Senator Warner said this week that the D.C. metro area should take advantage of the changing economic landscape as an opportunity to invest in new technologies that will help grow the local economy.  

Senator Warner gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and its Greater Washington Initiative, a regional economic development organization for the D.C. metro area, including Northern Virginia.

According to the Washington Business Journal, Senator Warner's insight "eased much of the crowd's trepidation" with the economic stimulus package.

He said that about 40 percent of the stimulus act came as tax cuts to individuals and businesses, while another third would be invested into new industries such as green technology, alternative energy and high-speed rail.

Warner, who is a member of the Senate’s Commerce Committee, said he hoped that the Washington region would spearhead development in these up-and-coming economic sectors.

He also talked about how the business leaders can take advantage of emerging industries, notably in the energy sector:

After discussing alternative energy’s future profitability, Warner emphasized D.C.’s potential role as the nation’s leader in energy reform. This played into his opinion that business flocks to where the funding is, and that makes Washington very attractive to start-up alternative energy companies.

Warner also spoke about local infrastructure, which he called Washington’s Achilles' heel. It does no good for Washington to produce goods and services if they are constantly stuck in traffic. In order to remain competitive, Warner advised both the private and public sector support infrastructural investments. The Senator lamented the fact that local transportation spending has been cut in half in proportion to Gross Regional Product since the 1980s.

Click here to read the whole article from the Washington Business Journal.