In Northern Virginia, Federal Workers, Local Businesses Brace for Government Shutdown

Under gloomy skies Friday morning in the Alexandria area, federal workers, local businesses, tourists and area residents were on edge as the clock ticked closer to midnight while congressional leaders negotiated to keep the federal government from shutting down.

Just across the Potomac River from the Capitol, Northern Virginia's huge “shadow government”—thousands of contractors who rake in billions of dollars each year—are bracing for life without a paycheck. A snapshot of Northern Virginia’s contractor population shows the area is home to more than 10,000 federal contractors who perform everything from telecommunications to engineering services, according to Fedspending.org.

Rep. Jim Moran, whose 8th District (which includes parts of the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church and counties of Fairfax and Arlington) is home to a large number of federal employees and contractors, talked to constituents at an emergency town hall meeting held Thursday night at Francis Hammond Middle School in Alexandria. Moran told the audience to pinch their pennies, since it could be a long haul, with a possible two-week Easter break coming up for Congress.

Northern Virginia businesses: How will they fare?

“If the government shuts down we may have to close too,” said Won Park, store manager of Plaza Gourmet at Carlyle in Alexandria. “About 80 percent of our customers come from the Patent and Trademark Office…We will lose a lot of money.” The Patent and Trademark Office, housed in five buildings across the street from Alexandria's King Street Metro, is home to more than 9,000 employees.

The store would try to remain open to serve the remaining 20 percent of customers from the neighborhood, he said, adding he’s concerned how the shutdown will affect his normally robust business.

Another local restaurant store manager echoed those sentiments. “Ninety percent of the day-traffic customers in Carlyle Square come from the Patent and Trademark Office,” said Valerie Ligonde, Pizzeria Venti store manager. “If the government shuts down, we’ll likely have to reduce staff. These people are not government workers. They make minimum wage, but they too won’t be able to get paid.”

Ligonde said she is very worried about the impact a shutdown will have on her pizza business. “At the end of the month you still have to give the landlord the check whether you made money or not,” she said.

Alexandria cab driver Sam Alemu, waiting for passengers at the King Street Metro stop Friday morning in Old Town, said he too is nervous about how the shutdown could affect his business. "Last time [in 1995-96] we did see an impact," he said. "Less people go into D.C. Less people go to the airport."

Down the street, at MarketForce Strategies, the owner of the business, Peter Baldwin, said: "I'm disappointed and disgusted with Congress - playing games with the U.S. economy and the U.S. public. And members of Congress aren't feeling the ramifications because they are still being paid, while our military soldiers fighting three wars won't... I don't know enough about it to say whose fault it is, but my suspicion is that the Tea Partiers are influencing the Republicans."   

Five of Jennifer Folsom's clients at Momentum Resources, an Old Town-based staffing firm, contract with the federal government. Folsom's husband is also a federal employee. "The shutdown has already started," she said. "No one is signing new contracts until the budget problems are resolved. These clients represent a big chunk of our revenue stream and they won't be working. It's really just a lot of confusion right now and no one is getting a straight answer. Certain contractors are working, others aren't and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason as to why..."

"And personally, I'll be pretty upset if I can't run in the 2011 George Washington 10-miler this weekend," Folsom said, "because there won't be any park service employees working."

"I'm irritated and disappointed," said Roberta Fauntroy of Alexandria. "I was raised in a generation where you believe in your government. It was a bigger-than-life entity that always had the people's best interest at heart. Now if feels like it's all media posturing, image building. I just believe in taking care of people."

Will tourists go away?

The potential shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time, during the area’s spring tourism season, when cherry blossom trees are in bloom throughout the region and visitors target many federal attractions, such as the National Zoo, Smithsonian museums, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Seated on a bench at Old Town's waterfront under gray skies Friday morning, tourists Marlene Tautfest of Portland, Ore. and her son, Zach Tautfest, a math teacher from Vancouver, Wash., just completed a week's stay in the area, visiting the Smithsonian museums and the Capitol. "We saw everything, we got lucky," she said. They head home this weekend.

Local runner Nicole Radshaw, standing in line Friday morning for her packet to run in the Parkway Classic 5k on Saturday, was hopeful there wouldn't be a shutdown. The race, held on federal land, requires a permit. If it's canceled, a new race date is set for May 1st.

“We have been in communication with the race organizers and have advised them that the race would be cancelled if the government shuts downs,” said Dottie Marshall, superintendent of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, which is operated by the National Park Service.

“If the government shuts down….folks shouldn’t be entering the park because the park will be closed," she said.

However, Marshall added that local residents who run along the Mount Vernon trail would still have an opportunity to do so, because the area is not gated. Security officers along the trail would remain, but they might not work on a normal schedule.

“There will be park police because they are deemed 'excepted personnel' because they provide safety,” she said.

Marshall said that if Congress fails to reach an agreement, other personnel, including the 149 people who work for the George Washington Memorial Parkway, would not be working due to the shutdown.

“Oh yeah, pretty much my entire staff will be furloughed," she noted, adding that she has not received word if staff members would receive back pay.