Update: The Washington Commanders secured a major milestone in the effort to bring professional football back to the District. On August 1st, the D.C. Council voted 9–3 in favor of legislation that would pave the way for the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium site, thus marking a pivotal first step in transforming one of the city’s most iconic but long-dormant properties into a vibrant, multi-use destination. This vote signals renewed momentum for a project that has implications far beyond the stadium walls. At its core, the redevelopment of the RFK site represents a commitment to regionalism with an investment in shared assets that generate economic activity, draw visitors, and enhance quality of life across jurisdictional lines.

About this Testimony:

The Board of Trade testified a second time before the D.C. Council and sent a letter to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson in support of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposal to bring the Washington Commanders back to the District as part of a larger mixed-use redevelopment of the RFK site. We again highlighted the opportunity not just as a sports project, but as a catalyst for long-term economic growth, fiscal strength, and regional competitiveness.

Previous Testimony on RFK Site Redevelopment to D.C. Council

Testimony Recording from DC Council Meeting: 

Letter to Chairman Mendelson:

Good Morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Council. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. Founded in 1889, our nonpartisan organization represents hundreds of employers across the Greater Washington region—spanning industry, nonprofits, universities, and government agencies. We’re committed to advancing inclusive economic growth and strengthening the city’s competitive position. 

My name is Daniel Flores, and I’m here to express our strong support for the Mayor’s proposal to bring the Washington Commanders back to the District through a new stadium and mixed use development at the old RFK stadium site. This moment is about far more than building a stadium—it’s about unlocking the full potential of a high-impact site to become a bold, mixed-use destination that embodies the future of urban development. With smart, forward-looking planning, this space can be transformed into a thriving hub for housing, small businesses, transit, recreation, and cultural activity.  

As the District stands at a critical crossroads, we must pursue ambitious solutions that don’t just maintain the status quo but reshape it. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to catalyze long-term prosperity, create new jobs, and strengthen our city’s position as a vibrant, resilient, and equitable capital for decades to come. With a record $2.7 billion private investment—the largest in D.C.’s history—augmented by thoughtfully designed public infrastructure, this project can: 

• Support over 30,000 jobs and generate $4 billion in new tax revenue and unlock billions more in direct spending.  

• Revitalize the RFK campus with new housing including 5,000-6,000 new homes for more than 10,000 residents across the campus with at least 30% affordable, maintaining The Fields at RFK and investing $89 million to construct a new state-of-the-art youth sports complex, new parks, retail, recreation, hospitality, and more.  

• Generate long-term economic diversification through the develop of an inclusive, vibrant neighborhood that serves expanded opportunities for residents, supports small businesses, and boosts regional tourism.  

We recognize the District faces fiscal constraints. That’s precisely why this investment is critical—it leverages private capital to grow the tax base and secure the city’s long-term financial stability, and we have seen the successful transformative power of these kind of investments before. While we have seen several successful projects around the city, including the redevelopments of Nationals Park, Audi Field, and The Wharf—we believe the RFK project has the ability to surpass many of these incredibly successful projects we have already seen throughout the city.  

Time, however, is not on our side. Delays in legislative action or infrastructure investment threaten to derail the project timeline. Missing critical benchmarks this year could push back the stadium’s opening beyond the 2030 NFL season—and with that delay, the District could forfeit an estimated $750 million in lost economic impact from major events like the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, a full season of Commanders home games, and large-scale concerts. This is more than an opportunity cost—it’s a concrete loss to city revenues, jobs, and visibility on the global stage. Additionally, failing to act could invite the opportunity for federal action to interfere with this redevelopment as it can be a signature achievement for the District—one that honors its past, serves its people, and inspires confidence in its future. 

Let’s be clear: this is more than a stadium project. It’s a transformative vision for over 190 acres of largely dormant land in the heart of our capital city. It’s a chance to create an inclusive, vibrant neighborhood that reflects D.C.’s values and positions us as a national leader in urban renewal.  

On behalf of the Board of Trade, I urge the Council to act with urgency and conviction. The pieces are in place and now is the moment to move forward to deliver not just 190 acres of largely dormant land in the core of the district, but a project that will shape the city’s future for generations to come. 

Thank you for your time, and for your leadership on this critical issue. 

Sincerely, 

Jack McDougle

President & CEO

Greater Washington Board of Trade

About this Testimony: The Greater Washington region is at a pivotal moment when it comes to workforce development. Shifts in the federal employment landscape, combined with long-standing challenges around talent access and equitable opportunity, demand a bold, coordinated response. On behalf of the Board of Trade, President and CEO Jack McDougle delivered the following testimony to the D.C. Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor. His remarks emphasize the need for a modern, regionally aligned workforce system, one that bridges gaps between employers and talent, supports economic resilience, and ensures D.C. residents and businesses can thrive in a rapidly evolving economy.

Chairperson Anita Bonds and members of the Committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. My name is Jack McDougle, and I am President and CEO of the Board of Trade. Founded in 1889, we represent hundreds of employers—with thousands of workers— across the Washington region who rely on a skilled, adaptable, and inclusive workforce to compete—and who are committed to helping strengthen the workforce in the District and throughout the metro area. 

Workforce challenges aren’t new. This region has long been home to one of the most highly educated and skilled workforces in the country. We have some of the best universities, research institutions, and federal expertise anywhere. But employers still struggle to find the right talent at the right time. And too many residents still face barriers to getting their foot in the door. 

Now, those long-standing challenges are intersecting with something bigger and more immediate. 

The federal government—long the backbone of our regional economy—is changing. Telework, digitization, automation, and agency consolidation are reducing the federal footprint, especially in downtown D.C. That’s affecting not just jobs, but office occupancy, small business vitality, and city revenues. Thousands of workers are being displaced or restructured, many of them with valuable skills—but without a clear path forward. Meanwhile, many D.C. residents are still disconnected from the workforce entirely.  

So, we’re facing a multi-sided problem: how to help people enter the workforce, how to help experienced professionals transition into new roles and how to attract and retain the talent we need to compete. 

Solving this isn’t just about creating more training programs. It’s about building a coordinated, regional system that connects people to opportunity—wherever the job is—and helps employers find talent—wherever that talent lives. 

Why a Regional Approach Matters 

The District lies at the economic center of a much larger labor market. Roughly two-thirds of jobs in D.C. are held by people who live in Maryland or Virginia. At the same time, tens of thousands of District residents commute to jobs outside the city every day. 

If we’re serious about increasing economic opportunity for D.C. residents, we can’t limit our thinking to only jobs within city limits. Likewise, if we want to strengthen D.C.’s job base and bring people back into our downtown corridors, we need to make it easier for talent across the region to access those jobs. 

This requires a level of policy alignment, data sharing, and joint investment that we simply do not have today. 

Some progress is underway. Virginia’s G3 program, for example, offers tuition-free community college in high-demand fields like IT, healthcare, and skilled trades—paired with employer engagement. Maryland is investing in apprenticeship expansion and industry-led partnerships through its Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) initiative. 

Virginia has also taken steps to streamline its workforce system by consolidating dozens of fragmented programs under the purview of the newly established Virginia Office of Education and Labor, with the goal of improving coordination, reducing duplication, and aligning training more directly with employer needs. 

And in D.C., we’re seeing promising models too—like the Infrastructure Academy’s partnerships with Pepco and WMATA to prepare residents for real jobs in energy and transportation. But we need more coordination across the region, and better data to guide investment. 

What the Council Can Do 

Here are five ways the District can lead in FY26—and help build a workforce system that reflects how people live, work, and move across this region. 

1. Support a Regional, Data-Driven Workforce Strategy
   Our region lacks a shared, real-time understanding of workforce supply and demand. Employers, educators, training providers, and governments all make decisions based on partial or outdated information. We strongly urge the District to partner with neighboring jurisdictions—Maryland, Virginia, and regional planning bodies—to develop a unified baseline of current labor market conditions. This should include disaggregated data by industry, occupation, skills, demographics, and geography.

Such a baseline would allow all of us to align efforts, avoid duplication, target investment, and measure progress consistently. 

Recommendation: 
Support the creation of a Regional Workforce Intelligence Hub, in partnership with MWCOG, Consortium of Universities, the Workforce Investment Council, and workforce leaders in Maryland and Virginia. 

• Helps align training programs with actual job demand 

• Track skill gaps and mobility across jurisdictions 

• Provides clear, actionable data for jobseekers, employers, and policymakers alike 

This is core infrastructure for smarter decisions and stronger outcomes. 

2. Expand Employer-Led Training with Cross-Jurisdiction Portability
   We need to move even further beyond traditional classroom models and embrace demand-driven, work-based learning. The Council can promote public-private partnerships that create apprenticeships, industry bootcamps, and employer-sponsored credentials—especially in high-growth sectors like IT, clean energy, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.

Recommendation: 
Invest in Workforce Innovation Grants that support partnerships between employers and training providers focused on: 

• Industry-designed curricula 

• Paid apprenticeships and bootcamps 

• Credentials recognized across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia 

• Reducing administrative barriers for employer participation  

This builds on successful approaches already in motion. We’ve seen how employer-driven programs at UDC, the Healthcare Workforce Partnership, and the Tech Apprenticeship Program at Northern Virginia Community College can deliver talent that’s job-ready from day one. 

3. Launch a Federal Workforce Transition Program
   Thousands of federal and contractor workers are being impacted by the ongoing restructuring. Many have transferable skills—but need targeted support to pivot into new fields.

Recommendation: 
Create an integrated Federal Transition Upskilling Program to provide: 

• Training in high-demand private-sector fields (e.g., cybersecurity, project management, clean energy) 

• Career coaching and job placement support 

• Incentives for regional employers to hire transitioning talent 

This helps retain experienced professionals in the region and prevents talent loss from the city’s core. 

4. Invest in Wraparound Supports for Jobseekers
   Access to training is meaningless if people can’t show up. We hear this all the time from employers and community partners—people are ready to work but face real barriers.

Recommendation: 
Prioritize supports that make workforce participation possible: 

• Childcare for jobseekers and trainees 

• Free or subsidized Metro, MARC, VRE or other mobility access 

• Navigation and coaching services that help residents see—and pursue—what’s possible across the region 

These supports may seem small, but they’re game-changers for residents balancing work, family, and training. 

5. Strengthen the District’s Workforce Infrastructure
   The District’s workforce system needs to be agile, integrated, and built to partner—both internally and across borders. We encourage the Council to break down silos—between workforce, education, economic development, and human services—and between the District and its regional peers. The economic fate of this region is shared. No single jurisdiction can go it alone.

Recommendation: 
Further support DOES and the Workforce Investment Council to: 

• Modernize operations and digital tools for job matching and tracking 

• Improve coordination across education, training, and economic development 

• Evaluate long-term outcomes—not just short-term placements 

This ensures our systems are working smarter, not just harder. 

Conclusion: Shared Workforce, Shared Responsibility 

The workforce challenges we face—recruitment, retention, displacement, inequity, skills misalignment—don’t stop at jurisdictional borders. Our solutions can’t either. 

The District has a chance to lead—not only in reimagining how we support residents and businesses, but in showing what regional collaboration can look like when it’s done right. 

Let’s connect the dots between employers, workers, and opportunity—no matter where they’re starting from. Let’s build a workforce system that reflects how people actually live and work across the region. 

Sincerely,

Jack McDougle

President & CEO 

Greater Washington Board of Trade

See Additional Testimonies and Letters of Support we have submitted recently:

Letter of Support: ‘Local Funds Act of 2025’ Protects DC’s Authority to Spend Locally Raised Revenue

Testimony: Submitted to DC Council, Committee on Business & Economic Development

Letter to Congress: Addressing Concerns with House Concurrent Resolution 14

Congress Should Preserve DC’s Home Rule and Withdraw the Bowser Act | WBJ Viewpoint