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Flying high: Israel Aerospace Industries announced it is expanding its North American headquarters operation, creating more than 50 job at its new base in the Herndon area. Local DVM reports that this expansion allows IAI to continues its legacy of providing aviation and aerospace products and technologies to government and private-sector clients. “Fairfax is at the center of the aerospace and defense market here in the United States, it is close to many of our clients’ head offices, and provides the opportunity for increased coordination and synergy realization for our enterprise growth goals,” said IAI North America CEO Swami Iyer. Read more in this FCEDA press release.

Sporting chance: Tysons-based Alarm.com developed a multi-year partnership with NBA 2K League team Wizards District Gaming to collaborate on “experiential activations.” The NBA 2K League, a joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive, is the first official esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. Esports Insider say the deal with Alarm includes player appearances, social-media features, branded content and other brand integrations through Twitch and digital campaigns.

Talking the talk, walking the walk: McLean-based AppTek, which develops automatic speech recognition and machine translation technology,, is acquiring Ignite-Tek, which makes customer-acquisition software. According to DC Inno, Apptek is now well positioned to address the momentum of the $32 billion speech-technology market.

Top of the food chain: Chantilly-based Diversified Laboratories has been acquired by FoodChain ID, a Paine Schwartz Partners portfolio company. According to Citybizlist, acquiring Diversified allows FoodChain to develop new testing methodologies and enhance their technical capabilities.

Picture of health: Fairfax-based Kinometrix, a healthcare analytics company, received funding from the Center For Innovative Technology’s CIT GAP Fund. Potomac Tech Wire picked up the press release, which stated that the company will use the funding to build towards the company’s first round of product sales.

Who’s who: Herndon-based Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) announced the 2019 NVTC Tech 100, a list of what the NVTC calls “groundbreaking companies, leaders and innovators within the region’s technology community.” The group will be celebrated at a December 9 party at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. The Potomac Tech Wire picked up an NVTC release about this year’s honorees.

An acquisition with teeth: Tysons-based accounting and consulting firm RyanSharkey has been bought by Charlotte-based Dixon Hughes Goodman. According to Virginia Business, RyanSharkey employees will join about 2,300 workers at DHG offices across the nation.

In the (re)zone: The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to sell a roughly one-acre parcel of land near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station to Comstock, the developer of the Reston Station project at the Metro station. According to Reston Now, this sale allows the land to be integrated in the rezoning of Reston Station Promenade, a mixed-use project by Comstock.

Suffragist county: Construction for the first national suffragist memorial, the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial located in Lorton, began on November 14. The Centre View relates why the memorial is going up in Lorton: On Nov. 14, 1917,  suffragists ages 19-73 were brought to the old District of Columbia prison at Lorton after picketing outside the White House for the right to vote. The incident and the treatment the women received led to the event being called the “Night of Terror” and became a turning point in the women’s suffrage movement.

Garden plots: Tysons Biergarten, located by the Greensboro Metro Station, is closing this weekend. According to the Tysons Reporter, the owners of the beer garden are planning to open in spring 2020 a new concept close to the McLean Metro Station. Called The Shipgarten at Scotts Run, it will have shipping containers with themes around international varieties of food and drink.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County

• Govplace won a $109 million blanket purchase agreement from the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to support IT systems and programs. Potomac Tech Wire carried the release
• Huntington Ingalls Industries secured a $136 million contract modification from the Navy to continue to restore, maintain and update the USS Columbus submarine. GovConWire
• Leidos secured a $95 million follow-on award to perform services for the Navy’s Pacific Air Force Command. GovConWire
• Sevatec won a $20 million task order from the Department of Homeland Security to support its CAPSIS program. CityBizList

Featured business events

• December 11 — Spotting Phishing in 2020 – Safeguard Yourself and Your Organization. Part of the Business Education Series presented by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Click here.