocating HQ to Reston in 2022

StarKist Co. is moving its corporate and administrative headquarters from Pittsburgh to Fairfax County, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday. The seafood and chicken company, a subsidiary of Dongwon Industries Co. Ltd., plans to occupy space in a Reston office building, creating 83 jobs by spring 2022.

“Virginia is home to a diverse ecosystem of more than 800 corporate headquarters representing a broad cross section of industries,” Northam said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome StarKist Co. to Fairfax County, which consistently attracts top talent and is well connected to key customer markets and major metro areas throughout the United States and beyond. The commonwealth looks forward to a long and fruitful partnership with this popular American household brand.”

Late last month, Pittsburgh Business Times reported that StarKist, which had $900 million in 2020 revenue, was moving to Fairfax in 2022 after it closes down its Pittsburgh headquarters on March 31, 2022. Founded in 1917, StarKist is known most for its tuna products and its mascot, Charlie the Tuna, but it also sells salmon and chicken products. StarKist was purchased by Korean conglomerate Dongwon Industries for $363 million in 2008 from Del Monte.

In 2022, StarKist will move to 1875 Explorer St. in Reston, where it will occupy about 24,000 square feet. Law firm K&L Gates and commercial real estate company West, Lane & Schlager assisted StarKist in its move, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority to secure the project for Virginia, which was competing with Maryland. VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program will support job creation at no cost to the company.

“StarKist is proud to make Reston our official global headquarters starting in April 2022,” StarKist President and CEO Andrew Choe said in a statement. “We would like to thank Gov. Northam and the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority for their ongoing support throughout this process. I believe the move to Virginia will provide an outstanding work environment for our employees, as well as an opportunity to expand the StarKist business in the years ahead.”

Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said, “I am so pleased to thank StarKist for choosing Fairfax County for its new headquarters. This is a testament to the growing attractiveness of Northern Virginia to a wide variety of industry sectors and companies that know we have the assets and talent base to succeed here.”