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| Business Intelligence for Virginia's Entrepreneurial Economy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In This Issue... Expansions, Relocations & Launches, Who's Hot, Who's Not, Who's Winning Business, Deals Makers, Innovations, Deals & Partnerships, People, Trends, Other News, Commentary, Events, Click here to forward to a friend or colleague who might like this newsletter. |
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| Back To Top | Expansions, Relocations & Launches  |
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Sponsors: 
Legal Services 
Investment banking |
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Specialty Blades Launches Medical Device Division STAUNTON-Specialty Blades, Inc., has launched a new division, IncisionTech, focused on developing new products for medical applications. Developing devices that cut, pierce, poke or prod, IncisionTech has a full range of custom products under development, including endoscopic scissors, sharpened tubes, biopsy punches, and surgical blades. Said CEO Peter Harris: "Our mission is to improve the performance of medical devices through providing targeted components, value-added services and expertise to device OEMs and designers." More. In Brief... RICHMOND--Homewatch CareGivers, a national provider of in-home living assistance, has opened an office at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park to provide customized professional services for seniors, and others who are rehabilitating, in the Richmond region. More. |
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| Back To Top | Who's Hot... |
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Email Marketing Experts |
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Fortress America Raises $4.8 Million in Over-Allotment ARLINGTON-Underwriters of an Initial Public Offering by Fortress America Acquisition Corporation have acquired an additional 800,000 units (consisting of one share of common stock and two warrants) through an over-allotment option. Sale of the units generated gross proceeds of $4.8 million. Fortress America is a blank check company recently formed to acquire an operating business in the homeland security industry. More. |
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| Back To Top | Who's Not... |
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Partners: 
B2B Marketing Research 
Virginia Technology Conference |
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Smithfield Packing to Consolidate Hog Processing Operations SMITHFIELD-Smithfield Packing Company will shift hog processing operations from its Smithfield South facility to its Smithfield North and Tar Heel, N.C., facilities in October, allowing the company to use vacant plant space to install a production line of pre-cooked microwave bacon next year. The changeover affects approximately 570 of the company's 4,000 employees in Southeast Virginia. The company hopes to rehire all affected employees over the next nine months. Explained CEO Joseph W. Luter IV: "This difficult but necessary decision to discontinue hog processing at the Smithfield plant is driven largely by hog availability and competitive industry conditions. This lack of hog supply is the direct result of the moratorium on hog farms in North Carolina and the de facto moratorium in Virginia." More. |
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| Back To Top | Who's Winning Business... |
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The Boomer Project 
National Association of Women Business Owners 
Virginia FREE 
Searchable Business Database 
Virginia Technology Alliance
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From Plowshares into Swords: Ashland Adapts Fuel Cells for Military Use ALEXANDRIA--The Ashlawn Group has been awarded a U.S. Army contract to produce and demonstrate the performance of Ashlawn's proprietary fuel cell, the PEMERY P-100, for use as post-launch power source for the Army's Multi-Option Fuze Artillery. Said President Norma Byron: "This effort applies cutting edge fuel cell technology to the munitions marketplace -- a non-traditional market for fuel cells. At the current full-rate annual production of roughly 100,000 units for the M782 Multi-Option Fuze Artillery, full-rate production of P-100 would double the current fuel cell production output in the United States of America, having enormous implications for creating economies of scale in U.S. fuel cell production." More. SAIC to Upgrade Illinois Toll System MCLEAN--Science Applications International Corporation has been awarded a $6.6 million contract by the Illinois Tollway to assist in the system-wide conversion to Open Road Tolling, the first in the nation to convert all mainline toll plazas to a barrier-free electronic toll collection system. SAIC's Violation Enforcement System enforces payment of tolls by capturing images of vehicle license plates that drive through toll lanes without paying or without a valid I-PASS. More. BearingPoint to Support Navy Six Sigma MCLEAN--BearingPoint, Inc., a management consulting and systems integration firm, has won a two-year, $4 million contract to support process improvements at the United States Naval Air Systems Command Depot in Cherry Point, N.C. NAVAIR has an initiative to boost efficiency by using Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints. More. Tokyo Electron Selects Surety Data-Integrity Solution HERNDON--Surety, LLC, a developer of electronic data integrity solutions, has licensed its AbsoluteProof Trusted 3rd Party Digital Time Stamping service to Tokyo Electron, a global manufacturer of semiconductor and flat-panel display production equipment. The company's Intellectual Property Engineers will use the service to capture, manage and secure complex, high-value research and development data. More. In Brief... FAIRFAX--Anteon International Corporation has received a $26.5 million contract to provide engineering, software and test-and-evaluation support for the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Calif. More. FAIRFAX--ICF Consulting has won a five-year contract potentially worth $19.5 million to provide consulting services and technical support related to the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation. More. VIENNA-The Nurses PRN Acquisition subsidiary of MSSI has been awarded a contract for supplemental staffing services in three south Florida counties. More. VIENNA-Telarix, a developer of Interconnect Business Optimization software for wireline and wireless carriers, has sold its iXTools software to Portugal Telecom as an end-to-end management and optimization solution. More. WILLIAMSBURG-INCOGEN, a developer of software for biotech scientists, has announced that it received a $500,000 Phase II SBIR award from the National Science Foundation to create an educational version of its industry-leading bioinformatics analysis workflow platform, VIBE. More. HERNDON--Guardian Technologies International, Inc., has licensed its FlowPoint system to Hospital Mater Dei, a leading healthcare provider in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, providing all its radiology information management requirements. More. |
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| Back To Top | Deals & Partnerships |
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iDirect Technologies Sold to Singapore Firm for $165 Million HERNDON--iDirect Technologies, a developer of bi-directional satellite-based broadband access solutions, has agreed to a purchase by Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. for $165 million. Said iDirect CEO John Kealey: "Joining the ST Engineering Group gives us the opportunity to penetrate new markets. Our products are highly complementary to ST Engineering's satellite communications technologies, and together we will deliver a more complete package of solutions to our customers." More. Best Medical to Purchase Novoste Assets FAIRFAX-Best Medical International, Inc., a developer of radiation products for medical markets, has agreed to acquire the assets of Novoste Corporation's Vascular Brachytherapy business. Said Best President Krish Suthanthiran: "We have considerable experience in the radiation field and specific experience serving the vascular brachytherapy market. … Best is particularly pleased to be in a position to assure the cardiology community that this important therapy will be available on an ongoing basis." More. |
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| Back To Top | Innovations |
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Colonial Williamsburg Hosts Storytelling Festival WILLIAMSBURG-Reviving an art that is dying in an electronic media-saturated age, eight internationally acclaimed storytellers will gather in Williamsburg to participate in Colonials Williamsburg's first storytelling festival, "Spinning Stories/Spanning Time." These "word artisans" will bring to life childhood recollections, Southern stories, epic arguments, delicious recipes gone wrong, mime, African oral traditions, and post-modern folktales. The festival begins Sept. 16 at Bassett Hall. More. Aurora Delivers First RQ-4B Vertical Tails MANASSAS--Aurora Flight Sciences, developer of unmanned aerial vehicles, has delivered the first set of vertical tails for the new RQ-4B model of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle to prime contractor Northrop Grumman. Aurora designed and fabricated tooling for the new aircraft's aft fuselage, fairings, vertical tails and engine nacelle components. The delivery is a major milestone towards delivering the first RQ-4B, which is expected to make its first flight in 2006. More. Luna Unveils Reflectometer BLACKSBURG--Luna Technologies has introduced a new 1310 nm version of the industry's most sensitive frequency-domain reflectometer: the Optical Backscatter Reflectometer. This failure- analysis tool offers diagnostic capabilities to the manufacturers of fiber-optic components and assemblies. Designers and manufacturers can peer into the heart of optical components, modules and assemblies to measure minute reflections. More. MCI Unveils Integrated Security Services Portfolio ASHBURN--MCI, Inc., has rolled out its NetSec integrated portfolio that offers comprehensive threat intelligence and flexible security management. Unlike providers that offer point-solutions, MCI uses its Internet backbone network to deliver end-to-end security protection and management. Said Ken Ammon, president of the NetSec Security Services group: "By uniting the power of MCI's IP backbone infrastructure with NetSec's enterprise approach to monitoring and management, MCI is creating a new security standard for the industry." More. Trilegiant Rolls Out Small Business Loyalty Solution RICHMOND--Trilegiant Loyalty Solutions has launched a suite of enhancement and incentive products aimed at strengthening financial service companies' growing small business portfolios. The products include protection for electronics, legal and financial advice, cost savings on office equipment, health care discounts for employees, and other time-saving services on everyday small business activities. Said TLS Vice President of Marketing Andy Hodges: "This new suite of products allows our clients to … differentiate their offer in the marketplace with unique benefits for their small business customers." More. |
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| Back To Top | R&D / Intellectual Property |
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Hokies to Help Farmers Reduce Bay Pollution BLACKSBURG--Virginia Tech researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have been awarded an $883,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help dairy farmers reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The project will identify new technologies and processes for feed management, which could lead to lower nitrogen and phosphorus levels in manure. More. VCU Profs Create Magnetized Nanoparticles RICHMOND--Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have created highly magnetized nanoparticles based on metallic iron that could one day be used in a non-invasive therapy for cancer. "We envision a potential for these materials to combine both detection and treatment into a single process," said Everett E. Carpenter, Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemistry at VCU. More. VCU Researchers Plumb the Mysteries of Mast Cells RICHMOND--Virginia Commonwealth University immunologists studying mast cells, known to play a central role in asthma and allergic disease, have identified a hormone-like molecule that can kill these cells in mice by programming them to die. The findings move researchers another step closer to understanding the life cycle of mast cells, and may lead to development of new treatments for allergy and inflammatory responses in arthritis, multiple sclerosis and heart disease. More. |
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| Back To Top | People |
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Mantech CFO Resigns FAIRFAX-Ronald R. Spoehel, CFO of ManTech International Corporation, a provider of outsourcing services to state and federal government, has announced his resignation in order to join ICX Technologies. Kevin M. Phillips, the company's corporate vice president, has been named interim CFO a search for a replacement is conducted. More. |
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| Back To Top | Trends |
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Chmura Economics & Analytics |
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Loudoun Employment Growth. This chart displays employment growth for Loudon County alongside growth in Virginia. Over the last decade, Loudon County has continually outpaced the state in employment growth, peaking in the fourth quarter of 1999 with an 18.0 percent increase. For the year ending with the fourth quarter of 2004, employment in Loudon County advanced an astounding 10.0 percent compared to 2.6 percent for the state. Employment trends in regional labor markets are often the best overall measure of economic performance. While statistics relating to output growth, such as real gross domestic (state) product, are considered the most comprehensive performance figures for states and the nation, this data is not available for localities. For the latest analytics on labor market and workforce trends across Virginia, click here, or call (804) 649-1107. Federal ERP Spending to Grow 33 Percent by 2010 RESTON--Federal ERP spending is expected to grow 33 percent from $5.8 billion to $7.7 billion by Fiscal Year 2010, according to a report released by INPUT, the authority on government business. The federal ERP market has traditionally been dominated by spending on large supply chain management programs in the Department of Defense, but agency focus has been shifting over the past few years, placing more focus on the areas of financial management and human resources management. More. GMU Most Diverse University in Nation FAIRFAX-A total of 127 countries were represented among the 28,874 students enrolled at George Mason University this past academic year. That international contingent won GMU a designation by The Princeton Review as the most diverse institution of higher learning in the United States. Countries most represented at Mason include India with 303 students; China with 153; Republic of Korea with 85; and Saudi Arabia with 61. Mason boasts 1,710 international students. More. |
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| Back To Top | Other News |
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Needed: Restaurants in Staunton STAUNTON-Some cities recruit manufacturing facilities, some seek back-office operations, some vie for high-tech companies. The City of Staunton wants more restaurants. City economic developers are soliciting expansion-minded cities to consider locating in the Queen City. Says the city's website: "Our citizens are hungry and are tired of waiting in long lines when they go out to eat." Also, the website notes, Staunton's tourism business is growing rapidly, and the city needs restaurants to meet the increased demand for good food and quality dining. More. SCC Hires Human Resource Consultants RICHMOND-The State Corporation Commission has hired Buck Consultants, a human resource and benefits consulting firm, to provide a "total rewards assessment." Based on a review of the SCC's salary levels, benefits, work/life practices, salary structure, and performance management program, Buck will recommend changes to current programs and procedures. More. |
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| Back To Top | Commentary |
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Balanced Communities Developing Balanced Communities is critical to achieving sustainable New Urban Regions in a globally competitive economy. Herewith is a primer on what they are and how to create them. More. |
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Hard Times Richmond, 1865.... Henrico, 2005... The barbarian still lurks within us. The peculiar population of that suburb were gathered on the sidewalk; bold, dirty-looking women, who had evidently not been improved by four years of military association; dirtier, if possible, children; and here and there were skulking scoundrelly-looking men…hard at it, pillaging the burning city. "To Appomattox-Nine April Days," 1865, by Burke Davis, Eastern Acorn Press, 1959 More. |
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| Back To Top | Events |
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Hosting an event? Post the details in our weekly events listing. Click here for our listing guidelines. |
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VA Newswire is a free, email-based weekly newsletter that covers news and events from around the state. If you have any news, events, job openings, or office space availability that you would like to include in next week's newswire, email jim@vanewswire.com. Click here for a free subscription. Click here to unsubscribe. |
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