E-Newsletter

November 10, 2022 E-news: Resources for job seekers, companies looking to hire veterans + Weekly Business News Digest

photo courtesy of Trish Alegre-Smith

Stepping up to help those who served: Resources for job seekers, companies looking to hire veterans

Whether you are a veteran or military spouse looking for job opportunities, or your company is seeking to hire veterans, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, a V3-certified organization, and its partner organizations stand ready to assist you. With an estimated 80,000 veterans living in Fairfax County, and more than 372,000 veterans throughout the D.C. metro area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as transitioning service members and military spouses, the FCEDA and its partner organizations provide and support a wide variety of services, as well as connections to additional resources.

The veteran community is a key focus for the FCEDA’s talent program, which aims to help companies find talent and jobseekers locate career opportunities. Check out workinnorthernvirginia.com/veterans-clearance to find out about job opportunities, links to partner organizations, and much more.

Click here to find out more.


Weekly Business News Digest

Best for Veterans: Reston-based Leidos placed at no. 2 out of 200 on Forbes’ 2022 list of “America’s Best Employers for Veterans,” following Washington, D.C.-based NASA, which landed first on the list.

Twelve additional Fairfax County-headquartered companies landed on the list: (preceded by placement number on the list.)

In addition, the following companies based in other Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance locations ranked on the list:

To compile the ranking, Statista surveyed more than 7,000 U.S. veterans (including those in the National Guard and military reserves) working for American-based companies employing at least 1,000 people to determine which excel in veteran career development, recruitment, leadership opportunities, and more, according to Forbes.


Virginia is for Launch Lovers: Rocket Lab USA will launch the first U.S. mission for its Electron rocket from a launch pad on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia during a 13-day window that opens Dec. 7. The mission, called “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” will deploy satellites for Herndon-based HawkEye 360 and will be Rocket Lab’s first liftoff from the company’s Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within the NASA facility. California-based Rocket Lab announced in February that it selected Wallops Island as the location for its launch site and a new manufacturing and assembly complex for its new Neutron rocket. “We’re proud to be a Virginia-based company, with Virginia-developed technology, launching out of the Virginia spaceport,” HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini said. “We selected Rocket Lab because of the flexibility it enables for us to place the satellites into an orbit tailored to benefit our customers. Deploying our satellites on Rocket Lab’s inaugural launch is a giant leap in Virginia’s flourishing space economy.” HawkEye opened a new, 19,000-square-foot facility in Herndon in July to boost production of its satellites. Virginia Business has more.

Filling tech roles: Fairfax-based BuildWithin, a software developer focused on managing apprenticeship and workforce training programs, has raised $2.4 million in pre-seed funding, along with nearly $8 million for government grants. The company was founded by former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Ximena Hartsock, the founder of Phone2Action. The round was led by Dundee Venture Capital with participation from Black Capital, Atento Capital and Global Impact Fund II. In addition to the seed capital, BuildWithin said that it has also raised nearly $7.9 million in grants from the Department of Labor. “At my prior tech company, we had trouble filling our tech roles, so we started an apprenticeship program. We realized that there were a lot of capable people out there who could be quickly and effectively trained to fill technology roles,” said Hartsock. “Many of the team members who went through our program are now working at some of the top tech companies in the country like Google, Uber and Amazon, and others.” Potomac Tech Wire carried the release. technical.ly has more.

Removing systemic barriers: Tysons-based MITRE partnered with MassChallenge, a Boston, Mass.-headquartered startup accelerator, to develop a new mentorship program to help remove systemic barriers that hinder underrepresented founders from accessing resources for growth. The program will run from January through March 2023 and will be open to underrepresented founders who operate start-ups that focus on advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity or digital health. Ten participants will be selected to receive mentorship from subject matter experts to expand their knowledge of the government market, get access to key resources and connect with potential investors and end users. Interested parties have until Nov. 18 to submit applications for the new mentorship program, according to ExecutiveGov.

Key win: Falls Church area-based Northrop Grumman selected Reston-based Leidos to supply infrared sensor payloads for the U.S. Space Development Agency’s missile-tracking satellite constellation in low Earth orbit, SpaceNews reported.“It’s a key win for our space business,” Leidos chairman and CEO Roger Krone said on Nov. 1 during a third-quarter earnings call. Leidos, formed in 2013 as a spinoff of the defense contractor Reston-based SAIC, gained significant expertise in sensor satellites and payloads when it acquired Huntsville, Alabama-based Dynetics in 2019.

Answering the ‘so-what’ quickly: Tysons-based LMI launched a platform designed to help program managers and analysts gain insights into risks and opportunities in their supply chains and accelerate the decision-making process to mitigate risks posed by foreign ownership, transportation and other supply chain problems, reported ExecutiveBiz. LogSmart Supply uses machine learning and simulation engines to enable managers to run custom risk scenarios and come up with mitigation strategies using their organizations’ supply chain data. “We have experienced a massive increase in organizations collecting data about their supply chains in the past two years. But the challenge remains answering the ‘so-what’ quickly, and at scale,” said Patrick Mahoney, vice president of supply chain management at LMI.

First launch: The first Terminal Flight Data Manager system, which Reston-based Leidos developed for the Federal Aviation Administration, is now operational at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio. The deployment of TFDM is meant to diminish runway departure queues and ensure streamlined air traffic control tower operations. Commenting on the launch, Leidos Transportation Solutions Senior Vice President Fran Hill noted, “Not only will it improve the passenger experience by reducing delays, but it will also lower greenhouse gas emissions through reduced airplane taxi times.” ExecutiveBiz has more.

Undersea dominance and agility: Tysons-based HII Mission Technologies, a division of Newport News, Va.-based shipbuilding company HII introduced a new unmanned underwater vehicle optimized for U.S. Navy deployment. The REMUS 620 was constructed by HII Mission Technologies for duties such as intelligence gathering, mine protection, electronic warfare and hydrographic surveys. Duane Fotheringham, president of the unmanned systems group within Mission Technologies, explained that the UUV was developed to help support maintaining “a forward strategic advantage,” which the executive says necessitates undersea dominance and agility. ExecutiveBiz has more.

Communicating through anything: Virginia Venture Partners, the equity investment program of Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), announced an investment in Tysons-based Saltenna, a company that designs, builds and implements antenna hardware for government, military and commercial customers. Saltenna uses surface electromagnetic waves for communication and imaging underwater, which is more advanced than the currently used method of ultrasound and visible frequencies. “Saltenna’s technology empowers customers to make previous transmissions, communications and imaging possible. If one can scan or communicate through deep seawater or thick metal walls, then they can communicate through anything,” said Mark Barry, President of Saltenna. EIN News picked up the release.

Elevating geolocation: NextNav, a provider of GPS and 3D geolocation technology with dual headquarters in Tysons and Silicon Valley, said it has paid $19.3 million in cash and stock to acquire France-based Nestwave, a provider of low-power geolocation technology. The deal included $4.3 million in cash and $15 million in stock. NextNav said pairing its technology with Nestwave’s LTE/5G capabilities will allow it to combine signals from existing terrestrial LTE/5G networks with its own TerraPoiNT system to deliver nearly nationwide 3D position, navigation and timing capabilities. GPS World has more.

Medical merger: Tysons-based health information technology provider CNSI and Nashville, Tenn.-based health care management tech company Kepro have agreed to merge, the two firms announced Wednesday. The combined company will provide government-sponsored healthcare agencies and payers with clinical services, provider management, health claims, processing and health analytics services. The merger is expected to close in December. Affiliated funds of Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group own CNSI, and funds affiliated with Apax Partners own Kepro. Apax Funds will be exiting its investment through the merger. The new company will maintain both the Tysons and Nashville locations. CNSI has 1,200 employees. Kepro has 1,700 employees across 17 offices, and a network of 4,500 doctors and 450 clinicians who serve on its advisory and review panels, Virginia Business reported.

Cyber connection: Tysons-based Merlin Cyber, has partnered with U.K.-based Titania. Specializing in foundational network configuration security for Zero Trust and mandated compliance assurance, Titania is helping U.S. government agencies to accurately detect, risk-prioritize, and remediate exploitable misconfigurations in their firewalls, switches, and routers in order to reduce their attack surfaces. Through the partnership, Merlin Cyber will help Titania strategically extend its public sector footprint, enabling more agencies to embrace continuous, proactive network security. Yahoo News carried the release.

Opening soon: Kaiser Permanente is about to open its new Springfield Medical Center, reported the Washington Business Journal in an article for subscribers.  The new 99,000-square-foot facility at 6551 Loisdale Court in Springfield, set to start seeing patients Monday, replaces the adjacent Springfield site — Kaiser’s oldest Mid-Atlantic property. The new facility expects to serve more than 47,000 Fairfax County residents and 144,000 annual visits.

Let the sun shine in: For the first time, the Fairfax County School Board has approved a contract to install rooftop solar panels on a school building, FFXnow reported. Under a solar power purchase agreement, Annandale High School will receive solar panels as a pilot program. Merrifield-based Ipsun Solar will begin the panel installation sometime in late 2023 or early 2024, a Fairfax County Public Schools spokesperson said, according to the article. FCPS is also working to advance projects at additional schools before the end of this year. Annandale Patch has more.

Batter up! Tysons-based Capital One has officially gotten permission to build a temporary baseball diamond and two permanent parks near its headquarters in Tysons, FFXnow reported. The Fairfax County Planning Commission approved two separate plans for recreational amenities on Oct. 26, setting the stage for work on the baseball field to potentially finish in time for the upcoming spring season. “Having these amenities provides more things to do, reasons to visit, reasons to stay longer, and that dynamic is fantastic from a recruiting and retention standpoint for Capital One,” said McGuireWoods Managing Partner Greg Riegle.

Veteran’s Day activities: 7News compiled a list of what’s going on in the DMV to celebrate Veteran’s Day this weekend on Friday, Nov. 11 through Sunday, Nov. 13.  Click here to view the list.


Contract Wins

Northrop Grumman (Falls Church area) secured a $3.6 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force to equip two additional E-11A modified Bombardier aircraft with an airborne communications relay and gateway system. GovConWire

Inmarsat Government (Reston) obtained a $410 million contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for satellite communications to support connectivity. Intelligence Community News

QinetiQ (Lorton) won a four-year, $48 million contract to support the U.S. Army’s C5ISR Center Research and Technology Integration Directorate’s Image Processing Division. ExecutiveGov

Maximus (Reston) received a $10 million contract from the Washington, D.C. Department of Human Services to improve the D.C. Family Rehousing and Stabilization Program, which aims to aid families who have endured homelessness in creating long-term housing plans. ExecutiveGov


FCEDA Hosted and Sponsored Events

Nov. 15 — Institutional Investment in Blockchain Technology. The Chamber of Digital Commerce and Virginia Blockchain Council present an in-person and virtual hybrid event. Join us to hear from Fairfax County’s pension funds’ as they discuss their pioneering investments in digital assets and the blockchain sector, as well as learn from other integral players in digital assets and their experiences. Click here to register.

Nov. 15 to 16 — TiE DC Capital GovCon and ELITE Awards Gala. TiE DC Capital GovCon 2022 will bring together over 300 small business owners and professionals in the D.C. Metro region for two days of content-rich programming and networking. The event will feature government & industry leaders leading significant digital transformation efforts across their respective agencies. Click here to register. Use code GovCon10! For discounted ticket pricing.

Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 — Global convening of the inaugural Quantum World Congress. This global event will bring the future into focus while establishing the Greater Washington region as a go-to destination and meeting place for quantum technology visionaries, policymakers, researchers, business and investment leaders, and students. With the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, and the Commonwealth of Virginia as major sponsors, the event is organized by Connected DMV. Click here to learn more, see the list of expert speakers, and reserve your spot.

Dec. 6 — 2022 NVTC Tech 100 Celebration. The Northern Virginia Technology Council will host its annual event at Capital One Hall in Tysons to celebrate the top companies and leaders in the Greater Washington tech community.  Click here to register.


FCEDA is Here to Help Your Business Thrive

Fairfax County EDA is here to connect businesses of all kinds to resources and information. For direct assistance, email the FCEDA at info@fceda.org, or call 703-790-0600 to leave a voice message for our staff. And click here for resources available in the other nine jurisdictions that make up the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance.