Buddy Rizer

Executive Director, Loudoun County Economic Development

Buddy Rizer serves as the Executive Director for economic development in Loudoun County, Virginia, the agency responsible for encouraging growth and developing relationships with Loudoun’s business community in both the commercial and agricultural-based business sectors. During his tenure, Rizer and his team have attracted more than $70 billion in new commercial investment and more than 60 thousand new jobs. During this time, the growth in the commercial based has helped lower the tax rate in Loudoun by more than 48 cents on the dollar, saving residents thousands of dollars annually on their tax bill. After a career in radio broadcasting, Mr. Rizer joined Loudoun County in 2007 and helped build “Data Center Alley” into the largest concentration of data centers in the world. He also has extensive international business development experience across more than 15 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. Mr. Rizer is a 2025 National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) recipient. The award recognizes Eagle Scouts who have achieved prominence in their professional careers and civic life and have made significant contributions to their communities and the Nation. Mr. Rizer has been named a Tech Titan nine times by Washingtonian Magazine (2017 – 2025), one of the 50 most influential Virginians six times by Virginia Business Magazine (2018 – 2023), a six-time member of Virginia’s Power 500 (2020 – 2025), and three times named to the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 as one of the most influential businesspeople in Washington, DC (2020, 2022, 2023). In 2024 and 2025, he was named as one of the 50 most influential people in Northern Virginia by Northern Virginia Magazine. In 2026, Rizer was awarded with the distinguished Service to the Industry award at the DataCloud Global Conference in Cannes, France. In 2025, Rizer was named to the inaugural Datacloud USA Power 50 list, which honors leading figures in the North American digital infrastructure sector. Loudoun Economic Development was named the 2021 Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council. Government Business Review Magazine has named Mr. Rizer as one of the 'Top 10 Economic Development Directors 2026', and Southern Business & Development Magazine has named him to the Southern Economic Hall of Fame. Mr. Rizer is member of the Board of Trustees for Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), where he serves as the Finance Committee Chair. He is a past chair of the Northern Virginia Community College Foundation Board, a founding member and past chair of the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance (NOVA EDA) and is Secretary of the Go Virginia Region 7 Council. Mr. Rizer is a member of the Board of Directors for the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Dulles Free Trade Zone (FTZ #137), and the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF). He is also the Chair of the Rivana at Innovation Station Community Development Authority. Mr. Rizer is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a certified Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP), has a master’s in business and economics from Longwood University and is a graduate of Virginia Tech's Local Government Management Graduate Program.