Washington, D.C., partner Tom McDonald, who heads the firm's Government Policy Practice Group and was U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe from 1997-2001, was featured in the April 5, 2010, Maryland Daily Record article, "Former Ambassador to Zimbabwe Working to Land Northrop."
According to the article, McDonald is part of the team Maryland has assembled to make what he believes is a competitive pitch to Northrop Grumman Corp., the headquarters-hunting defense conglomerate with its eye on the capital region. Northrop announced in January it would leave its longtime home outside of Los Angeles and set up shop in Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C., to be closer to the decision makers in Congress and the U.S. military.
"This would seem like a natural place for the headquarters to be. There is a great quality of life here," McDonald said. "But you never know how these things are going to come out." McDonald said he made phone calls to two friends who sit on Northrop's board of directors. The 12-member board includes a retired general, a retired admiral, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former head of the NAACP and a smattering of high-powered corporate figures, according to the article.
McDonald said he discussed the state's top-ranked public education system, quality of life and range of Northrop offices and clients already within its borders. Those factors should weigh heavily in the company's decision-making process, he said. "That's something I'm very familiar with, having been a U.S. ambassador," said McDonald. "I was out in Africa both selling U.S. companies to Africa and American businesses to do business with Africa."
McDonald, who also serves on Gov. Martin O'Malley's International Advisory Council, said Northrop has received other proposals from the other jurisdictions involved, "but my message has been well received, and I know the Maryland congressional delegation has been very keen on this. From the senators to all the members of the House, we've got a very, very strong congressional delegation," McDonald said.
McDonald rejected the idea that Virginia, home of the Pentagon, more vacant office space than Maryland and a greater share of Northrop employees and divisions, is an easy favorite to win the headquarters sweepstakes. "If that was the discussion—the Pentagon is in Virginia, we're not in Virginia—if that was the discussion, then why would they even go through this process?" McDonald said.