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More jobs secured: Expel, a fast-growing managed-security provider, will invest $1.4 million to expand its operation in the Town of Herndon in Fairfax County. The company will increase its headquarters located at 12950 Worldgate Drive in Herndon and create 164 new jobs across its engineering, customer experience, IT, marketing and sales teams over the next three years, according to Area Development.

A-1 spot for AI: Belgium-based artificial intelligence platform developer and educator Omina Technologies opened its new U.S. headquarters in Tysons. North America CEO Brian Alexander said the company, which was founded in 2016 and works primarily with small and mid-sized companies, decided to locate its North America headquarters in Northern Virginia because of the number of tech companies in the area. Until now, the company has operated a U.S. location in Miami. Virginia Business covered the story.

Big buys: Reston-based Leidos agreed to acquire L3Harris Technologies’ Security Detection and Automation businesses, for $1 billion, according to citybizlist. In addition, Leidos completed its acquisition of Huntsville, Alabama-based national security services provider Dynetics Inc. for $1.65 billion, Virginia Business reported.

Hawkeye and Radar, together again: Herndon-based HawkEye 360 partnered with Airbus, which maintains its North American headquarters in Herndon, to market geospatial intelligence products to clients in the defense and intelligence sectors. Airbus will market HawkEye’s radio frequency data and analytics in Europe to optimize maritime, defense and intelligence offerings, while HawkEye will market Airbus’ earth observation optical and synthetic radar systems, Executive Biz reported.

Putting Flipper to work: Reston-headquartered Science Applications International Corp. won a $13.9 million contract to provide animal care and training of marine mammals participating in the Navy Marine Mammal Program, which trains bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect, locate, mark and recover objects in harbors, coastal areas, and at depth in the sea. Homeland Security Today posted the announcement.

To be continued: While Herndon online education company K12’s $165 million purchase of tech training firm Galvanize Inc. is still fresh, the company is prepared to make more acquisitions, according to K12 CEO Nate Davis in an earnings call with investors and analysts. Andy Medici educates readers in this Washington Business Journal article.

Municipal matchmaking: Herndon-based CJIS GROUP, a provider market intelligence on state and local government technology contracting opportunities, partnered with San Mateo, Calif.-based Power Almanac, an online provider of up-to-date contact information for officials from 21,000 municipal, county and township governments, in a project aimed to match technology vendors with agencies. Potomac Tech Wire carried the release.

Time for a house party: McLean-based GTT Communications, a cloud networking services provider, was selected as the exclusive event Internet service provider to Glasshouses, which operates technologically advanced event spaces in New York City. Potomac Tech wire picked up the release.

Light it up!: Reston Station Promenade will alter its design to bring more light into the more than 1.3-million-square-foot development and improve pedestrian access. Fairfax County approved Comstock’s initial plans nearly two years ago for the urban neighborhood next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, according to Fairfax County Government News.

Down to earth: Tysons-headquartered Iridium Communications and Amazon Web Services, which maintains an east coast campus in Herndon, launched a satellite-enabled cloud computing service for connected device users worldwide. The CloudConnect offering combines Iridium’s internet-of-things (IoT) technology with AWS’ cloud and IoT platforms to expand coverage to approximately 80 percent of areas where terrestrial connectivity is limited, GovConWire reported.

Changing hands: Boston Properties said in its Q4 earnings report that it entered into an agreement to sell the nearly 500,000 square foot New Dominion Technology Park, in Herndon, located near the intersection of Herndon Parkway and Grove Street for $256 million, according to Bisnow.

Best builder: McLean-based Capital City Builders (CCB) was named the ‘2019 Custom Builder of the Year’ by Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA) at the NVBIA Presidents Ball in January 2020, according to citybizlist.

The spirit moved them: Tysons-based Inspirit Senior Living acquired a portfolio of four properties from Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living located in Florida and South Carolina, Multi-Housing News reported.

Connected cars: Herndon-headquartered Volkswagen Group of America and Aeris, a technology company in the Internet of Things (IoT) formed Ventic, a joint venture for the development and operations of connected-vehicle platform technologies. Silicon Alley carried the release.

Next stop, Fairfax: Rockville, Md.-based Federal Realty Investment Trust purchased 11 acres in Fairfax near the intersection of U.S. routes 29 and 50 for $22 million. The acquisition is part of Federal’s strategy to focus more on Northern Virginia, where it now owns about 2.7 million square feet. The company plans to move to new regional headquarters at the Park Place complex in Tysons this month, according to the Washington Business Journal in an article for subscribers.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County

Leidos and Thales won a 12-year, $450 million contract to help the Federal Aviation Administration replace a secondary surveillance radar system used to deliver aircraft data as part of air traffic control automation efforts. GovConWire

Perspecta booked a seven-year, $277 million contract to operate and maintain enterprise IT infrastructures for the Labor Department’s office of the chief information officer. Washington Technology

Israel Aerospace Industries won a $240 million contract to manufacture wings for the U.S. Air Force’s T-38 Talon supersonic trainer aircraft. GovConWire

Booz Allen Hamilton won a $178 million contract from the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC Pacific), in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), t to provide technical engineering services toward the modernization of advanced GPS systems. Seapower

PAE’s professional services business secured a five-year, $90 million contract to install security equipment and provide surveillance services to Army construction projects in Far East District, South Korea. GovConWire

Hensel Phelps Construction obtained a $34 million contract for the design and construction of a new warehouse facility of about 44,000 square feet with associated office space at Fort Meade. Homeland Security Today

Vision Point Systems won a $13.5 million contract to provide corrosion engineering and logistics support for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVCS) and Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Center (LCMC). Homeland Security Today

Featured business events

February 20 — Govcon Series: CMMC: a Small Business Forum for Compliance. The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce presents a diverse panel of experts from the GovCon community as they discuss the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. Click here.

February 26 — Business Education Series: When Smart Businesswomen Control Their Cashflow. The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce presents a financial planning for business owners talk by Jenevieve J. Lenz, an integrated wealth advisor with First Financial Group. Click here.

March 25 — Impact AI: National Impact, Local Innovation. The Northern Virginia Technology Council presents a conference on developments in artificial intelligence and the strength of the regional AI ecosystem. Click here.