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Chamber music to our ears: Fairfax County firms dominated the 2019 Fantastic 50 list of fast-growing companies in Virginia, accounting for 19 on the ranking compiled by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. No.3 B3 Group of Herndon, No.4 Alpha Omega Integration of Tysons, No.7 World Services LLC of the Kingstowne area and No.8 Spatial Front of Tysons ranked in the top 10 in growth from 2014 through 2017 among privately held firms with revenues between $200,000 and $200 million. See the FCEDA release about all the Fantastic 50 companies from Fairfax County.

Here’s the beef: PROOF, a Reston-based venture capital firm, is a major investor in Beyond Meat, the Los Angeles company that enjoyed a wildly successful IPO last week with its plant-based meat substitute. PROOF invested $30 million in two rounds of funding, says Andy Medici in an appetizing report for Washington Business Journal subscribers.

They dove right in: Nick Wakeman of Washington Technology reports that Australia-based Macquarie Capital bought Dovel Technologies, a Tysons-based provider of technology used in complex business and regulatory environments. The move will allow Dovel to make acquisitions and fuel growth in areas such as biomedical informatics, scientific research, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. Dovel has expanded rapidly, notching 60 percent growth from 2011 through 2017 and more than $200 million in annual revenue.

Pretty cool: Tysons-based Qore Performance, which designs and produces products to protect users from heat stroke and hypothermia while maximizing safety and performance, won a second-place prize of $30,000 plus $5,000 in services in the seventh annual FedEx Small Business Grant contest. DC Inno picked up a release about the award and noted that Qore’s cooling and hydration system, used by first-responders and outdoor workers, finished second among 13,000 firms that entered.

Contractor awards: Strategic Mission Elements (Chantilly), Assured Consulting Solutions (Reston) and Ridgeline International (Tysons) won Contractor of the Year awards and Evans Incorporated (Falls Church) received the Award of Excellence from the Small and Emerging Contractors Advisory Forum. Other award recipients at the 11th annual event, held May 2 in Tysons, included Peraton (Herndon) for Mentor-Protégé Program of the Year, Mark Melton of Cordia Partners (Tysons) as SECAF Advocate of the Year and Robb Wong of the U.S. Small Business Administration as Government Advocate of the Year. Potomac Tech Wire picked up a release about the awards.

Inn the news: Tidbits gleaned from Rebecca Cooper’s Washington Business Journal story about Tysons-based Hilton: Membership in the Hilton Honors rewards program increased about 20 percent in a year; more members are engaging with the Hilton app; the Tru brand, in response to customer feedback, is putting desks back in guest rooms and offering hot breakfast items; and unlike Marriott, Hilton has no immediate plans to get into the homesharing business.

For Score: Reston-based comScore is expanding its box-office measurement service into west and southern Africa. The expansion by the digital audience measurement company will provide data for nine African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa. Potomac Tech Wire carried a release.

Quest for content: TEGNA agreed to purchase Quest and the Justice Network from Cooper Media for $77 million. TEGNA, which is based in Tysons, already owned a minority stake in the TV networks, notes Katishi Maake of theWashington Business Journal. Quest focuses on science, history and adventure-reality programming, while Justice airs crime, investigation and mystery content.

On a roll in Reston: Pinstripes, which combines bocce and bowling with a bar, is coming to Reston, joining Wegmans as a retail tenant at Brookfield’s Halley Rise development. Rebecca Cooper reports for Washington Business Journal that the entertainment venue will envelope 20,000 square feet.

Winging it: Northrop Grumman’s $3.2 billion contract award to deliver 24 more E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to the Navy and potentially nine more for foreign clients, is big news in northern Florida where the planes are assembled. Stuart Korfhage got this story aloft for the St. Augustine Record.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County

• Under a potential $82.3 million contract from the Air Force, Northrop Grumman will develop software for a control and planning segment  to facilitate military satellite communications in the North Polar region. ExecutiveBiz
• SAIC’s Engility division won a potential six-year, $58.5 million contract to support Air Force research and development efforts related to optical radiation. ExecutiveBiz
• Lockheed Martin secured a potential $201.7 million contract to provide engineering services to the Navy. GovConWIre
• Raytheon received a $419 million contract modification to produce AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles for the U.S. military and 24 countries. GovConWire
• Chenega Global Protection received a potential five-year, $89.2 million contract to provide security services for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. GovConWire
• Serco won three task orders with a combined value of $16.4 million to install communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems on two Navy ships and a Los Angeles-class submarine. ExecutiveBiz

Upcoming Business Events

• 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 8: Get Your Pitch On — Walk Away with an Elevator Pitch that Grabs Attention: A workshop to put together or strengthen an existing elevator pitch. Part of the Business Education Series presented by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Click here.
• May 17: Small Business Expo. 15th anniversary networking event featuring business speakers and exhibitors. Presented by BL Networking. Click here.
• May 22: Boost Your B2B Authority with Savvy Social Marketing: Learn to focus on what really matters to clients and how to achieve success through social media and content marketing. Part of the Business Education Series presented by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Click here.

FAIRFACT: It’s National Small Business Week! Ninety-four percent of Fairfax County business establishments have 50 or fewer employees, and these firms account for one-third of all the jobs in the county.