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Fairfax County Economic Development Authority President and CEO Victor Hoskins was among the 25 leaders of Fairfax County-based companies and organizations honored by Washingtonian as on its 2023 list of “Tech Titans,” which it refers to as the “most important and innovative leaders in D.C.’s tech scene right now.”

“It is an honor to be included in Washingtonian’s esteemed list of tech leaders from Fairfax County and the Greater Washington region,” said Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of FCEDA. “Each of these leaders is making an enormous contribution to technological innovation and advancement in our region, the nation and the world.”

Washingtonian specifically recognized “the push by Hoskins’s organization to grow a tech-talent pipeline for local companies expanded this year to reaching out to those with military ties—spouses, transitioning servicemembers, and vets—to encourage them to take the next step in their career.” This is Hoskins’ second year on the Tech Titans list.

Hoskins joins an impressive list of this year’s Tech Titan honorees leading the following Fairfax County-based companies and organizations:

• Alarm.com, Steve Trundle, President and CEO
• Altamira, Jane Chappell, CEO
• Appian, Matt Calkins, Founder and CEO
• Amazon Web Services, Max Peterson, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector; and Clint Crosier, Director, Aerospace and Satellite Solutions
• Black Girl Ventures, Omi Bell, Founder and CEO
• Blue Delta Capital Partners, Mark Frantz and Kevin Robbins, Co-founders and General Partners
• Chamber of Progress, Adam Kovacevich, Founder and CEO
• Custom Ink, Marc Katz, Co-founder and CEO
• Cvent, Reggie Aggarwal, CEO and Founder; David Quattrone, Co-founder and CTO; and Chuck Ghoorah, Co-founder and President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing
• Expel, Dave Merkel, Co-founder and CEO
• General Dynamics, Phebe N. Novakovic, Chairman and CEO
• General Dynamics Information Technology, Amy Gilliland, President
• Hawkeye360, John Serafini, CEO
• Intellibridge, Cass Panciocco, President and CEO
• Iridium, Matthew Desch, CEO
• Lease Accelerator, Michael Keeler, Chairman and CEO
• Leidos, Thomas Bell, CEO
• Ligado Networks, Doug Smith, President and CEO
• MicroStrategy, Michael J. Saylor, Executive Chairman
• Northrop Grumman, Kathy Warden, Chairman, President, and CEO
• Proof.VC, John Backus, Thanasis Delistathis, Co-founders and Managing Partners; and  John Burke, Co-founder and Venture Partner
• Razor’s Edge Ventures, Steve Pann, Peggy Styer, Richard Moxley, Mark Spoto and Jack Kerrigan, Co-founders and Managing Partners
• Revature, Ashwin Bharath, CEO
• Silverado Policy Accelerator, Dmitri Alperovitch and Maureen Hinman, Co-founders/Chairpersons

Click here to see Washingtonian’s entire 2023 Tech Titans list.

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Time is Running Out to Secure Your Spot at the Center of Quantum!

It’s just two short weeks until the 2023 Quantum World Congress kicks off at the Capital One Hall in Tysons!

If you are looking to be at the center of the quantum future, you do not want to miss:

🌏 75 speakers from around the world

📣 16 plenary events and announcements from industry, government, and academia

👏 11 interactive bootcamps and workshops

🎉 4 big networking and social events

😎 5 breakout tracks

😍 35+ breakout sessions

Click here to register now!

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Weekly Business News Digest

Supporting hypersonic technology innovation: Rocket Lab USA has signed a contract with Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor Leidos to launch four Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) missions in 2024 and 2025, reported Virginia Business. The suborbital testbed launch vehicle missions will lift off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County.  “Our first HASTE mission … successfully demonstrated HASTE’s ability to accelerate the cadence of hypersonic flight testing for the nation,” Brian Rogers, Rocket Lab’s senior director of global launch services, said in a statement. “We’re proud to now follow it up with a series of four additional missions for Leidos to support hypersonic technology innovation and technology maturation.”

Raised the industry bar: Reston-based Science Applications International Corp. posted $247 million in net income for the second quarter of its 2023 fiscal year — up 234 percent from the prior-year period, according to GovConWire. In an earnings call, SAIC CEO Nazzic Keene noted the key transactions that have driven the company’s portfolio and its business strategy after she assumed the post in July 2019. Keene will transition to a special advisory role when Toni Townes-Whitley, a 35-year technology industry veteran, takes on the chief executive role. “I feel confident that as I step down, SAIC is in a strong position with an exceptional leadership team. Across the entire enterprise, we have raised the bar and continue to win the war for talent.”

Dealerships deal: Tysons-based Jim Koons Automotive Companies, the D.C. region’s largest auto dealership chain and one of the largest privately owned dealership groups in the U.S., is being acquired by Asbury Automotive Group in Duluth, Georgia, for roughly $1.2 billion in what the buyer is billing as of one the largest retail automotive acquisitions in U.S. history, Washington Business Journal reported. Koons operates 20 dealerships in the Washington-Baltimore region, 29 franchises and six collision centers and posted revenue last year of around $3.2 billion. Koons is joining a Fortune 500 company that operates more than 130 dealerships representing 31 automotive brands as well as 32 collision centers. Koons was founded in 1964 with a single dealership in Falls Church. Apart from being the region’s top dealership and most recognizable brands, Koons Automotive has been repeatedly recognized as a top place to work by the Washington Business Journal and The Washington Post. It has about 2,500 employees in the region.

Lifetime Service Award: The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce presented Tysons-based PenFed Credit Union President/CEO and PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck with the Lifetime Service Award for his outstanding contributions to help veterans succeed, citybiz reported. The award ceremony was attended by hundreds of business leaders and held at the Army Navy Country Club. “I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of my amazing network of colleagues, friends, and mentors who have positively influenced my career over the past 35 years,” said Schenck during his remarks. “Teamwork is everything. As a business leader and veteran, I understand that we all find success by working together. My time serving in the military profoundly influenced my career.” Click here to see a FCEDA interview with James Schenck.

Airport surface safety: Tysons and Bedford, Mass.-based MITRE has built two prototypes designed to help the Federal Aviation Administration improve safety on the airport surface by mitigating runway incursions through aircraft movement monitoring and issuance of alerts to air traffic controllers and pilots, according to ExecutiveGov. One of the technologies is an application that works on a tablet computer and could provide pilots with turn-by-turn guidance. The app prototype is part of a set of cognitive assistance systems for pilots and could issue alerts if pilots get off course. The other beta program is designed to help air traffic controllers monitor the airport surface.

Cloud-based biometrics platform: Reston-based Leidos has assisted the Department of Defense in enabling a cloud-based, fully automated biometrics platform in an effort to boost the system availability and performance for warfighters and other stakeholders, according to ExecutiveBiz. The company said it has completed the cloud implementation of DOD’s Automated Biometrics Information System via the Biometrics Enabling Capability, Increment One contract. Through BEC-1, Leidos was able to reduce the biometric data processing time of the system’s Biometrically Enabled Watch List Dissemination Management Functionality from days to hours using advanced engineering techniques. “By securing this data in the cloud we have a solid foundation to deploy future increments and reduce reliance on traditional computing services,” said Will Johnson, senior vice president and logistics and mission support operations manager at Leidos.

Multi-orbit strategy: Tysons-based Intelsat’s CEO Dave Wajsgras recently said he sees the company’s multi-orbit strategy as having a significant impact on the industry.  In an interview Constellations, Wajsgras said that Intelsat is the operator of over 50 satellites in geostationary orbit, and also partners with operators of satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO). “LEO providers are making inroads and ramping up manufacturing, which we believe will generate new partnership opportunities for Intelsat,” Wajsgras said. Wasjgras added that Intelsat is looking to develop a constellation in medium-Earth orbit. At the recent 2023 World Satellite Business Week event, Wajsgras said his company would make a decision regarding the constellation in six months, ExecutiveBiz reported.

New name: TenCate Advanced Armour, headquartered in Tysons, has been renamed Integris Composites, according to Innovation in Textiles. The company is a partner in the design, engineering and manufacturing of solutions for global defense contractors, including Boeing, Airbus, General Dynamics and BAE Systems, as well as major police agencies. “In 2020 we re-established the company as a stand-alone business and we now have a stand-alone identity,” said CEO John W. Mercer. “Our name has changed, but not our company, or our commitment to creating cutting-edge composite solutions. As a technical company specialized in engineering, design and the manufacturing of high-quality composite solutions, we have a reputation for supporting long life-cycle programs – on time, on price and on quality.” Integris maintains the ability to develop, test and manufacture armor solutions in its Danish, French and U.S. facilities.

Malaysian data centers: Herndon-based data center provider EdgeConneX announced its entrance into the Malaysian market with plans to build highly proximate and high-power data centers that will deliver nearly 300 MWs of capacity combined. Located in critical locations across Malaysia, the new EdgeConneX data centers in Kuala Lumpur’s Central Business District, Bukit Jalil, and Cyberjaya offer customers the ability to design highly customized configurations, according to Yahoo Finance.

Done deal: Herndon-based ManTech International Corporation has completed the acquisition of Arlington-based Definitive Logic, a provider of digital transformation consulting and technology solutions for Defense, Homeland Security and Federal Civilian agencies, Intelligence Community News reported. “The acquisition of Definitive Logic builds upon ManTech’s consultative services in Bringing Digital to the Mission in support of our customers,” said Matt Tait, CEO and President of ManTech. “ManTech and Definitive Logic share a passion for people and innovation that helps our customers transform and advance missions. I am pleased to welcome this exceptional team of colleagues who share our steadfast commitment to supporting our customers.”

Circles of Memory: Fairfax County has taken another step forward in the process of creating a permanent COVID-19 memorial, reported Northern Virginia Magazine. ArtsFairfax and the Fairfax County Arts Committee unanimously appointed two artists, Miriam Gusevich and Salvatore Pirrone, to create the memorial. The memorial, entitled Circles of Memory, will honor victims of the pandemic as well as frontline health care workers, county staff, nonprofits, and first responders. It will be located at the Herrity Building and Public Safety Headquarters at 12055 Government Center Pkwy, Fairfax.

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Contract Wins

Leidos (Reston) won a $918 million contract to support and enhance the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) networks. Intelligence Community News

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September 21 — GovFuture Forum. Attend GovFuture Forum, a monthly demo and panel event where government innovators, technologists, thought leaders, movers-and-shakers, government ecosystem partners, and interested people see showcases on cool new technology in a demo format, learn from innovators in high-value panels, and interact with each other. Click here to see the agenda, featured speakers and to register.

September 21 — Digital Transformation: Accelerating Change through Mobility. Join NVTC’s Digital Transformation Community of Interest as they engage in a lively panel discussion bringing together federal, county, and industry IT and security leaders to explore mobility’s unique role in driving digital transformation. Click here to register.

September 26-28, 2023 – Quantum World Congress 2023. Quantum World Congress 2023 will once again bring together leaders from across the quantum ecosystem around the globe to address pressing challenges and emerging trends and share insights that help to accelerate and commercialize quantum technologies. Programming will take many forms — from presentations and panels to fireside chats and networking sessions. QWC will enable relevant, timely, and industry-leading information sharing and relationship building across these formats to foster a responsible environment for quantum growth. QWC 2023 will be held at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia. Click here to register.