E-Newsletter

August 4 E-Bird Newsletter: Hilton Expands Global Headquarters in Fairfax County Creating 350 New Jobs + Weekly Business News Digest

Hilton Expands Global Headquarters in Fairfax County Creating 350 New Jobs Over Next 5 Years

Earlier today, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that Hilton (NYSE: HLT), the leading global hospitality company, will retain its headquarters in Fairfax County, including significant upgrades to its facility at 7930 Jones Branch Drive in McLean. Hilton will re-imagine its space to create an even more vibrant place to convene and collaborate, fully integrating technology into the office experience to meet the needs of today’s workforce.

“Northern Virginia has been Hilton’s home for more than a decade, and the region has played an instrumental role in helping us create the best, most inclusive home for our Team Members while also managing the demands of a global business,” said Chris Nassetta, President and CEO, Hilton. “We appreciate the continued support of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Fairfax County and the Tysons Partnership in ensuring we continue to attract strong, diverse talent to our vibrant, growing region.”

Hilton located its global headquarters in Fairfax County in 2009 and plans to create 350 net new headquarters jobs over the next five years.

“Hilton’s continued investment in Fairfax County will result in extraordinary benefits for our community,” said Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). “The diversity of our business base continues to be one of our greatest strengths, and we are honored that Hilton has chosen to continue to play a key role in our corporate ecosystem.”

Click here to read more.


Celebrating National Black Business Month

Did you know there are 639 Black-owned Employer Firms in Fairfax County? These firms employ more than 11,055 people with over $1.8 million in receipts. Fairfax County has the largest number of Black-owned employer firms in the Northern Virginia region.

In celebration of National Black Business Month this August, FCEDA will be highlighting Black business success stories in Fairfax County throughout the month. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and check back on the E-Bird each week for updates!

(Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2017 Annual Business Survey)


Weekly Business News Digest

HBCUs eye Northern Virginia: Virginia State University and Norfolk State University are expected to start more in-depth discussions about potential campus locations with the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance (NoVa EDA) in the fall, according to Virginia Business and the Washington Business Journal. The NoVa EDA is an organization that works with economic agencies from 10 local jurisdictions to brand and showcase the region. Officials with Petersburg’s VSU and Norfolk’s NSU have been discussing the possibility of satellite campus locations with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission for more than a year. Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the FCEDA, told Virginia Business that more than one of the 10 jurisdictions involved with NoVa EDA have expressed interest in making a financial investment in the HBCU campus and assisting with permitting.

Job opportunities available: Tysons-based Booz Allen has “plenty of work and it’s still hiring,” WTOP reported. Booz Allen Hamilton, the largest government IT contractor and one of the largest employers in the D.C. region, ended its most recent quarter with a backlog of $28.6 billion in contracted work, and grew its headcount by another 2.6 percent. Booz Allen had $2.2 billion in revenue last quarter, its fiscal year 2023 first quarter, 13.1 percent more than a year earlier and $138.3 million in net income, compared to $92.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with an employee count that was 733 higher than a year earlier. Booz Allen has about 18,000 employees in the D.C. region, making it the seventh-largest D.C. area employer, according to Washington Business Journal data.

New funding round: Just eight months after its founding, compliance tech startup RegScale raised a $20 million Series A, technical.ly reported. The Tysons-based company closed the round after a huge period of growth. Investors SYN Ventures, SineWave Ventures, VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners and SecureOctane all took part. According to CEO Anil Karmel, RegScale has seen triple-digit growth since its launch and nearly 8,000 downloads of the community edition of its software.

New growth avenues: Reston federal contractor Leidos reached a deal with British aerospace company Cobham to buy the special mission’s business of its aviation unit in Australia, the Washington Business Journal reported. The unit Leidos is acquiring provides airborne border surveillance and rescue services for the Australian government. Leidos Chairman and CEO Roger Krone said in a statement the unit will be integrated into his company’s Australian division and will expand its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as diversify revenues and “open up new growth avenues.”

More Bitcoin focus: Tysons-based MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor is stepping down as chief executive officer and said he’ll focus more on Bitcoin, Bloomberg reported. Saylor, who founded the company in 1989, will continue to serve as executive chairman. MicroStrategy President Phong Le will take on the chief executive role.

Cultivating innovation: Tysons-based Guidehouse, a global provider of consulting services to public sector and commercial clients, was named to Fast Company’s list of Best Workplaces for Innovators 2022: 10 large company standouts. According to Fast Company, among companies with more than 1,000 employees vying for Best Workplaces for Innovators recognition, 10 stood out to judges. In Guidehouse’s most recent annual pitch competition, 24 partners and directors helped develop a project that aims to prevent suicide among veterans by identifying suicidal ideation online, Fast Company noted.

Success story: With its recent relocation to a new HQ in Herndon, Iron Bow Technologies is growing within Fairfax County.  And Fairfax County is the ideal location for Herndon-based IT solutions provider Iron Bow Technologies’ new 35,600-square foot headquarters, said Rene LaVigne, president and CEO of Iron Bow… ‘We’ve recently relocated to new offices in February to accommodate our employees in this new era of hybrid work,’ said LaVigne. FFXnow highlighted Iron Bow’s newly posted Success Story on the FCEDA website.

Multi-orbit connection: SES and its wholly owned subsidiary SES Government Solutions of Reston completed the acquisition of DRS Global Enterprise Solutions (GES) from Leonardo DRS for $450 million, Intelligence Community News reported. The DRS GES business will be combined with SES GS to create a scaled solutions provider serving the multi-orbit satellite communications needs of the U.S. Government and supporting missions anywhere on land, at sea, or in the air. “I am extremely excited about the potential that this combination unleashes, reinforcing our commitment to provide best-in-class satellite network solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense customers,” said Brigadier General Billy Bingham, USAF (Retired), chairman of the SES GS Proxy Board.

Updated and modernizing: Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman received a nearly $3.3 billion contract from the Missile Defense Agency to design, develop and sustain new capabilities for the next Ground-based Midcourse Defense Weapons Systems program. The contractor will update the ground system component of the program using digital transformation processes to update and modernize legacy code, warfighter capabilities and incorporate the Next Generation Inceptor fleet into the overall system, Virginia Business reported.

Broadening By Light: Tysons-based By Light Professional IT Services, a federal systems integrator and portfolio company of Sagewind Capital, acquired Chantilly-based Veraxx Engineering, a provider of flight simulation technology to the Department of Defense. “The acquisition of Veraxx strategically broadens By Light’s existing capabilities within modeling and simulation and virtual training,” said Bob Donahue, founder and CEO of By Light. “Veraxx further enhances our efforts to expand our product offerings and technology solutions.” Potomac Tech Wire picked up the release.

Community development: Fairfax-based ICF entered into several cooperative agreements with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help state and local organizations implement community development programs and housing initiatives. Under the three-year agreements, ICF will provide capacity building, data analysis, technical assistance and training services in support of HUD’s Community Compass and National Homeless Data Analysis Project programs. ICF will also support Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grantees in implementing their disaster recovery and mitigation programs. In addition, ICF will continue to manage the HUD Exchange, which offers resources and assistance to HUD community partners, ExecutiveBiz reported.

New location: Nonprofit Best Buddies has a new office in Tysons Corner Center in a first-floor suite near the mall’s former Lord and Taylor, FFXnow reported. While the site is mostly for staff, the office is also intended to serve as a gathering space where Best Buddies can host events, trainings, and meet-ups for participants in its programs to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition to its signature friendship program, which pairs people with and without disabilities to encourage socializing, Best Buddies provides job assistance, leadership development, and two live-in residences in D.C. and Florida.

Destination Reston, Arlington: Pittsburgh’s First National Bank is expanding in Northern Virginia, according to the Washington Business Journal. F.N.B. Corp. said it has filed applications with the Order of the Comptroller of the Currency to open new branches in Reston and Arlington. The bank currently operates seven First National Bank offices in Northern Virginia and the District and said it expects to grow that total to 11 by 2024.

Nonstop to Cape Town: United Airlines will soon begin flights between Washington Dulles International Airport and Cape Town International Airport — the first-ever nonstop route between Greater Washington and South Africa’s oldest city. The Chicago-headquartered airline, which operates a hub at Dulles, said three weekly flights would begin on Nov. 17 — though they are still subject to approval by the South African government, according to the Washington Business Journal.


Contract Wins

Lumen Technologies Government Solutions (Herndon) obtained a 10-year $1.5 billion contract from the Department of Defense for Indo-Pacific Transport Services, to provide end-to-end transmission services and capabilities essential to the Defense Information System Network Indo-Pacific. U.S. DoD/Contracts

Rolls-Royce‘s North American subsidiary (Reston) received an $854.4 million contract from Naval Air Systems Command to fix engines of tactical aircraft flown by the U.S. Marine Corps and Kuwait’s military. GovConWire

Northrop Grumman (Falls Church area) won a five-year, $533.8 million contract from the Department of Defense to manufacture fuze devices for U.S. Army artillery. GovConWire

Leidos (Reston) secured a 66-month, $53 million task order from the U.S. Navy to study warfighters’ performance in air, water and special warfare settings and help increase their survivability in the mentioned environments. ExecutiveBiz

ICF (Fairfax) received a $14 million contract to support two Department of Labor programs that offer pathways to connect employers and career seekers. ExecutiveBiz


FCEDA Hosted and Sponsored Events

August 9 — TiE Connect: Let’s Talk Business! Tie DC presents an in-person networking event with some very practical advice on how to make your company operations more efficient and save money in the process. Learn how making the right decision on legal structure can help you in the long run with compliance as well as tax write-offs. Uncover secrets for running your business profitably while adjusting for life cycle stage and future growth. Click here to register.

August 23 — Fairfax State of the Market: Exploring Today’s Emerging Markets. Bisnow presents an event focused on: “From Richmond Highway to Chantilly, where to make the next best commercial real estate investment.” Featured panelists include Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the FCEDA. Click here to register.

October 1 — 2022 Dulles 5K/10K. The Washington Dulles International Airport community presents its 10th Annual Dulles 5K/10K. Proceeds from this event will support the Committee for Dulles Community Outreach Scholarship Program, Special Olympics Virginia, and the Washington Airports Task Force. Click here to register.

October 7 — Raise the Region Gala. Join the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia and help “Raise the Region” at its annual celebration of local philanthropy. This event attracts hundreds of regional business, philanthropic and community leaders and supports the Community Foundation’s ability to grow philanthropy to respond to needs and seed innovation throughout the region. Held in the fall, it features the presentation of the Community Leadership Award for outstanding service and commitment to Northern Virginia, the longest-standing award of its kind. It includes a one-of-a-kind auction and opportunities to engage and connect with our community. Click here to register.


FCEDA is Here to Help Your Business Thrive

Fairfax County EDA is here to connect businesses of all kinds to resources and information. For direct assistance, email the FCEDA at info@fceda.org, or call 703-790-0600 to leave a voice message for our staff. And click here for resources available in the other nine jurisdictions that make up the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance.