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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alan Fogg,
Director of Communications
afogg@fceda.org, 703-790-0600
Fairfax County’s Entrepreneurial Businesses Contribute to the World Congress
Fairfax County, Virginia, June 12, 1998 — With the 1998 World Congress on Information Technology just two weeks away, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) celebrates the small, minority– and woman-owned businesses that have contributed significantly to the County’s vibrant information technology sector through sponsorship with the World Congress.
Medical Consumer Media (MCM), one of the fastest growing small businesses based in Reston, Virginia is the official Webcaster for the World Congress. Through its unique Conference.Cast™ service, MCM will broadcast the entire World Congress over the Internet. Anyone throughout the world will have access to the proceedings for up to a year.
MCM, a leader in Internet and virtual reality technology, creates and implements programs for clients primarily in the healthcare industry. A physician-directed company founded in 1995, woman-owned MCM was awarded the American Medical Association’s prestigious Freddie Award for Internet initiatives. According to Rita Roy, MD, President of MCM, "The World Congress is a wonderful opportunity for us to demonstrate our patent-pending technologies and expand in to the corporate IT marketplace."
SIGNAL Corporation, a 1998 World Congress bronze level sponsor, is a minority-owned business founded in 1987 and headquartered in Fairfax County. SIGNAL is a leader in providing information technology, engineering and management services and multimedia services in support of industry and government. SIGNAL’s success has been noted on Inc. Magazine’s 500 list, Washington Technology’s Fast 50 and Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100. SIGNAL Corporation President & CEO Roger Mody won the prestigious 1997 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1997.
"Small businesses are fueling the technology sector everywhere, but especially here in Fairfax County," says Patricia Woolsey, chairman of the FCEDA Commission. "Their innovations have and will continue to bring the international spotlight to our region along with events such as the 1998 World Congress on Information Technology."
Half of all sales revenues in the United States are from small businesses. Ninety-seven percent of Fairfax County’s business establishments are small businesses.
Minority-owned businesses continue to increase steadily in Fairfax County. Every five years the U.S. Bureau of Census publishes Surveys of Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business Enterprises, the last in 1992. Between 1987 and 1992 in Fairfax County, African-American-owned firms increased by 71 percent; Asian-/Pacific Islander-/American Indian-/Alaska Native-Owned firms increased by 64 percent; Hispanic-owned firms tripled and woman-owned firms increased by 38 percent. These statistics represent the largest growth of their kind in the Washington, D.C., region.
The 1998 World Congress on Information Technology, coming to Fairfax County from June 21-24, offers technology business leaders from around the world a historic opportunity to meet. At the 1998 World Congress, more than 1,800 information technology leaders from 73 countries will gather to network and share perspectives on the future of the global impact of information technology. Fairfax County, in partnership with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) won the opportunity to host the 1998 World Congress as a result of Fairfax County’s emergence as an international information technology leader.
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority provides a wide array of services and information designed to promote Fairfax County as a business location for domestic and international companies and organizations. The FCEDA assists businesses by identifying possible sites and facilities, provides information for employees relocating to Fairfax County and is a source for up-to-date demographic and economic statistics. For more information about the FCEDA’s programs and services, visit their Web page at www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org.
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