I was similarly confused by this...its not like its a Walmart superstore undurcutting the local mom-n-pop shop.

That said, perhaps the fear is "over-cutting" -- that HQ2 slurps up top talent from local tech businesses and overbids salaries. I can totally see that happening, especially with the only-handful of truly high-tech businesses in the Northern Virginia community. This is a bad thing short term and a good thing long term.