Move after move, AGA’s office space benefits members
Anyone with a job knows that often the physical space in which you work complements what you do there.
Pioneers in the American Gas Association recognized that early on, when they staked their first “permanent” headquarters in the ground at 130 E. 15th St. in Manhattan in June 1919. It was not too permanent, though, as the offices moved to 342 Madison Ave. three years later. Then, in 1927, the headquarters in New York moved again, this time to 420 Lexington Ave.
Meanwhile, in the association’s ongoing mission to establish itself as the industry authority, AGA Laboratories was opened in Cleveland in 1925, to provide for the design certification of gas appliances and accessories.
Ten years later, member gas companies would account for more than 90 percent of the nation’s gas consumption, truly making AGA the industry’s national spokesman. Association staff then numbered about 100 people at the New York headquarters, AGA Laboratories in Cleveland, a West Coast branch of the labs established in Los Angeles in 1930 and in the Natural Gas Department based in Dallas.
By 1951, the association had established a full-time Washington, D.C., office, and on June 26, 1970, AGA headquarters officially relocated to a new building at 1515 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, Virginia, just across the river from Washington, D.C.
Many staffers referred to their new home on the Potomac as “backwoods,” and only 32 of the 170 staff members moved south. Those who did were offered moving expenses and living stipends; others were offered early-retirement options.
The new location fit logically with the growing importance of federal government decisions in the industry’s fortunes, according to a 75th anniversary article in the July 1993 American Gas. By staying across the river, the story said, the association enjoyed lower rent and the chance to showcase natural gas in a neighborhood that didn’t use much at the time.
Fast forward to today: AGA’s office space—now in the heart of Washington, overlooking the U.S. Capitol building—was recently renovated and continues to play an important role in AGA’s effectiveness, particularly as the nation’s capital prepares to host the World Gas Conference in June.
