Steve Pearlstein, columnist for the Washington Post, has posted a series of articles decrying the DC area economy’s over-reliance on what he apparently sees as a doomed government sector (see, for example here, here and here).

I agree with Mr. Pearlstein in one main respect. We will have a much stronger local economy if it is diversified with a strong commercial sector in addition to the government services sector (not to mention the non-profit sector). Where I disagree with Mr. Pearlstein is in his view that the local-area government services sector is in decline and needs to be replaced by commercial businesses.

While it is true that there is a big push to cut government spending (and defense spending in particular), that doesn’t necessarily translate to significant cuts in funding for those programs serviced by local companies. Looking at the recently released Defense Budget Priorities and Choices released by the DoD (find it here), these cuts are expected to be accomplished primarily through changes to the military’s force structure and reductions in conventional weapons systems and equipment, overhead, and personnel and retiree costs. On the other hand, the DoD acknowledges that they expect to increase funding for areas such as counter-terrorism, cyber operations, science and technology, and certain high-tech systems.

In a recent article in the Washington Business Journal by Stan Soloway, President and CEO, Professional Services Council (link here), Mr. Soloway challenges Mr. Pearlstein on this very topic, and points out that much of the technology work being done in the DC area is focused on these high priority missions. I agree with Mr. Soloway. The local government services sector will continue to be strong and thrive so long as the focus remains on critical mission areas.

Now, maybe it’s just the business lawyer in me, but I like to see the pie grow rather than focus on cutting up the current pie . There is no reason why local business and government leaders cannot continue to encourage the already well-established government services sector while cultivating growth in the commercial sector.