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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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Entrepreneurial Dominion  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sponsors:  Legal Services  Investment banking |
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Logistical Legerdemain
With RFID software developed by CapTech Ventures, Fortune 500 companies and the Defense Department soon will run their supply chains with unprecedented agility and efficiency. The unassuming red brick row house on the edge of Richmond's Fan District might seem an unlikely epicenter of a revolution sweeping the logistics sector. But the business found inside the homey office building, decorated with prints of such local landmarks as the Byrd Theater and the Third Street Diner, is establishing itself as a key player in the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) phenomenon that is transforming supply chains across the globe. CapTech Ventures, Inc., an eight-year-old information technology consulting firm, cut a deal last year with Richmond Cold Storage, a refrigerated warehousing company, which allows the field testing of its RFID systems under rugged conditions. The company went on to win Department of Defense approval for use of its TagsWare software platform in DoD's massive supply chain. Then, after lining up two major resellers for its software, CapTech inked its own agreement to outfit Owens & Minor, one of the largest medical supply distributors in the country. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Expansions, Relocations & Launches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Email Marketing Experts Partners:  The Boomer Project  Virginia FREE  National Association of Women Business Owners  Searchable Business Database  Virginia Technology Alliance |
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Markel to Launch Marine & Energy Unit RICHMOND--Markel Corporation, an underwriter of specialty insurance products, has unveiled plans to create a new operating unit, Markel Global Marine & Energy, which will specialize in marine and energy coverage worldwide. Steve Cullen, a 30-year veteran of marine and energy operations, will assume technical oversight for Markel's existing marine and energy operations in London and Richmond, with plans to build a new marine and energy team in the United States. More. Maryland Firm to Open "Collaboratory" in Rosslyn ARLINGTON--Thomas & Herbert Consulting LLC, of Silver Spring, Md., will open an Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence, a best-practice "collaboratory," in Rosslyn. The goal is to help federal agencies become more efficient, share intellectual capital across departments, realize cost savings, and transform business processes and systems to deliver exemplary service to citizens. More. Newmarket to Recycle Computers in Hanover County HANOVER COUNTY--Newmarket Trading Group, Ltd., of Austin, Tex., will invest $600,000 to open a facility to handle the removal, recycling and remarketing of aging personal computer assets, creating up to 100 new technician jobs within 30 months. The company expects to process several thousand computers a day in early 2006. More. British Software Firm Establishes Presence in Fairfax County VIENNA--Software Technology Park Ltd., a United Kingdom-based IT firm with global operations, has opened its first U.S. location in Fairfax County. The company, which has targeted the private sector and government markets in the U.S., has taken space near the Vienna Metro Station. President Vincent Fernandez cited "market opportunities in both the government and private sectors and ... [Fairfax's] central location on the east coast." More. xwave Opens Herndon Office HERNDON--xwave, a Canadian provider of IT services, has opened an office in Herndon to support growth of its public safety and emergency management offerings. Said COO Paul Kent: "The opening of our Washington office is the result of five years of steady growth in the U.S." Currently the office is operating locally under contract with Virginia-based Cross Border Consulting, which helps Canadian firms looking to develop or expand operations in the U.S. federal market. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Hot... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NCI Raises $54 Million in IPO RESTON--NCI, Inc., a provider of information technology services to the federal government, has sold 5.15 million shares of Class A common stock for $10.50 per share. Three hundred and fifty thousand shares were sold by existing stockholders. The stock has traded as high as $12.4 since the initial public offering. More. Cadmus Expands Caribbean Operations RICHMOND--Cadmus Communications Corporation is expanding its Global Packaging Solutions network to the Caribbean region with one facility in the Dominican Republica and one in Honduras. The Dominican Republic plant prints and packages materials for customers in apparel, healthcare and other industries for local and global distribution. The Honduras facility, slated to go operational in January 2006, will provide folding carton production services to apparel and other customers in Central America. Said CEO Bruce Thomas: "The expansion of our operations in the Dominican Republic and our entry into Honduras represent key milestones in the evolution of our Global Packaging model. Our Specialty Packaging business unit has generated compound annual growth -- on a pure organic basis -- of nearly 15 percent during the past three years and the pace of growth is accelerating." More. Virginia Firms Raise $168 million in 2Q Virginia-based companies raised $167,855 in venture and start-up funding in the 2Q of 2005, according to figures compiled by the PriceWaterhouseCoopers/Thompson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree survey. NoVa companies predominated. Only two RoVa (Rest of Virginia) companies, both from Roanoke, made the list.
In Brief... BOWLING GREEN--Union Bankshares, a community bank holding company with $1.8 billion in assets, has reported 3Q net income of $6.9 million, up 54 percent from the same quarter in 2004. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Not... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FLYi Threatened with NASDAQ De-Listing DULLES-FLYi, Inc., has been notified by the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., that its stock has failed to maintain a minimum market valuation of at least $15 million for 30 consecutive trading days. If the company does not regain compliance by Jan. 19, 2006, the stock will be de-listed from the NASDAQ National Market. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Winning Business... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Technology Alliance
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Anteon Drills Deep for $29.8 Million Federal Contract FAIRFAX-Anteon International Corporation has won a contract potentially worth $29.8 million over five years to provide IT support to the federal Minerals Management Service headquarters, as well as regional operations in the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and Alaska. The mission of the MMS Offshore Minerals Management Organization is to provide safe, environmentally sound mineral development on the Outer Continental Shelf and oversee the exploration and production of our nation's offshore natural gas, oil and other mineral resources. More. Anteon Rounds up Refugee Contract FAIRFAX--Anteon International Corporation has won a contract potentially worth $13.7 million over five years to provide management services for the Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR's mission is to assist refugees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, asylees, Amerasians, and victims of torture and human trafficking to obtain economic and social self-sufficiency in their new homes in the United States. The program offers temporary cash and medical assistance, employment services, job placement, English language training, and other support services. More. SAGE Wisely Picks Cadmus for Author Care System RICHMOND--Cadmus Communications Corporation has landed SAGE Publications, publisher of more than 400 scholarly journals, as a client for Cadmus' author care system. The system will automate the information flow between publisher and author, reducing administrative costs for such tasks as allowing authors to order e-prints and reprints on demand. "What really attracted SAGE ... is that the system has a digital rights management component that is very easy for the end-user," said Carol Lichman, director of licensing for SAGE. "ArticleWorks is a very powerful system for publishers who want to make their content available for sale online, but who are concerned about protecting their copyright." More. Serco Collects L.A. Parking Meter Contract VIENNA-Serco, a government services company, has won a $5.5 million contract to deliver parking meter collection services to the City of Los Angeles. The contract entails managing the revenue collection for 40,000 meters throughout the city. Serco provides advanced vehicle and personnel tracking technologies to improve security, response time and effectiveness, and it saves employees the strain of manually lifting 80- to 90-pound coin canisters by utilizing vehicle lift gates and auto-feed conveyer systems. More. UNITECH Zaps Marines for $14.6 Million Contract CENTREVILLE--Unitech, a developer of interactive training and simulation, has snagged a $14.6 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to support its tactical training by fielding the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement Systems (MILES) - a sophisticated form of laser tag used to train troops in mock battles. MILES uses low-power, eye-safe lasers to simulate the direct fire characteristics of various weapons. More. ManTech Wins Human System Integration Contract FAIRFAX--ManTech International Corporation has won a contract potentially worth $34.9 million over five years to design militarized products for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division. ManTech will provide Human System Integration engineering, technical, and management services to products and systems such as unmanned vehicles, training ranges, air-to-air/air-to-ground weapons, and aerial-target shipboard combat systems. Said COO Jim Kelly: "Human System Integration engineering helps ensure that the needs of the sailor or warfighter are considered during the full cycle of system development - from design, to operation." More. In Brief... FAIRFAX--Anteon International Corporation has won a 34-month, $18.7 million contract to provide support services and software integration for U.S. Air Force weapon system life cycle management solutions. More. MCLEAN--Science Applications International Corporation has won a task order potentially worth $15 million over two years to provide help desk support for the Defense Logistics Agency facility in Battle Creek, Mich. More. ANNANDALE-Inserso has stitched up contracts potentially worth $5 million over five years to provide application development services for the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General. More. FAIRFAX--The Analysis Corporation has won a $2.3 million contract with the Defense Intelligence Agency's Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism to integrate DoD data to the Terrorist Watchlist. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Deals & Partnerships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genworth Buys Financial Planning Unit RICHMOND--Genworth Financial, Inc. has added more than 500 registered representatives to its Genworth Financial Investment Services unit through a transaction with C.J.M. Planning Corp., a New Jersey firm. Many of C.J.M.'s reps are accountants or tax planners. Said Pam Schutz, president of Retirement Income and Investments for Genworth: "While we continue to grow our network of independent financial professionals consistently through referrals, the addition of this group increases our representative base by 25 percent, to a total of more than 2,400, and significantly expands our reach." More. Datatel Partners with SAS to Power High-Performance Higher Ed FAIRFAX--Datatel, Inc., will partner with SAS, a leader in business intelligence, to serve the higher education community. The partnership will combine Datatel's enterprise information-management systems with SAS' statistical, analytical and predictive capabilities to allow colleges and universities to better view and manage their campus-wide business operations. More. In Brief... MCLEAN--Highland Hospitality Corporation, a lodging real estate investment trust, has agreed to purchase the 385-room Hilton Boston Back Bay hotel for $110 million, or approximately $286,000 per room. More. MCLEAN--JER Partners has acquired the 525-room Westin O'Hare Airport Hotel in Rosemont, Ill., from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. for $106 million. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Innovations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CyMed Unveils Dictation Platform RICHMOND--CyMed, Inc., the nation's third largest medical transcription service provider, has introduced ChartVox, a dictation capture and voice file management system. Priced at half the cost of equivalent systems from market leaders, the ChartVox family of dictation servers establishes CyMed as "the unmatched industry leader for low cost, high performance transcription solutions," the company contended. Said CEO Robert Lynch: "The feature-rich ChartVox and ChartNet product lines perform essentially all of the functions of the higher priced models, supporting e-signature, bar coding, and a host of other transcription workflow applications, including a voice recognition module which will be available in the spring." More. In a related development... CyMed has committed to hire over the next three years the graduates of a new community college program that will train students to edit preliminary medical reports generated through voice recognition. More. Clicklab Attacks Click Fraud MCLEAN--Clicklab, a provider of click fraud detection and professional services for pay-per-click advertisers and publishers, has introduced a Click Fraud Audit service. The pay-per-click industry, the company contends, is plagued with "fear and uncertainty of click fraud," the premeditated practice of clicking on ads without the intent to do business with advertisers. Explained CEO Dmitri Eroshenko: "Aside from shrinking conversion rates and profits, click fraud impairs the relationships between publishers and advertisers. But a candid dialogue is all but impossible because of the lack of standard business practices and definitions." Clicklab's Click Fraud Audit seeks to provide a credible third-party validation of potential click fraud and provides the foundation for credibility and trust between publishers and advertisers. More. DGI Unveils Support Software for First Responders ALEXANDRIA--Defense Group Inc. has released the 4.0 version of its flagship software product, CoBRA. The decision support software provides first responders with critical interactive tools, guides, standard operating procedures, forms, checklists and incident reporting capabilities for all hazards and large-scale incidents.More. Blue Ridge Rolls out BorderGuard 6000 CHANTILLY--Blue Ridge Networks, a developer of secure communications products, has released its BorderGuard 6000 Secure Communications Platform. The BorderGuard 6000 series delivers high levels of security, mobility, and compatibility for organizations that need to connect remote offices and mobile workers who often rely on wireless equipment. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | R&D / Intellectual Property | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wahoos Win $6.2 Million Grant to Study Crohn's Disease CHARLOTTESVILLE-The University of Virginia Health System has been awarded a $6.2 million grant renewal to study the cause of Crohn's disease, a chronic disease characterized by ulcerations and inflammatory lesions throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Said Dr. Fabio Cominelli, chief of gastroenterology: "Our goal is to discover the cause of spontaneous intestinal inflammation in animals and apply this information to patients with the final goal of developing a cure for at least a subgroup of patients." More. Prime Photonics to Develop Fuel Cell Sensors BLACKSBURG-Prime Research LC has won a $350,000 contract for the first phase of a multiyear program to develop advanced fiber optic sensor systems for fuel cells. The goal is to develop a family of sapphire- and silica-based fiber optic sensor systems that improve the reliability and performance of fuel cells under development by the U.S. Department of Energy and commercial industry.More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Trends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Chmura Economics & Analytics |
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 Employment in Virginia increased 1.4 percent for the twelve months ending with August 2005. Over this period, seven of Virginia's eleven metro areas ranked among the top half of the nation's 367 metropolitan areas in terms of employment growth. With an employment growth rate of 3.9 percent for the year ending with August 2005, Winchester ranked 30th among the nation's metro areas. Over the same period, Danville (-3.3 percent) ranked last among the nation's metro areas in terms of employment growth. The monthly periodicity of employment data makes it the most timely and encompassing measure of regional economic growth. For details and forecasts of economic conditions across Virginia, as well as a list of Chmura Economics & Analytics (CEA) products and services, click here or call 804-649-1107.click here, or call (804) 649-1107. Foreign Tourism Boosting Virginia's Economy RICHMOND--Travelers' spending in the Commonwealth, the destination of nearly 36 million tourist visits, increased by 8.6 percent in 2004 from the year before, adding $15.3 billion to the economy. The surge in tourism spending was led by foreigners - 305,000 overseas visitors, up 26 percent, and 437,000 Canadians, up 17.5 percent.More. Don't Blame China for This News ALEXANDRIA-Job growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in October despite many employers reporting open positions, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. New-hire compensation inched up in October, indicating that part of the reason for slower growth may have been due to difficulty in finding skilled workers for open positions. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Other News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RouteView Slashes Home Delivery Costs MANASSAS--With fuel prices at record highs, RouteView Technologies is saving appliance, furniture and other home-delivery services up to 30 percent of their costs in fuel, mileage and manpower. RouteView's map-based software system plans efficient routes, balances workloads, calculates mileage and sets a productive pace for drivers. One customer, a wholesale distributor in Lancaster, Pa., used RouteView to cut 90,480 miles and 2,600 labor hours off of his delivery routes. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Commentary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Reality-Based Regionalism Most people talk about "regionalism" with no clear idea of what they mean. A regional approach to solving problems is a good idea -- if informed by Geographic Literacy. More. |
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Lost in Translation Can Virginia's restructuring of higher education remain bold and, therefore, effective? After years of confusion about Virginia's highest priority -- education! transportation! -- it is good to learn from current campaign ads that it is the death penalty. Governors, we are learning, not only are to faithfully execute the laws, but also execute criminals with enthusiasm. And there may be other nuances about capital punishment -- relieves overcrowding prisons, cuts down on future appeals that clog the court system, eliminates all that molly-coddling that goes with multiple life sentences -- that don't come out in those 30-second ads.More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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