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Best places to work: The Washington Business Journal is out with its 15th annual “75 Best Places to Work in Greater Washington” list and we are proud to say that Fairfax County and Northern Virginia businesses dominate the list. Among the 34 businesses in Fairfax County are Splunk (Tysons), Salesforce (Reston), Acuity (Reston), Expel (Herndon), Sequoia Holdings (Reston), M2 Strategy (Tysons), AnaVation (Chantilly) and Matrix Consulting (Reston). Another 14 companies from around Northern Virginia made the list, including integrateIT (Ashburn), Kearney & Co. (Alexandria) and Lovelytics (Arlington). Doing the math, we get 48 out of 75 (64 percent) of the listed businesses hail from NOVA. Companies made the list based on survey responses from their employees on perks, leadership, office space, culture and more, according to the Business Journal. Click here to check out the full list.

Sky-high investment: HawkEye 360, a Herndon-based global commercial provider of space-based radio frequency data and analytics, secured $55 million in Series C funding, bringing its total raised to over $155 million. The company intends to use the funds to develop and launch three additional satellite clusters, expanding the scope of HawkEye 360’s planned constellation. When fully deployed by the end of 2022, the company will have nine next-generation satellite clusters in orbit. Check out this release picked up by citybizlist for more. And see the FCEDA’s interview with HawkEye 360’s CEO John Serafini by clicking here.

Keeping the pace: As the nation begins to look past the coronavirus pandemic, things are looking up in Fairfax County, Bisnow reports in a story about the Reston-Herndon commercial real estate market. Virginia’s most populous county held onto its title as home to a large concentration of government contracting jobs, IT firms and Fortune 500 companies during the pandemic. “With the deals signed by Microsoft, Volkswagen Group of America, Google and others, the Reston-Herndon office market has been one of the most active and positive during the pandemic,” Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the FCEDA said. “With the proximity to Washington Dulles International Airport, Reston and Herndon have so many of the assets and amenities that businesses and talent want to have, and it really shows in the level of activity the market has had in the last year.” And find out how development is keeping on pace in Herndon and Reston, despite delays with phase two of the Silver Line construction, in this Bisnow piece.

Another captain-less ship on the high seas: Reston-based Leidos has successfully delivered an unmanned surface vehicle to the Navy designed to deliver enhanced naval capabilities. Known as Seahawk, the advanced autonomous vessel was built under a contract awarded by the Office of Naval Research in December 2017. Leidos Vice President Nevin Carr said, “As technology continues to accelerate and adversaries become more sophisticated, our customers must constantly evolve. We are honored to provide this latest technological advancement to America’s sailors who fight to keep the seas open and free.” Designed as a long-range, high-availability autonomous surface vessel, Seahawk features a trimaran (three-part) hull. Find out more in Navy Technology. And check out FCEDA’s recent interview with Leidos’ CFO Jim Reagan by clicking here.

Billion dollar deal bonanza: On the heels of an $830 million U.S. Army contract won in February, Reston-based Science Applications International Corp. has landed two more Army contracts worth a combined $4.4 billion. The Fortune 500 defense contractor says both contracts will provide systems engineering services to support the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation & Missile Center and its S3I Directorate — Software, Simulation, Systems Engineering and Integration. “We look forward to extending our support to the Army and our warfighters for many years to come,” Gabe Camarillo, senior vice president of SAIC’s Army Business Unit, said. Virginia Business has more.

A SPAC-tacular IPO: Israeli digital forensics startup Cellebrite, an Israeli company which has an office in Tysons, is set to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) through a merger with TWC Tech Holdings II Corp. in a deal that values the company at about $2.4 billion. Cellebrite intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to accelerate plans to pursue significant near-term growth opportunities, develop new customer solutions and expand its market reach, siliconANGLE reported.

Employing our Veterans: U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh visited Vantage Point Consulting in Reston on Friday to talk about The American Jobs Plan and how it could help recent veterans and others transition back into the workforce. Vantage Point Consulting is a small business that specializes in helping people plan for their careers. The discussion focused on ways to create workforce opportunities, not just for veterans, but for others seeking to advance their careers or those reentering the job force in the aftermath of the pandemic. Walsh said that it was important to visit companies like Vantage Point that are helping veterans transition back into civilian life after service, Reston Patch reported.

Protecting schools: Senseware, a Tysons-based developer of an air quality monitoring platform for commercial and industrial buildings, has been chosen to provide its monitoring services at the District of Columbia’s 112 public schools. During the COVID pandemic, air quality at schools has taken on heightened importance. Senseware will provide real-time data on air quality at the schools, along with recommendations for making improvements. “This platform will allow us to answer the most basic question— is it working and what we can do to continue to improve the indoor air quality,” the D.C. Public Schools and the Department of General Services said a statement. Potomac Tech Wire carried the release. And check out the FCEDA’s interview with  Serene Al-Momen, Senseware’s co-founder and CEO, by clicking here.

Super staffing: In a deal that will create one of the largest IT staffing firms in the U.S., Digital Intelligence Systems (DISYS), a Tysons-based managed services and staffing firm, agreed to acquire Florida-based Signature Consultants, an IT staffing firm. The combined companies will have annual revenues of $860 million and a footprint of over 40 offices. “For DISYS, combining forces with Signature is a great strategic fit for both of our organizations. This brings expanded opportunities as we continue to diversify our account portfolio and puts us within striking distance of becoming a $1 billion firm,” said Mahfuz Ahmed, CEO of DISYS. Virginia Business has more.

Stratospheric excellence: Tysons-based LMI and the Space Force Association, located in the Pentagon, established the Space Center of Excellence that will house collaborative efforts between industry, academia and the federal government in support of U.S. Space Force missions. The Space COE will host forums that focus on sharing research and ideas for programs involving the space domain. LMI will support Space COE’s efforts to launch educational and professional development initiatives in focus areas such as science and technology, strategy and policy. Bill Woolf, president and founder of SFA, said the center’s first task will revolve around quantifying opportunities and challenges for the Space Force, according to ExecutiveBiz.

British connection: UK.-based cybersecurity company Garrison Technology launched a five-member government advisory panel based in McLean. The panel, comprised of professionals from the U.S. and U.K. governments, will provide the company with leadership and guidance as it attempts to broaden its business with the federal government. Potomac Tech Wire carried the release.

Analytical acquisition: Information Analysis, a Fairfax-based IT firm, acquired Rockville-based Tellenger, a provider of cybersecurity and data analytics services. Information Analysis trades on the over-the-counter market. Potomac Tech Wire picked up the release.

Swept up in the wind: Chantilly-based IT services provider SolutionWorx has been acquired by WingSwept, a B2B tech services company based in Garner, North Carolina. The deal will allow the managed IT service providers to grow, and provide SolutionWorx with the resources of a larger organization. SolutionWorx’s location in the D.C. metro area added to the appeal, WingSwept noted, according to Virginia Business.

Under the sea: The U.S. arm of Israel’s Elbit Systems, Elbit Systems America, which has an office in Reston, completed its $380 million purchase of Florida-headquartered Sparton, a critical supplier of sonobuoys to the U.S. Navy and allies. Sparton will operate as a subsidiary of Elbit America with an independent board so that it can focus on undersea business activities with more sensitivity for U.S. customers, reported Defense News.

TV with a twist: Tysons-based Tegna, owner of 64 television stations including WUSA9 in D.C., has launched a 24-hour, women-oriented lifestyle and reality TV network called Twist — and watching it comes with a twist as well. Twist is not carried on cable channels, but is instead an over-the-air channel that viewers will find on digital sub-channels of its local broadcast television stations. Viewing those channels requires a digital over-the-air antenna, increasingly popular with consumers, WTOP reported.

Notable contract wins by firms in Fairfax County

BAE Systems won a $600 million contract from the Air Force to supply support equipment for the international F-16 fleet. Air Force Technology

Perspecta’s research and engineering arm received two contracts worth $8.1 million combined to provide prototyping support for the Department of Defense’s 5G testbed initiatives. ExecutiveBiz

Alion Science and Technology secured a $77 million five-year contract from the Air Force to provide aircraft and weapons systems research and development for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office. Air Force Technology

Northrop Grumman obtained a five-year, $42.5 million contract from the Air Force to sustain a platform to manage cyberspace tools and weapon systems. ExecutiveBiz

ICF received a five-year, $33.9 million contract from NASA to help  administer a program that works to coordinate government agencies’ studies on changes. ExecutiveBiz

Salient CRGT won a contract to support the Navy’s Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity effort with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. Naval Technology

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