Fairfax hires new economic development CEO

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Commission has appointed the co-founder of Connected DMV to be its next president and CEO.

With more than 25 years of leadership experience in economic development, technology, infrastructure, investment attraction, workforce development and public-private partnerships, George D. Thomas will start his new role in August, according to FCEDA. He succeeds Victor Hoskins, who has held the position since 2019 and plans to return to the private sector, he said in February.

“George Thomas represents the next generation of economic development leadership,” FCEDA Commission Chair James Quigley said in a statement. “His ability to bring together government, industry, universities, investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders around a shared vision for growth makes him uniquely qualified to lead Fairfax County forward.”

Since 2019, Thomas has been president and CEO of Connected DMV, a nonprofit that works with regional organizations across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to help drive improvements to social, digital and physical infrastructure to achieve dual objectives of economic health and social equity.

At Connected DMV, Thomas built “a globally recognized innovation organization, growing it from a volunteer coalition into a multimillion-dollar enterprise building next generation industry clusters to advance global competitiveness,” FCEDA stated in a June 16 news release.

During Thomas’ tenure, Connected DMV established innovation centers in quantum and energy and space and launched the Quantum World Congress and spaceNEXT conferences.

Before leading Connected DMV, Thomas served as a partner at IBM for more than 17 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. From 2017 to 2019, he worked in Washington as a global director of smart infrastructure at Canadian-based Hatch, a professional services firm.

Over the course of his career, Thomas has built relationships across government, academia, capital markets, entrepreneurship and the broader innovation community. FCEDA says those connections will help improve Fairfax County’s position for attracting investment, supporting business expansion, scaling strategic partnerships and creating opportunity for employers and residents.

“Fairfax County has built one of the strongest economies in the nation through a combination of talent, innovation and collaboration,” Quigley added. “George understands how to build on those strengths while positioning our community for the opportunities ahead.”

Hoskins is credited with securing nearly 64,000 jobs for Fairfax County, and the county’s gross domestic product grew by $47 billion to $177 billion during his tenure.