Constellation Energy CEO helping to lure Northrop's headquarters to Maryland

By Gus G. Sentementes | gus.sentementes@baltsun.com

March 31, 2010
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With a decision expected any day from Northrop Grumman Corp. about where it will move its headquarters in the Washington area, Maryland officials have recruited a seemingly unlikely ally in their effort to lure the defense powerhouse here - energy company CEO Mayo A. Shattuck III.

Shattuck, head of Constellation Energy Group, put aside past skirmishes with state leaders to personally pitch Maryland to Wesley G. Bush, Northrop's chief executive. Shattuck said he volunteered to help Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration win over Northrop.

"The governor and I agree on a number of things, and this is one of them," Shattuck said in an interview this week. "I really do think this is one of those issues where we really should be on the same page, with regards to economic development. I'm a Maryland booster."

The breadth of the effort to court Northrop demonstrates the high stakes for the three possible locations: Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia. Northrop's headquarters would bring about 300 high-paying jobs, and nothing would be sweeter for political and corporate leaders than to attract a Fortune 100 company in tough economic times. The company expects to decide on a new home in April.

Northrop now employs about 40,000 people at several locations in Maryland and Virginia. But the O'Malley administration, which has worked to rebut the sentiment that Maryland is not as business-friendly as its neighbors, is hungry to snag a major corporate headquarters. And the state's top business leaders are looking to attract top corporations to deepen the region's corporate bench and add to its prestige.

That means Bush has been a popular guy in Maryland since his company announced in January that its headquarters would move from Los Angeles to this region.

O'Malley made the state's final pitch, which included tax and other incentives, to Bush in a telephone conversation Friday. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who sits on the powerful Appropriations and Intelligence committees, has been working the phones.

In addition to Shattuck, current and retired Lockheed Martin Corp. executives are lobbying Northrop counterparts on Maryland's behalf, and T. Rowe Price Group Chairman Brian C. Rogers recently called Bush to tout the state as a great place to live and work. More here.