SAIC Inc., a federal contractor that already employs about 17,500 people in the Washington area, announced it has moved its corporate headquarters from San Diego to McLean.

Richmond-area companies on the Fortune 500 list:
  2008 list for fiscal 2007
  61. Altria
  161. Dominion Resources
  215. Circuit City
  233. Genworth Financial
  333. CarMax
  356. MeadWestvaco
  360. Owens & Minor
  384. Performance Food Group

157. Dominion Resources Inc.
  160. Altria Group Inc.
  228. Circuit City Stores Inc.
  271. Genworth Financial Inc.
  311. CarMax Inc.
339. Owens & Minor Inc.
  365. MeadWestvaco Corp.
  600. The Brink’s Co.
  689. Massey Energy Co.
  708. LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.

1. Exxon Mobil $442.9 billion
  2. Wal-Mart Stores
$405.6 billion
  3. Chevron $263.2 billion
  4. ConocoPhillips $230.8 billion
  5. General Electric
$183.2 billion
  6. General Motors $149 billion
  7. Ford Motor $146.3 billion
  8. AT&T $124 billion

In what Fortune magazine called the worst year ever for companies on its Fortune 500 list, the Richmond area held its own, though with some major footnotes. Seven companies are on the list, down from eight.

The frugal buying habits of worried consumers are translating into more job losses in the Richmond area. Now, the industry that makes packaging for products ranging from DVDs to cosmetics is taking a hit—and that’s a bad signal for the economy at large this year, economists say. MeadWestvaco Corp., a Fortune 500 packaging and paper-products company, announced yesterday that it would cut 2,000 jobs—10 percent of its worldwide work force—by the end of the year to save money as it contends with the recession. About 800 of the cuts will come in the first quarter.