• E-Newsletter

We’ve Got Thousands of Jobs and We Want YOU!

Career growth for transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses is a priority in Northern Virginia (read more about why Fairfax County is the place to be at Military.com). To support veterans, cleared talent and military spouses in their careers, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) is hosting a free, two-day career fair May 10-11, 2023, with Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Hire Vets Now Foundation in partnership with Fort Belvoir, Virginia Department of Veteran Services, and Virginia Employment Commission.

“Hundreds of companies in Northern Virginia honor those who have served our nation and are looking to hire from our military and veteran community. These employers want to fill thousands of mission-driven, high-paying jobs right now, and we want to help our transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses connect with these incredible opportunities,” said Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of FCEDA. “Industries across finance, healthcare, renewable energy and more will benefit from the unique and valuable skillset our military communities offer,” he continued. “These Northern Virginia-based employers also recognize that service can take you around the country, and the world, and they are committed to supporting our military community and cleared talent in these transitions.”

During the two-day event, candidates will have the opportunity to network with dozens of hiring organizations from Fortune 500s to government agencies and rising start-ups. Top national employers including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), BAE Systems, CACI, GDIT and Inova Health System are actively hiring for 10,000+ positions across government, IT, finance, defense, renewable energy, and healthcare sectors. All backgrounds and experience levels are welcome, and attendees do not need to live in Northern Virginia to meet with participating companies. To view the full list of companies participating and to register, visit https://workinnorthernvirginia.com/career-fairs.

• In-person Career Fair and Resource Expo – Wednesday, May 10, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. EST, National Museum of the United States Army, 1775 Liberty Drive Virginia, Fort Belvoir 22060. For transit and parking information, visit this link. Free headshots, resume guidance and access to upskilling resources will be available to set you up for success!
• Virtual Career Fair and Resource Expo – Thursday, May 11, 1:00-4:00 p.m. EST, via online meeting portal, Premier Virtual. To register, visit this link.

Northern Virginia is home to leading international companies, including 38 in the defense and aerospace sector alone. With its proximity to major federal agencies – including the Department of Defense, the Pentagon and NASA – educational institutions and Fortune 500 headquarters, Fairfax County is a top location for fostering professional growth for cleared talent. To support the growing need for talent in Northern Virginia, FCEDA and its partners have been organizing in-person and virtual career fairs since 2020 to attract, retain and nurture talent by connecting job seekers to military-friendly companies in the region. To-date, FCEDA-hosted career fairs have attracted nearly 10,000 jobseekers, resulting in thousands of conversations between attending candidates and hiring companies. To find out more, visit www.workinnorthernvirginia.com.

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Calling All Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Free Workshop May 2, 2023

If starting a business is on top of your list, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) is ready to assist you. Dolly Oberoi, founder and CEO, C2 Technologies will be the featured guest speaker during FCEDA’s next Entrepreneurship 101 (E-101) workshop scheduled for May 2, 2023, in Tysons.

Click here to register for the free workshop. This in-person event will be hosted by Fairfax County Economic Development Authority at 8300 Boone Boulevard, Tysons.

During this interactive workshop you will also hear from a panel of experts on registering your business, permitting requirements, business feasibility and business plan basics, business certifications, financing options and government resources. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with the presenters and FCEDA staff.

You will also hear from Ms. Oberoi, about her entrepreneurial journey as founder and CEO of Tysons-based C2 Technologies, an aerospace and defense company specializing in immersive technologies, training, modeling & simulation, artificial intelligence, analytics, and information technology. As a pioneer in online education, thought-leader, innovator, and an entrepreneur, Ms. Oberoi has dedicated her company’s mission to improving human performance. As an entrepreneur, she has served the academic, public and private sectors with distinction, completing more than 18,000 projects for 130 plus clients, employing 500 individuals in more than 22 locations globally, and winning over 200 industry awards. Ms. Oberoi has spread the seeds of entrepreneurship by mentoring small businesses and has an incubator and an accelerator. She also hosts entrepreneurship boot camps for women and students.

Fairfax County is ranked among the top U.S. business hubs for entrepreneurs by livability.com. According to the article:

“One of the nation’s leading tech hubs and a top metro for the veteran community, Fairfax County, Virginia is establishing itself as a top location for entrepreneurs with a special ability to foster businesses for the public good and the veteran community. Dynamic incubators like the Community Business Partnership’s Business Incubation Center and an array of venture capital, funding organizations and professional resources and events make Fairfax County a leading location for entrepreneurs and growing startups — exemplified by the small businesses which account for 90 percent of the Northern Virginia business ecosystem. Additionally, in a time when VC funding is declining across the globe, Northern Virginia has a unique geographic advantage as a D.C.-metro with VCs now taking a higher interest in military and security-related tech.”

The E-101 workshops are presented by FCEDA, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD), the Community Business Partnership (CBP), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives (DEI). For more information and details on the May 2 workshop, click here.

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Weekly Business News Digest

Moon race: Reston-based Leidos and its Dynetics team announced their plan to compete in another moon race through a promotional partnership with NASCAR. The partnership will be a collaboration between two organizations in the areas of speed, safety and reliability. Details of the collaboration as well as the design and technology of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle were unveiled during a special event at the Space Foundation’s 38th annual Space Symposium. “We are thrilled to unveil our lunar vehicle design and to announce our exciting new promotional partnership,” said Leidos CEO Roger Krone. “This groundbreaking collaboration between Leidos and NASCAR takes both companies into uncharted territory, just like we believe our rover will do for NASA and its astronauts. We aim to pave the way for human exploration of space and inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators to reach for the stars.” Check out the promo video here. NASCAR.com has more.

Making the world a safer and more secure place: Herndon-based HawkEye 360, a defense technology company for space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced that its Cluster 7 next-generation satellites have successfully deployed in orbit Monday, April 17, after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, Geospatial News reported. Communication with the satellites has been established by the company’s operations team. “We are pleased to report that our Cluster 7 satellites have deployed to orbit following another successful launch,” said HawkEye 360 CEO, John Serafini. “The continued expansion of our RF-sensing satellite constellation enables us to more quickly and accurately reveal global activities to make the world a safer and more secure place.”

All moved in: V2X, the government services company formed through the $2.1 billion merger of Vectrus and Vertex said Monday, April 18 that it has officially moved its headquarters to Tysons, Washington Business Journal reported. The publicly traded company said last year when it announced its creation it would move its headquarters to Northern Virginia, where Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Vectrus had an office at 7901 Jones Branch Drive in Tysons. “This is a strategic location for V2X that is collaborating with government clients, business partners and educators,” V2X CEO Chuck Prow said. “As federal agencies and the military continue to modernize, V2X sees this new home as a commitment to serve the current and future needs of our clients and the missions we are privileged to support.”

Cyber combo: Tysons-based W@tchTower and three additional cybersecurity companies have merged to become a new Tysons-based company called UltraViolet Cyber, DCINNO reported. New York-based investment firm Achieve Partners acquired the four firms over the course of 2022, which also included Stage 2 Security in Lanham, Md.; Phoenix-based Mosaic451; and Metmox in Schaumberg, Illinois. W@tchTower has been up and running for a few months, though Achieve only announced the launch this week. It has about 400 employees and its CEO is George McKenzie, the former CEO at Stage 2 Security. McKenzie said the company has about $50 million in annual recurring revenue. With its headquarters at 1660 International Drive, Tysons, W@tchTower has offices in Phoenix, Lehi, Utah, and India. He said the company is looking to hire about 30 cloud security engineers, architects, and other cybersecurity professionals.

Space mission MOU: Reston-based SAIC and Denmark-based GomSpace Group AB signed a strategic partnership to provide government and commercial customers in the Americas with new space-based mission capabilities leveraging CubeSat’s and SmallSats. This partnership combines SAIC’s expansive mission domain knowledge, engineering, software, and integration capabilities, with GomSpace’s spacecraft technologies to achieve solutions which can be rapidly deployed. “I am delighted to enter into this strategic partnership with SAIC,” said Carsten Drachmann, CEO of GomSpace. “SAIC is heavily investing in space capabilities and systems integration for critical missions like space domain awareness, autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations, and in-orbit servicing, This in combination with GomSpace’s extensive flight heritage in the SmallSat market, creates a very strong and competitive value proposition to both commercial and government customers in the U.S. and across the Americas.” Yahoo Finance has more.

Military Installation Resilience Review: The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments teamed up with Reston-based consulting firm ICF to conduct a study on the environmental impact of four military facilities on surrounding communities in Washington, D.C., according to ExecutiveBiz. The Military Installation Resilience Review received funding from the Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, MWCOG said. Researchers focused on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, the Naval Research Laboratory and the Washington Navy Yard. They found 14 areas of improvement to achieve climate resilience, specifically at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant and Lower Anacostia Waterfront. “The MIRR serves as a blueprint to build resilience in communities surrounding military installations across the country while also advancing equity,” said Peter Schultz, climate center senior fellow and vice president for climate adaptation and resilience at ICF.

Air defense system: Falls Church area-based Northrop Grumman received Department of Defense approval to begin manufacturing at full-rate capacity a command and control system designed to support the U.S. Army’s air and missile defense operations across the globe, according to ExecutiveBiz. DOD decided to move the Integrated Battle Command System into full-rate production, marking a key step for the service branch to schedule IBCS for operational deployment to air defense units. The company won a five-year, $1.4 billion contract in December 2021 to build as many as 160 systems for the Army and foreign partners. The system employs an open architecture intended to serve as the foundation for linking battlespace sensors, decision-makers and weapons.

Collective cybersecurity defense: With the help of a recent seed round, Reston-based trackd seeks to test a novel model for cybersecurity, reported technical.ly. trackd’s $3.35 million seed round was led by Flybridge and included Lerer Hippeau, DC’s SaaS Ventures and Expa. The company anticipates raising another round later this year for further growth; in the meantime, it plans to use the funds for proof of concept on an idea called “collective defense.” Collective defense is the idea that organizations and companies can collaborate internally and externally across different industries to defend against cyber threats. “For years, research firms such as Gartner and Forrester have asserted that collective defense in cybersecurity is impossible,” Mike Starr, CEO and founder of trackd said. “We proved it is possible in December 2022.”

PTSD treatment: Red Cell Partners, a Tysons investment and incubation firm focused on tech companies in national security and health care, said it is investing $3 million in Tara Mind, a San Diego company that offers a care and engagement platform for psychedelic-assisted therapy, according to Washington Business Journal. Tara Mind launched in September with Red Cell Operating Partner Marcus Capone as its co-founder and CEO. Capone is a former Navy SEAL who saw 13 years of active combat and struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and depression. He turned to psychedelic-assisted therapy in 2017 after several years of not finding relief through traditional mental health treatments. “I know what it’s like to feel as though you’re out of options,” Capone said in a statement. “My experience with psychedelic-assisted therapy changed my life. People need to know that even on their darkest days, there is hope.”

Linking Ghana: Falls Church-based Lynk Global signed an agreement with Vodafone Ghana to bring mobile coverage to all of Ghana’s population with Lynk’s “cell tower in space” satellite connectivity, Via Satellite reported. This is Lynk’s second commercial contract with mobile network operator Telecel Group in Africa, following an agreement with Telecel Centrafrique in the Central African Republic. Lynk’s service will expand Telecel Group’s coverage to more than 6 million Vodafone Ghana subscribers and will be utilized for extending rural coverage, including Maritime Economic Zone, as a backup to ensure service resilience, continuity of IoT devices, and as a terrestrial tower replacement for underperforming towers.

Done deal: Centreville-based Parsons completed its $43 million acquisition of New Jersey-based utility security software provider IPKeys Power Partners in a push to advance the delivery of grid modernization and cyber resiliency offerings for the critical infrastructure sector, GovConWire reported. The deal was first announced in March and IPKeys will operate within the Parsons X digital accelerator organization and Connected Communities business unit.

Remote work: The top 10 U.S. cities with the highest shares of job openings offering remote work include Reston (30 percent), Tysons (25 percent), and Washington, D.C. (27 percent), CNBC reported. Overall, cities with a greater white-collar workforce, especially in government, tech and education, have the highest share of job ads offering remote or hybrid work arrangements, said Peter Lambert, a Ph.D. candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Thinking about retirement? If you think the number one state to retire to is Florida then you would be wrong. It’s Virginia, according to WalletHub, CNBC reported. Although in 2022 the Sunshine State was named the No. 1 state to retire in, Virginia has taken the top spot this year, according to personal finance website WalletHub’s “2023′s Best States to Retire” study.

Hungry yet? McLean frozen food brand 8 Myles is closing a $1.05 million seed round this week to expand its operations and hire its first-ever full-time employee, DC INNO reported. Co-founded by Myles Powell in 2015, 8 Myles makes frozen homestyle macaroni and cheese dinners that use no preservatives or artificial ingredients. “It’s not a science project, just real food,” said Powell, its CEO. “I think once that started to click, our strategy changed with fundraising and that’s what got the interest from investors.”

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Contract Wins

Northrop Grumman (Falls Church area) won a $45.96 million contract modification by the U.S. Space Force to continue developing a rideshare satellite platform to deploy small payloads into geostationary orbit for refueling demonstration efforts. ExecutiveBiz

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May 4 – NAIOP Bus Tour and Trade Show. This annual tour looks at what is driving the market in Fairfax from office to industrial and retail to mixed-use. Bus Captains talk about all aspects of the market and provide valuable input on what is going on in the market. One of the most successful and interesting commercial market bus tours in America. The day starts with a trade show with vendors, properties and local government sharing news and closes with a reception once the buses return in the early afternoon. Click here for more information.

May 10 (in person)/ May 11 (virtual) – Transitioning Service Members, Veterans and Military Spouses Career Fair and Resource Expo. Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Hire Vets Now Foundation, in partnership with Fort Belvoir, present a Veteran & Military Spouse In-Person Career Fair and Resource Expo at the National Museum of the United States Army at Ft. Belvoir on May 10, and virtually on May 11. Join us to interview with leading companies in Northern Virginia that are collectively hiring for thousands of positions across multiple sectors. In addition, veteran career organizations will be providing valuable career resource information, including resume translation guidance, community information, military spouse career education services, and more. Click here for more information and to register.

September 26-28 – Call for Experts: Connecting the Global Quantum Ecosystem. Quantum World Congress 2023 will occur September 26-28 in the Greater Washington region. It will once again bring together leaders from across the quantum ecosystem around the globe to address pressing challenges and emerging trends and share insights that help to accelerate and commercialize quantum technologies. Programming will take many forms — from presentations and panels to fireside chats and networking sessions. QWC will enable relevant, timely, and industry-leading information sharing and relationship building across these formats to foster a responsible environment for quantum growth. If your expertise and experience position you as a thought leader, then you are invited to complete the speaker application. Please also review the sponsorship packages to explore ways to showcase your brand at the event. Click here for more information.