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Cloud + Cyber virtual career fair set for Thursday

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are among 27 companies in Northern Virginia seeking to hire for thousands of open positions in the IT, cyber and cloud industries during an FCEDA virtual career fair this Thursday, January 28. Participation in the FCEDA Cyber + Cloud Virtual Career Fair is free of charge and open to technology professionals of all experience levels. Job seekers with security clearances are in demand and encouraged to attend, though it is not a required qualification. Click here to register.

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Smart City Challenge runs through February 16

The Smart City Challenge, an innovation competition in which teams create solutions to address the toughest smart-city challenges in sectors including housing, transportation, health, broadband, energy, education, water, infrastructure and public safety, began January 23 and continues through February 16. The challenge is being hosted by Smart City Works, Refraction, Fairfax County, Girls in Tech DC, The Universities at Shady Grove and Virginia Tech. Click here to register.

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Living it up in Reston: Money magazine ranked Reston as the number one place in the nation to live for working from home. Factors for the ranking included cost of living, safety, education quality, the number of residents working from home, access to necessities like daycare centers and pharmacies, and of course sufficient Internet connection. The magazine states that Reston, one of the most famous planned communities started in the 1960s, was “practically designed with the remote employee in mind.” Reston Now has more on the latest accolade.

Another Amazon-ian deal: Amazon Web Services, which maintains its East Coast office hub in Herndon, purchased 46.4 acres in western Fairfax County for $55.9 million, according to the Washington Business Journal. The vacant property is on Avion Parkway in Chantilly, about five miles south of Washington Dulles International Airport. The Business Journal notes that AWS paid $54 million to acquire 57 acres at 13600 EDS Drive, just off Route 28 in Herndon. It also notes that there are 179 data centers throughout Northern Virginia, including 30 in Fairfax County.

All bets are on: The Washington Football Team partnered with gaming company FanDuel Group to provide sports betting across the state — the first NFL team to partner with an online sports bookmaker. Through the partnership, which was approved by the Virginia Lottery last week, FanDuel will serve as the operational partner for a betting permit held by the Washington Football Team. The Virginia General Assembly legalized online sports betting last year. “We’re very excited for all this groundbreaking partnership will offer our valued fans throughout the commonwealth of Virginia as part of their game day experience,” said Scott Shepherd, senior vice president of corporate partnerships and hospitality for the Washington Football Team. Virginia Business passed the story along.

Funding connectivity: U.K.-based OneWeb, which has its North American headquarters in Tysons, has raised $1.4 billion in total funding after it received additional investments from Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group. The new funding provides OneWeb with needed capital to come up with a constellation of 648 satellites in low-Earth orbit by the end of 2022 to deliver broadband connectivity and low-latency communication services to customers worldwide. OneWeb presently has 110 satellites in orbit, after having launched 36 new LEO satellites in December, reported ExecutiveBiz.

Binational collaboration: The BIRD Foundation, an Israel-U.S. binational industrial R&D foundation, will invest $7.45 million in eight new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies, including Atlanta-based Envistacom‘s, which as an office in Chantilly, project with Ayecka Satellite Technologies, a partnership to develop a satellite communication and 5G virtual modem edge device for wireless transmission. The BIRD Foundation promotes collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological fields. In addition to providing conditional grants of up to $1 million for approved projects, the foundation works with companies to identify potential strategic partners and facilitate introductions. The Times of Israel has more.

Cornering the possibilities: Home Depot USA acquired prime property in Tysons, at the original “Tyson’s corner” in fact, though its plans for the site are a mystery, says the Washington Business Journal. The Atlanta-based home improvement giant paid $35.9 million for 2000 Chain Bridge Road, a 7.08-acre site at the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Leesburg Pike, according to public records. The acreage may be enough to meet the demands of a full-size Home Depot store, assuming there is structured parking. But the retailer has other concepts and needs that could potentially fit into that space, including logistics or a Home Depot Design Center showroom, the Business Journal said.

Bitcoin billionaire: Tysons-based MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor has made a high-profile bid to buy up hundreds of millions of dollars of bitcoins in recent months — and that strategy has made him a billionaire. MicroStrategy began buying up Bitcoin in August, as part of Saylor’s bid to hedge against what he believes is a devaluing dollar. The moves have given both MicroStrategy and Saylor a higher profile, with Saylor adding tens of thousands of Twitter followers to his account in the last few months. Google Trends shows searches for MicroStrategy are at the highest they have been since 2017, and Saylor now regularly appears in the national media and across the cryptocurrency news ecosystem, reported the Washington Business Journal.

Valet to the world: Lorton-based Kapsuun Group is among the 10 Virginia companies accepted in to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s (VEDP) most recent two-year Virginia Leaders in Export Trade (VALET) program, which helps companies work on international exporting growth strategies. During the two-year program, businesses learn international sales plan development services through trainings from international service providers, meetings with potential partners, educational events and market research, according to Virginia Business.

Traffic safety partnership: Tysons-based MITRE and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will collaborate with eight automobile manufacturers to analyze the performance of advanced driver assistance systems as part of an expanded data-sharing initiative. The Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety aims to study 40 million vehicles that represent 90 models launched on the market between 2015 and 2021 to gain insights into the effectiveness of ADS technology such as automatic emergency braking and lane management systems, ExecutiveBiz reported.

Community college update: Regional community colleges are coming up with innovative ways to stay competitive and prepare students for an evolving job market during the pandemic. WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi interviewed Dr. Anne Kress, president, Northern Virginia Community College and Dr. Marilyn Hamilton, dean of academic affairs, University of the District of Columbia Community College about their programs for upskilling students for in-demand careers and/or to transfer to 4-year colleges. Hear the broadcast on WAMU.

Staying safe: The Meridian Group, the real estate firm behind The Boro development in Tysons earned a viral response certification with the highest score in the country to date since the Fitwel healthy building certifications system launched in July. “During an unprecedented time in real estate and the world, we are honored to be recognized for our innovative efforts to optimize safe environments in our buildings,” Meridian Group CFO and COO Mark King said, according to Tysons Reporter.

Top ten Tysons: Tysons is a national leader for apartment construction in recent years, WTOP reports, citing numbers from RentCafe. It analyzed data for large-scale apartment buildings of 50 units or more in suburban areas that have delivered in the last five years. In Tysons, developers have delivered 2,562 new units in large buildings in the last five years, putting Tysons at no. 10 nationally for new apartment unit deliveries — and no. 1 in the Washington, D.C., region.

And adding more apartments along the Orange Line: A pair of developers have begun advancing plans to bring nearly 1,000 new apartments to the area around the Vienna Metro station, a project that was first pitched for the area nearly 15 years ago. Pulte Homes and CRC Companies are both pushing ahead with new construction on the 56-acre site adjacent to the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro Station. The companies could start work in 2021 on what would eventually be six buildings with at least 980 units and 41,500 square feet of retail, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Pilot protection: The the Air Force selected Falls Church-area Northrop Grumman to complete final project efforts to provide the electronic-warfare suite for the service branch’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet. Northrop Grumman’s offering will work to protect pilots from radio frequency-guided weapons by detecting, identifying and defeating advanced threat systems. “The electronic warfare suite will significantly increase protection to F-16 operators as they execute their missions in increasingly contested environments,” said Ryan Tintner, VP, Northrop Grumman Missions Systems. ExecutiveGov flew in the news.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County