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Now hear this: Nationally respected financial advisor Ric Edelman will speak at FCEDA headquarters in Tysons on Tuesday, May 8, as the FCEDA celebrates National Small Business Week with “Build It With #FairfaxEDA,” a special workshop to inspire and educate would-be entrepreneurs and small-business owners. Click here to see the lineup of other great speakers and topics and register for this not-to-be-missed event. Seating is limited, so sign up today.

Head of the class: Eight of the 10 highest-ranked high schools in Virginia are Fairfax County Public Schools, according to new rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, located in the Alexandria section of the county, is ranked fourth nationally and tops in Virginia. T.J. is joined in the Virginia top 10 by No.2 Langley, No.3 McLean, No.4 Oakton, No.6 George C. Marshall, No.7 James Madison, No.8 West Springfield and No.9 W.T. Woodson. All told, Fairfax County boasts 14 of the top 30 in the state. The rankings of 17,000 schools nationwide consider college readiness, reading/math proficiency, reading/math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

Continuing expansion: Ntiva, a Tysons-based provider of managed IT, cloud and cybersecurity services, made its second major addition of 2019, acquiring Diverse Technology Solutions of New York. DTS is a cloud-service provider for hosted data, voice, and business IT solutions. According to a release picked up by citybizlist, Ntiva expands its geographic coverage to New York City, Long Island and South Florida and increases its client base to more than 700 organizations with this move.

Delivering great food: Warren Thompson, CEO of Reston-based Thompson Hospitality, says the greatest opportunity as well as the greatest challenge facing restaurant operators is takeout and delivery, which can create large numbers of empty seats. Thompson, whose company extends beyond the food service industry with hotel and construction interests, employs about 5,500. That makes it one of the largest minority-owned businesses in the country and a terrific subject to be profiled by Veronica Garabelli for Virginia Business.

Creating space: Industrious, which supplies co-working space in 40 U.S. cities, continues to expand in the Washington and Northern Virginia markets. The company recently opened its space on International Drive in Tysons. Michelai Graham was the industrious reporter for Technical.ly.com.

Raising funds: CMT Solutions, part owner of the Inova Personalized Health Accelerator, is closing in on its target of $6.7 million to support a platform that streamlines administrative tasks for patients, doctors and insurance providers. In a story for Washington Business Journal subscribers, Sara Gilgore reports that CMT has raised $5.6 million toward that goal. Funding will go toward hiring sales and marketing staff and improving software infrastructure.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County

• Harris won a potential 10-year, $50 million contract from the Defense Logistics Agency to manufacture components for U.S. Army night vision systems. ExecutiveBiz
• Leidos received a one-year, $94 million contract modification to provide information management and tech support to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. GovConWire
• ICF secured a five-year, $48 million recompete contract to help the EPA assess potential health risks. ExecutiveBiz
• Lockheed Martin nailed down a $723.5 million contract modification to provide multiple variants of the Hellfire II missile system. GovConWire
• Boeing received a potential 10-year, $5.7 billion contract to help the Air Force handle the combat capability of KC-46 Pegasus tankers. GovConWire
• Raytheon won a potential five-year, $158.8M million deal to provide mission support for U.S. Army combat training in Hohenfels, Germany. GovConWire

Upcoming Business Events

• April 30: Cybersecurity Innovation Forum. The FCEDA’s Asher Kotz will be among the speakers at George Mason University’s evening event which will include case studies and a panel discussion of innovation rationale, motivation, technology, metrics and lessons learned in innovative cybersecurity. Click here.
• May 2: Fantastic 50 Awards Banquet. Fifty of Virginia’s fastest-growing companies will be recognized in Chantilly by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Click here.
• May 3: Jewels of Asia Awards Gala. 10th anniversary event will include cocktail reception, silent auction and performances and recognize area individuals, small businesses, corporations and non-profits. Presented by Asian American Chamber of Commerce. Click here.
• May 7: Northern Virginia B2G Matchmaking Conference and Small Business Expo. Seventh annual business-to-government event to connect small businesses with agencies and primes. Presented by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Click here.
• May 8: Build It With #FairfaxEDA. Half-day workshop presented by the FCEDA to offer guidance and inspiration to anyone who wants to start or expand a business in Fairfax County. Featuring keynote speaker Ric Edelman, financial advisor and best-selling author. Click here.
• May 17: Small Business Expo. 15th anniversary networking event featuring business speakers and exhibitors. Presented by BL Networking. Click here.

FAIRFACT: Fairfax County employers draw on a Washington-area workforce of 228,000 technology workers, one of the highest concentrations in the nation.