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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Jong S. Woo, Executive Director
Korean Venture Center
3 Skyline Place, #802
Falls Church, VA 22041
703.399.2860/fax: 703.399.2869
steinwoo@yahoo.com
www.kvc-usa.com
Alan Fogg
Communications director
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority
703-790-0600
afogg@fceda.org
Fairfax County is New Home of Korean Venture Center
Center to help Korean companies locate and expand in U.S, FCEDA says
Fairfax County, Virginia, November 20, 2000 — The Korean Small & Medium Business Administration today will open a Korean Venture Center in Fairfax County, Virginia, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) announced. The center will help South Korean and Korean-American companies, especially technology companies, locate and grow in the American market.
The Virginia center, located at 3 Skyline Place in the Baileys Crossroads area of Fairfax County, will serve metropolitan Washington, D.C. It is the only Korean Venture Center on the east coast. The FCEDA helped Korean officials locate the center.
The KVC supports research and development activities as it builds domestic and international relationships to help companies grow. The KVC will help Korean companies found corporations, move into local incubators, and set up joint ventures with local companies so Korean companies can expand in the U.S. market. The Virginia center will employ four persons.
Three companies will locate initially in the Virginia center: Pacific Mobile Inc., which is developing voice recognition software for wireless devices; ProGen, a development stage biotechnology company that intends to develop processes to produce recombinant proteins; and InCue Corp., a consulting services provider for small and medium-sized Korean firms that intend to expand to the United States.
Jongsik Woo, executive director of the Virginia center, said the KVC will serve as an outpost for Korean companies coming to the U.S. Support for these companies would come from a network of local professionals and supporters as well as the KVC, he said.
Dr. Gerald L. Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said companies located in the KVC would be able to draw on Fairfax County's strengths as a center of Internet, telecommunications, software, systems integration and professional services companies. "The decision by the Korean government to open this center is another indication that Fairfax County has become a magnet for international businesses that wish to succeed in the U.S. market," Gordon said. "And it will be a great complement to the strong Korean-American community we have in the county."
More than 2,200 technology companies are located in Fairfax County, which bills itself as e-country. More technology companies are located in metropolitan Washington than in Silicon Valley, according to research done for the Greater Washington Initative.
The Korean Small & Medium Business Administration will host an opening ceremony at 4 p.m. November 20, 2000. The ceremony will feature Joonho Han, administrator of the Korean Small & Medium Business Administration, Korean government and officials and business leaders, and representatives of the U.S. Small Business Administration and NASDAQ.
About the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority provides a wide array of services and information designed to promote Fairfax County as a world center of commerce and trade. Domestic and international marketing staffs assist companies moving to or expanding in the county or considering a move. The FCEDA runs capital attraction and minority business development programs, and operates marketing offices in Tokyo, London and Frankfurt. Visit the FCEDA Web site at www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org.
Note to editors, reporters and producers: Opening ceremony is open to the media.
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