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| Business Intelligence for Virginia's Entrepreneurial Economy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In This Issue... Expansions & Relocations, Who's Hot, Who's Winning Business, Deals & Partnerships, Innovations, Partnerships & Collaborations, R&D / Intellectual Property, Trends, Commentary, Events Click here to forward to a friend or colleague who might like this newsletter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Expansions, Relocations & Launches  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starwood Opens $75 Million Hotel in Ballston ARLINGTON-Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., of White Plains, N.Y., has opened the Westin Arlington Gateway, a $75 million, 336-room hotel in the Ballston area of Arlington County - the first luxury hotel to be built in Arlington in 13 years. The hotel is a short walk from the Ballston Metro Station and four miles from Reagan National Airport. More. Tier to Invest $3.1 Million in Martinsville Call Center MARTINSVILLE-Tier Technologies, a Reston-based IT solutions provider, will invest $3.1 million and hire 77 employees in a call center dedicated to child-support enforcement customer service. Nearly 25 percent of Virginia's children rely upon child support; more than $560 million a year is collected on their behalf. Tier's contract with the Commonwealth is potentially worth $27.1 million over seven years. More and more. German Medical Device Firm Opens Richmond Office RICHMOND-- m·u·t America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of parent company, m·u·t GmbH based in Hamburg, Germany, will open a sales and service office in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park to spearhead its entry into the U.S. market. m·u·t , which stands for "market-driven understanding of technology," creates products in the field of spectroscopy, laboratory automation, aviation technology and early fire detection. More. In Brief... VIRGINIA BEACH--Gateway Bank & Trust Co., has opened a full-service banking office in Norfolk and one in Virginia Beach, bringing the total number in the Gateway network to 11. More. RICHMOND--Harris Williams & Co., an investment banking firm serving mid-cap companies, has opened an office in Minneapolis. More. 
Try Something New!Nemacolin Woodlands Resort Only three hours from Washington, D.C. - closer than the Homestead! Closer than the Greenbrier! Luxury accommodations. Fine dining. Boutique shopping. Golf. Shooting clays. Off-road driving academy. Paintball. Rock climbing. Great for a business getaway, even better for a family escape. Look for our spring specials in an upcoming edition of VA Newswire. For details, contact us at (742) 329-6154 or visit our website at More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Hot... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Searchable Business Database 
Virginia Technology Alliance
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Insmed to Sell 20 Million Shares RICHMOND-Insmed, a pharmaceutical company focusing on compounds that treat metabolic diseases and endocrine disorders, has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement relating to an offering of 20,000,000 shares of its common stock. At Insmed's current $2.15 per price share, the offering would gross about $42 million. More. Intrexon Raises $1 Million for Subcellular Tools BLACKSBURG--Intrexon Corporation, a developer of genetic tools for subcellular research, has closed a $1 million round of financing to advance its subcellular tools and related marketing initiatives. Intrexon's tools add a critical dimension to the study of kinases and phosphatases, enzymes of great interest to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Said Thomas Reed, chief science officer: "Traditional inhibitor tools act on a cell-wide basis and without regard for the importance of subcellular positioning. … Our tools are designed to constrain inhibition effects to pre-determined subcellular compartments." More. CIT GAP Fund Invests in Bent Systems FAIRFAX-Bent Systems has received a $70,000 convertible debt investment from the Center for Innovative Technology's GAP fund. Bent provides a hosted supply-chain platform that allows mid-tier vendors to link their RFID-enabled inventory systems to clients such as Wal-Mart, Target and the Department of Defense that deploy large scale ERP systems. More. Javien Reaches One Million Registered Users MCLEAN--Javien Digital Payment Solutions, Inc., which provides an e-commerce solutions for digital content providers, has achieved a major milestone: It is servicing more than one million registered users on behalf of its customers. The company attributed recent growth to penetration of the digital music market through customers such as Ruckus Network, FYE Download Zone, MusicNet and iMesh. Said CEO Leslie Poole: "The music industry is one of our most proactive and progressive market segments." More. Business Intelligence... Actionable… When You Need it... Do you know what your competitors are doing - or are you a step behind? Do you know what new technologies and business models might impact your business - or will you be caught napping? Do you know when your prospects are ripe for buying your product or service - or will someone beat you to them? VA Newswire is offering a new product - market intelligence packaged in a newsletter format and customized for you... the information you need, and no more. No white noise, no chaff. Our editors do the work for you. For more information about our business intelligence services, click here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Winning Business... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Another Multimillionaire to Take Thrill Ride in Space ARLINGTON--Space Adventures, Ltd., a space tourism company, has signed up Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Enomoto for an orbital spaceflight. Enomoto will fly on the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft. The first phase of training will include cosmonaut theoretical and physical training, along with Russian language tutoring. More. iDirect to Support Globecomm Overseas HERNDON--iDirect Technologies, which develops bi-directional, satellite-based broadband IT solutions, has been selected by Globecomm Systems Inc., to deploy its iDirect Platform to support Globecomm's customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The iDirect platform provides last-mile connectivity for voice, video, Internet, or any broadband applications when traditional landline connections aren't feasible. More. In Brief... FAIRFAX--Argon ST, Inc., has received a contract extension potentially worth $45.5 million over three years, to provide Command and Control sensor systems to the United States Government. More. FAIRFAX--Anteon International Corporation has won a contract potentially worth $21.3 million over five years to provide platform and hands-on training and program support for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Eustis in Newport News. More. HERNDON--SAVVIS Federal Systems has been awarded a five-year, $4.48 million contract to provide technology upgrades and enhancements to the Federal Election Commission. More. Sharpen Your Focus! It doesn't take a Mensa IQ or a Harvard MBA to succeed in business. Your greatest competitive edge is the ability to sustain your mental focus for hours at a time. If you're not completing projects in a timely manner... if you're zoning out in complicated negotiations... if you're running out of mental energy by the end of the day... you may be falling short of your potential. If you're coping with mental fog - or if you want to see just how sharp and fast your mind can be -- you need to need to attend kSero Centers for the Mind's executive seminar on mental fitness. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Deals & Partnerships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synerject Acquires Fuel Injection Manufacturer NEWPORT NEWS--Synerject LLC has acquired the manufacturing assets and employees of BRP US Inc.'s Delavan, Wis. facility, which manufactures fuel injectors and engine-management modules for BRP's Johnson and Evinrude divisions. Said Synerject CEO Stephane Tagliante: "The Delavan acquisition … gives us a state-of-the art electronic module manufacturing base, dedicated to the needs and requirements of our non-automotive markets and a fuel-injection components manufacturing operation. It will complement the programs in place at our Newport News, Va. facility, augmenting our current capabilities without competing with any existing activities." More. Dominion Unloads PA Two Gas Utilities RICHMOND--Dominion will sell its natural gas local distribution utilities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to Equitable Resources, of Pittsburgh, Pa., $970 million plus adjustments. The two utilities, which serve nearly 475,000 homes and businesses, account for 12 percent of Dominion's electric and natural gas customers. Proceeds from the sale will be used for general corporate purposes, including debt reduction. Said CEO Thomas F. Farrell II: "We continually review our assets to determine if they fit strategically and will provide the commensurate return on invested capital. … We determined that these businesses might be of greater value to another owner." More. General Dynamics Dumps Gravel Subsidiary FALLS CHURCH-General Dynamics has agreed to sell its Material Service Corporation subsidiary to Hanson Aggregates North America for $300 million. Material Service operates 10 stone quarries and three sand-and-gravel quarries in Illinois. More. In Brief... ARLINGTON--The AES Corporation, a global energy producer, has agreed to sell its 50-percent interest in AES Kingston Holdings, B.V., a 110-MW cogeneration power plant in Ontario, Canada, to its partner Northland Power Income Fund for $110 million. More. RICHMOND--Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company has acquired the operating assets of The Welch Company, an employee benefits firm in Houston, Tex., that generates nearly $1 million a year in revenue. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Innovations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Spectra Fiber Adapted to Prosthetic Devices HOPEWELL-Honeywell's Spectra fiber has been adapted to make prosthetic limbs more comfortable and last longer. Comfort Products uses the high-performance material in its SpectraCarb, a Spectra-carbon composite, in the flexible Spectra Sock which protects the inside of prosthetic limbs. Traditionally, prosthetic limb manufacturers used carbon to add strength, but carbon's rigidity created razor-sharp edges that could damage the prosthesis and cause discomfort to users. More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are missing extremities. More. Who Needs to Own a Ferrari When You Can Rent One? MCLEAN-Tell the truth, you've always wanted to drive a Ferrari but couldn't afford one. Well, now you can - for a day, at least. Capital Dream Cars is renting high-end, exotic cars - the Ferrari 360 Spider, the Maserati Spider, and the Lamborghini Gallardo -- on a half-day, daily, or weekly basis. More. WiTopia Service Protects Homes from Wi-Fi Hackers RESTON--WiTopia, Inc., has introduced the SecureMyWiFi service packages to protect home and small-business wireless networks from unauthorized access by neighbors, wardrivers, and wireless hackers. Using homemade antennas and downloadable tools from the Internet, hackers are able to steal data from a poorly protected Wi-Fi network from many miles away. More. GlobalCerts Offers Email Encryption Technology RICHMOND--GlobalCerts, LC, a secure email provider to businesses and government agencies, is targeting financial services firms, healthcare providers, and government agencies with its GlobalCerts SecureMail Gateway solution. GlobalCerts technology allows companies to encrypt and sign e-mail digitally with no additional client software installation, user training, or system administration overhead. More. INSIGHT Introduces Supply-Chain Risk Audit MANASSAS-INSIGHT, Inc., a developer of supply-chain optimization tools, has added extensions to its flagship INSIGHT product that uncover and mitigate vulnerabilities in the supply chain. Said INSIGHT President Jeffrey Karrenbauer: "The attack last weekend on the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, through which fully 8 percent of the world's oil supply passes, is a compelling example of why this issue is so pressing. Every CEO/COO/CFO should be demanding a comprehensive supply chain risk audit and a corresponding set of mitigation strategies immediately, not waiting for a successful attack, pandemic, or another natural disaster." More. Next Best Thing to Mother's Milk: Organic Baby Formula GORDONSVILLE-PBM Products, which distributes baby formula through private brands, is rolling out the first nationally distributed organic baby formula containing the lipids DHA and ARA, key nutrients related to optimum infant health and development. "Parents today are increasingly choosing an organic lifestyle," said CEO Paul B. Manning. "The problem is they have a hard time finding organic baby formula offering the same benefits as contemporary national brand baby formulas at their local retail outlets. We are going to change that." More. Ruckus Offers Ad Connection to College Kids HERNDON--Ruckus, a digital entertainment network that targets college kids by offering free and legal access to more than 1.5 million digital songs, now offers advertising space on its website. Said Christian Celic, v.p. of advertising sales: "College students are among the nation's biggest trendsetters, and a very powerful demographic for our advertisers." The college market accounted for $231 billion in consumer spending last school year. More. Luna Upgrades Fiber-Assembly Sensor BLACKSBURG--Luna Technologies, a developer of fiber-optic test and measurement systems, has upgraded its Optical Backscatter Reflectometer so it can now monitor temperature and strain distribution, with applications ranging from optical amplifiers to aircraft harnesses. Said Brian Soller, business director: "The OBR was designed to give users unprecedented visibility into what is really happening in their fiber optic assemblies. … Luna's solution represents a tremendous leap forward in high-resolution distributed fiber sensing by removing the need to embed sensors in the fiber." More. In Brief... RICHMOND--Paychex, Inc., a company with 10,000 employees and 401(k) plan assets of $400 million, has selected Genworth Financial's ClearCourse, a group variable annuity, as a new investment option for its 401(k) plan. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Partnerships & Collaborations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Convera Lines up Partners for Open Source Internet Search VIENNA--Convera Corporation, a developer of advanced search-engine technologies, has added four partners, including Factiva, to its Open Excalibur partner program. Said Convera CEO Patrick Condo: "Convera is building an open platform for mining the Internet. We provide the basic infrastructure and the index/search/retrieval function on which other key technologies can be layered to solve customers' problems." Third-party technologies include language processing, entity extractors and geo-tagging. Convera and Factiva, which is affiliated with Dow Jones and Reuters, plan to develop a universal data box representing the world's largest, deepest index of categorized and authority-ranked Web results. The companies also plan to create an open source consortium to help them target vertical markets such as government and law enforcement organizations. More. Mobile 365 to Deliver Cricket Stats Globally CHANTILLY-Mobile 365, a developer of wireless text messaging services, has partnered with Cricinfo, the largest cricket website in the world, to provide subscribers in India with the latest scores, statistics and news updates from the world of cricket. The service will be launched in India and rolled out to other countries, including England, in coming months. More. Farm Bureau Adds Identity-Theft Protection RICHMOND-The Virginia Farm Bureau has partnered with Identity Theft 911, of Scottsdale, Ariz., to help members restore their credit and regain control of their identity if and when they become a victim of identity theft or a natural disaster. VFB now will provide identity theft resolution services to all of its members at no additional cost. Identity theft, the fastest-growing crime in America, affected almost 10 million Americans were victims last year. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | R&D / Intellectual Property | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NTP Extracts (Extorts?) $612.5 Million from Maker of BlackBerry MCLEAN-NTP, Inc., a firm that holds a patent portfolio, will be paid $612.5 million in a settlement with Research In Motion Limited, the Ontario-based developer of the BlackBerry e-mail wireless device. The deal ends a long-running legal dispute in which NTP had threatened to shut down service to BlackBerry users throughout the U.S. The resolution permits RIM and its partners to sell RIM products and services completely free and clear of any claim by NTP. More. VCU Patents New Device for Measuring Blood Oxygen RICHMOND--Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have developed and patented a new means of measuring blood oxygen levels in tissue - a key barometer of how well the body is functioning during trauma, when inadequate oxygenation can lead to organ failure and death. The technology uses a low-energy laser light that is shone under the tongue to measure how well the tissues are receiving and using oxygen. More. Hokies Reap $300,000 from Sale of Wireless Valley BLACKSBURG-Virginia Tech has netted $300,000 from its one-percent take from the sale of Wireless Valley Communications Inc., a company launched by former Tech professor Ted Rappaport in 1995. The company, which held a portfolio of a dozen inventions by Tech faculty members and students, was acquired in December by Motorola Inc. Sixty percent of Tech's proceeds will be distributed among the inventors; Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties will pocket the rest. More. Raydon to License EVMS Driver Assessment Technology NORFOLK- Raydon Corporation, of Daytona Beach, Fla., will develop an assessment program for older drivers based on work done by Barbara Freund, a geriatrics expert at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Age alone is not a reliable indicator of a person's driving ability; the onset of dementia and other illnesses can impact driving skills of some individuals still in their 60s, while others drive well into their 80s. Freund's computerized simulation provides an objective, standardized, and practical method for reliably assessing the cognitive and motor skills needed to drive safely. More. Comsonics Patents Cable Testing Equipment HARRISONBURG-Comsonics, Inc., a manufacturer of electrical testing equipment, has won a patent covering a method of identifying faulty or inappropriately connected in-home coaxial cable wiring. The invention allows the technician to transmit a signal from a service vehicle while measuring how much of the signal finds its way into the home wiring. The results should help the cable operators achieve maximum high-speed Internet performance. More. In Brief... FAIRFAX--George Mason University and the Instituto Superiore di Sanita' of Rome, Italy, have signed a three-year agreement to develop a proteomics research program that unveils new cancer diagnostics and therapies through the discovery of drug targets and biomarkers for early disease detection. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Trends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Chmura Economics & Analytics |
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 Housing starts off. As mortgage rates have inched up, building permit activity in Virginia has begun to decline. In August 2005, the six-month moving average for building permits stood at a peak of 3,874 but fell to 3,515 in January 2006. Over the last twelve months, building permits in Virginia decreased by 8.1 percent, the fastest year-over-year drop in nearly six years. For details on regional economic conditions across Virginia, including Richmond, Northern Virginia, and Hampton Roads, as well as a list of Chmura Economics & Analytics (CEA) products and services, click here, or call (804) 649-1107. Body Contouring Surgery Not Just for Hollywood Anymore FREDERICKSBURG-When people experience massive weight loss, either through gastric bypasses or other means, they often have large folds of skin that no amount of diet or exercise can remove. So, what do they do? Head to the plastic surgeon, of course. Requests for "body contouring" plastic surgery are on the rise, say the physicians at Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) estimates that 55,927 body contouring procedures for massive weight loss were performed nationwide in 2004, a seven percent increase over 2003. More. The Way to a Pharma Rep's Heart Is through His Stomach CHARLOTTESVILLE-Vmeals, an online meal-ordering service for business, has identified a lucrative niche: pharmaceutical sales reps. There are more than 100,000 pharma sales reps in the country, and they order a lot of take-out meals. Said W. Carter Hoerr, marketing director: "Pharma reps have always used food as an integral tool in their sales arsenal. The best time for reps to meet and talk with their busy physician customers is at lunchtime." The web-based Vmeals system provides pharma reps a single point of contact for their area, an appointment calendar, order history and search, online receipts and other benefits. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Commentary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 What's the Big Idea? The people at Play don't just talk creativity -- they live it. When they advise clients to tear down "walls" and "boundaries," they apply the nostrum to themselves -- quite literally. More. |
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Seek the Intersection Innovation can be managed, says Frans Johansson, author of "The Medici Effect." And what individuals and enterprises can do, so can entire communities. Frans Johansson is, in the argot of young people today, the "new" Richard Florida. In the realm of thinking about the origins of creativity, the 33-year-old author of "The Medici Effect" picks up where Florida leaves off in "The Rise of the Creative Class." Florida, as loyal readers of this column know, changed the way the United States looks at economic development with his ground-breaking book. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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