Washington area business advocate, John Tydings, dies

Washington area business advocate, John Tydings, dies

John Tydings, who was the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Washington Board of Trade (GWBOT) for nearly 25 years, died of degenerative brain disease at the age of 72 last week.

Starting at GWBOT as the economic development guy in 1968– hot-on-the-heels of the riots in Washington and other major cities in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.– Tydings worked his way up to CEO in 1977, a position he held until 2001.

More than any business advocate here before or since, John Tydings is credited with successfully bringing DC businesses together with their regional counterparts in the Maryland suburbs and Northern Virginia. In the transportation sector in particular, Tydings organized the regional support required to get the Washington Metro system started, along with jump starting perpetually delayed road projects, such as the reconstruction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Instrumental with business sectors like WANADA, the Board of Trade, with Tydings at the helm, got the Washington Auto Show integrated into the first Washington Convention Center in the early 1980s, enabling WANADA to make the Auto Show the annual event it has been since, despite the mentality among some at the convention and visitors office that the Auto Show was less important than other traditional bookings in the Convention Center for the good of the City.

With Tydings leadership, GWBOT with WANADA and other business groups came together with the Council of Governments to co-found the eminently successful sober driving coalition, Washington Regional Alcohol Program.in 1984.

In retirement, John Tydings utilized his extraordinary networking capabilities to assist Catholic Charities and the HEROES Foundation, consisting of business leaders committed to helping the widows and children of fallen police and firefighters throughout the region.

Members from Congress and leaders from state and local government, along with a line-up from the business community he created in this region crowded into his funeral at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac last week to remember him fondly.

Of all of the chamber professionals Ive ever known, John Tydings topped the list, said Gerry Murphy, WANADA CEO. John was a mentor to me in Washington area politics when I first met him 30 years ago and was later appreciative of the things I was able to get leveraged for WANADA through the Board of Trade when John ran it, he said. Or as Regardie Magazine editor, William A. Regardie aptly put it, John Tydings was the link between the Board of Trade and the rest of Washington, calling on people to work together even when they didnt want to.