It is a generally overlooked fact, obfuscated perhaps by all the attention being given to the upcoming election and the global, national and regional economic struggles, that the Washington, D.C., region is poised to undergo a massive turnover in population over the next few months.

Namely, the principal “industry” of the D.C. Metro region is the federal government, and the November election is guaranteed to produce one of the biggest influxes of new government employees in recent history. No matter who wins, there will be a new White House administration, and there are record numbers of guaranteed new faces filling House and Senate offices. All the new elected officials will bring new staffs, of greater or lesser numbers, and the executive branch will be filled with thousands of new folks using the infamous, three-inch thick “Plum Book” to apply for new government jobs early next year.

For those looking to gain an advantage in this context, the time is now to begin capitalizing on the mammoth coming turnover. All who get out in front marketing their products, including all the things these new people will need, such as housing, banking, health care and related tools, and good schools for the kids, will enjoy the greatest success.

Last week, the City of Falls Church got a wake-up call from its Chamber of Commerce, which went on record challenging City Hall to come up with an action plan, and financing, for a robust marketing effort. Put in the context of the record turnover in personnel coming to the region forthwith, the initiative might be too late to propel an effective response from the City in time. It would be very refreshing, though, if some bureaucratic red tape was stripped away to bring the City into swift action on this one. You lose a lot when you finish sewing up your fishing nets after the greatest tuna stampede of the century has already roared by. It’s not that there isn’t enough time, it’s just that there isn’t enough by the usual bureaucratic standards.

But for individual home builders, realtors, retailers and service providers who wish to act in time, we are happy to remind all that the Falls Church News-Press provides a unique marketing opportunity available nowhere else in the entire Northern Virginia region. That is our highly-popular “E-Issue,” that is embedded in our web site, which allows viewers to read the News-Press exactly as its actual print edition appears, with page-turning, zoom in and print elements. This new feature is already drawing close to 10,000 “hits” per week, and it means for our advertisers that every display ad in the paper can be viewed exactly as it looks, and is positioned, in the print edition of the News-Press. Already, they can be assured that thousands of prospective new residents of the region are checking it out, hoping to secure the best locations and services in advance of the election. The time is now to either start, or to step up, advertising in the News-Press.