Arconic to relocate headquarters from New York City to Fairfax County

Arconic Inc., a Fortune 500 metals manufacturer, said Monday that it plans to relocate its global headquarters from New York City to Fairfax County.

The move would bring about 50 jobs to the county. No decision has been made yet on an exact location, according to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). The announcement came during a gathering of officials, including Gov. Ralph Northam at the Tower Club at Tysons.

“We are pleased to establish Arconic’s global headquarters in Fairfax County, Virginia — an area that is home to several aerospace and defense customers, a world-class talent base, and which offers a favorable quality of life for employees and a high level of connectivity to our key locations,” Arconic CEO Chip Blankenship, said in a statement.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the FCEDA to secure the project for Virginia. Gov. Ralph Northam approved a $750,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the county with the project.

Northam noted in his comments that Arconic already has multiple locations in Virginia.  The company, with more than 60 facilities in the U.S., currently has offices in Hampton, Harrisonburg and Martinsville.

Arconic was created in November 2016 when Alcoa split into two public companies. Alcoa’s bauxite and aluminum products were spun off into Alcoa Corp. Alcoa Inc. became Arconic, which creates aluminum products used in the aerospace, automotive and construction industries.

On the same day it was announcing relocation plans, Arconic’s share price dropped by nearly 21 percent to $17.81 by the close of the stock market. The drop followed the release of the company’s first-quarter earnings, which slashed its 2018 forecast for profit. Arconic said it expects increased operation costs, with aluminum prices expected to  remain high this year as a result of sanctions on Russian supplies and a 10 percent duty on Russian imports. President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Rusal, Russia's biggest aluminum producer, and some other companies, in response to Moscow's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

In terms of corporate announcements, April was a busy month for Northern Virginia. Arconic is the third corporate announcement in as many weeks with Gerber Products  announcing plans in mid April to relocate its U. S. headquarters from New Jersey to Arlington. On April 16, Appian, a fast-growing vendor of business process management software, said it was moving from Reston to the former Gannett Co. headquarters building at Tysons in a headquarters expansion that will retain 600 existing jobs in Virginia and create 600 new jobs over the next five years.