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| Business Intelligence for Virginia's Entrepreneurial Economy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In This Issue... Expansions, Relocations and Launches, Who's Hot, Who's Winning Business, Deals & Partnerships, Innovations, Partnerships & Collaborations, Research & Intellectual Property, Trends, Commentary, Other, 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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Jayco to Serve Metro Washington Commercial Real Estate Sector ALEXANDRIA-Industry veteran Jay A. Cohen has launched Jayco Real Estate Investments, a commercial real estate investment company specializing in the Greater Washington, D.C., region. Headquartered in Alexandria, with satellite offices in Tyson's Corner and Washington, D.C., Jayco serves institutional and accredited private accredited investors. Said Cohen: "With the current housing market softening, it is a perfect time for accredited investors to consider commercial real estate investing over residential. For the same cost of owning a condo, investors can be part-owner of a commercial property and make more money with less risk than that of the residential market." More. In Brief... ALEXANDRIA--Robbins-Gioia, LLC, a provider of program management consulting solutions, has opened its California office in the state capital of Sacramento. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Hot... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In Brief... MCLEAN--Avectra Inc., a provider of Web-based association management software solutions, completed successful implementations for 29 new member-based organizations in the second quarter of 2006. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Winning Business... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cry Your Eyes Out, M: Cinea Supplies James Bond's Video Encryption Technology RESTON--Cinea, Inc., a subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc., will provide its Cinea encryption solution to distribute digital dailies during production of the highly anticipated 2006 James Bond film "Casino Royale." The European-based production crew is using Cinea technology to encrypt and distribute digital daily footage to a team of production and studio executives based in Europe and the United States. Said Laurence Roth, v.p. of business development: "This deployment further validates the utility of the S-VIEW platform for copy protection and piracy tracking within the entertainment industry." More. NeuStar Goes to Bat for Louisville Slugger Online STERLING--NeuStar, Inc., a provider of communications services to the global communications and Internet industry, has won a contract from Hillerich and Bradsby, maker of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat, to ensure the integrity of its e-commerce business. Said Marty Archer, president of Louisville Slugger: "Late last year we lost sales to online downtime, and we don't want that happening again." More. QuadraMed to Manage N.J. Hospital Data RESTON--QuadraMed Corporation has been awarded a contract to assist the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services manage the collection of inpatient, same-day surgery and administrative data from all acute care hospitals statewide in the state. The Department will analyze the data to establish and verify healthcare trends in such areas as patient demographics and quality of care. Cost benefits of the new system include faster processing times, a 20 percent reduction in per record fees and lower charges to hospitals. More. ICF to Help Run Education Best-Practice Labs FAIRFAX--Caliber, an ICF International company, has been awarded a $6.5 million sub-contract as part of a consortium led by Pennsylvania State University to operate ten "educational best practice" labs. ICF will help operate the lab in the mid-Atlantic region, and help coordinate all ten. Said Maureen Murphy, senior vice president: "We look forward to utilizing our knowledge of effective educational practices to assist schools throughout the region. This best practices identification will help schools adopt new practices to improve student achievement." More. CACI Wins Recompete Contract from OPM ARLINGTON--CACI International Inc. has been awarded a four-year, prime recompete contract by the Office of Personnel Management to provide investigative field support services throughout the United States and its territories. CACI is one of five awardees on the contract, which has a ceiling value of $2.4 billion. More. In Brief... HERNDON--EDS has won a $41 million contract to provide web hosting service for all Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services outward-facing websites. More. RESTON-MAXIMUS has been awarded two two-year contracts with a value totaling $25 million to continue providing job-development and placement services as part of the Wisconsin Works program. More. SPRINGFIELD--VERSAR, Inc., has won a five-year environmental support contract valued at $10 million from the Philadelphia District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. More. ARLINGTON--ITS Corporation has won a five-year contract potentially worth $2 million to perform claims services for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. More. RESTON--Intellitactics, Inc., has won a contract from Calgary-based WestJet, a low-fare airline, to deploy Intellitactics technology as the centerpiece of the airline's enterprise security management strategy. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Deal Makers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Universal Divests Non-Tobacco Businesses RICHMOND--Universal Corporation has agreed to sell the non-tobacco businesses of its subsidiary, Deli Universal, Inc., to an investment group run by NIBC Bank N.V., a Netherlands-based merchant bank, for approximately $540 million. The assets to be sold include a lumber and building products distribution business, and operations that trade rubber, tea, and sunflower seeds. Universal is retaining its dried fruits and nuts business. Said CEO Allen B. King: "This agreement is a major step toward sharpening Universal's focus on its core business." More. Owens & Minor to Acquire McKesson Medical-Surgical Assets RICHMOND--Owens & Minor has agreed to acquire certain assets of the acute-care medical and surgical supply distribution business of McKesson Medical-Surgical, a business unit of McKesson Corporation also based in Richmond, for approximately $170 million. The transaction is expected to generate at least $800 million in annual revenue for Owens & Minor. Said President Craig R. Smith: "This acquisition is a unique opportunity and a great strategic fit for Owens & Minor. Acute-care medical and surgical distribution is our core competency and we look forward to significantly expanding our customer base and having the opportunity to introduce these new customers to our extensive supply chain management products and services" More. And More. Interstate Sells Sawgrass Resorts, Maintains Stake ARLINGTON--Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a joint venture partner in Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa, has sold the Florida resort to a joint venture between Interstate and affiliates of Ireland-based Redquartz Boundary Ltd., netting about $8.5 million. Interstate also secured a long-term contract to manage the facility. Said CEO Thomas F. Hewitt: "This acquisition clearly illustrates the benefits of our strategy of co-investing in hotels with select owners as a way to diversify our earnings base." More. Glenborough Sells McLean Property for $79 Million MCLEAN--Glenborough Realty Trust, of San Mateo, Calif., has sold 2000 Corporate Ridge, a 256,000-square-foot, Class "A" -tenant office building in McLean for $79.1 million. The venture, which purchased the property in December 2000, generated an internal rate of return in excess of 20 percent to all investors. More. In Brief... FALLS CHURCH--General Dynamics has completed its acquisition of Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation, of Scranton, Penn., a 400-employee supplier of large-caliber projectile metal parts to the U.S. government. More. RICHMOND--Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company has agreed to acquire Thilman & Filippi, L..L.C., a Chicago-based insurance agency and brokerage firm that reported 2005 gross revenues of approximately $24 million. More. LYNCHBURG--Sitestar Corporation, a provider of residential and business Internet and computer services, has purchased the dial-up subscriber base of FIRST NET, an Ohio-based Internet Service Provider. More. WILLIAMSBURG--MHI Hospitality Corporation has agreed to purchase the 186-room Louisville Ramada Riverfront Inn, located in Jeffersonville, Ind., for $7.6 million. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Innovations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Way SunRocket is Going, It Won't Be Long Before ET Can Call Home VIENNA--SunRocket, a growing Internet phone service provider, has introduced an annual, all-inclusive calling plan that gives customers unlimited phone calls to any of 41 countries and cities for a flat fee of $299 per year. The overseas destinations include the United States, Canada, most of Europe, Far East destinations like China, Japan and South Korea, key Latin American destinations like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Caracas, and Argentina, plus many other locations worldwide. Calls to mobile phones are not included in the plan. More. Jobalot Launches Aggregated Job Search Engine NORFOLK--Jobalot has launched its vertical job search engine, www.Jobalot.com, which had been in beta testing for the past month. The website allows job seekers to search hundreds of thousands of jobs from various sites through one source. Jobalot will aggregate opportunities directly from targeted and niche job boards, bringing quality exposure and traffic to those content sites. Job seekers will benefit through many customizable features, including personalized accounts, the ability to e-mail postings to friends, and the capacity to save, rate and post comments on job opportunities. More. In Brief... ARLINGTON--PrismTech, a provider of productivity tools and middleware, has unveiled its Data Distribution Service software, OpenSplice v2.0, which it bills as providing a real-time "information backbone" that makes sure the right information is available in the right place at the right time. More. MCLEAN--Cvent, Inc., a developer of web-based event registration, management and marketing solutions, has added an enhanced budgeting module to the Cvent product suite. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Partnerships & Collaborations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sprint-Nextel, Motorola Roll Out Ruggedized Phone RESTON-Sprint Nextel has partnered with Motorola to introduce a ruggedized phone with an embedded camera and Bluetooth wireless technology. The i580 meets military specifications for rain resistance, dust, shock and vibration. More. CompUSA to Heat up IceWeb Software Distribution HERNDON--IceWEB, Inc., has signed a marketing and distribution agreement with CompUSA, Inc., one of the nation's largest retailers of technology products and services. CompUSA will resell IceWEB's products including IceMAIL Hosted Exchange email and collaboration service through its website and more than 240 stores nationwide. The IceWEB office suite gives small businesses a way to securely share e-mail, calendar and contact information, eliminating the expense of operating in-house Microsoft Exchange email service. More. Guardian Strikes Distribution Agreement with UMS HERNDON--Guardian Technologies International, Inc., a provider of high-performance security and healthcare solutions based on "Intelligent Imaging Informatics," has entered into an agreement with Ultimate Medical Services Inc. to distribute Guardian's industry-leading healthcare solutions and future imaging informatics solutions. UMS, based in Lake Charles, La., is a value-added reseller offering a full range of medical-imaging modalities and best-of-breed technologies and services to the nation's healthcare industry. More. In Brief... RICHMOND-InternDirect LLC, developer of systems to enhance the educational opportunities of student internship programs, has signed a software-development agreement with Richmond-based Richweb Inc. that will allow it to provide enhanced Web-based tools to its core constituencies: student interns, educators and professionals in need of virtual intern assistance. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | R&D / Intellectual Property | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hokies Develop Swine Vaccine - No, Not a Swine Flu Vaccine, a Swine Vaccine BLACKSBURG--Researchers working in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine have developed a vaccine to protect against Post-weaning Multi-systemic Wasting Syndrome in pigs, a major threat to the global swine industry. The disease, caused by the Porcine Circovirus Type 2, has plagued the swine industry for almost ten years, disrupting the animal's immune system and constraining weight gain and development. Said Dr. Gerhardt Schurig, dean of the vet college: "This new vaccine could save the United States and global swine industry millions of dollars in production losses caused by this virus. More. In Brief... RICHMOND--Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying rapamycin, an antibiotic used to boost organ survival in transplant patients, have found that the drug may protect the heart against tissue damage following acute heart attack. More. RESTON--Mobile Satellite Ventures, LP, has received a patent for "a novel system and method" for reducing interference between a satellite network and terrestrial network, thus permitting increased terrestrial and space-based reuse of satellite frequencies and increasing capacity. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Trends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Chmura Economics & Analytics |
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 Building Permits. As mortgage rates have edged up, building permit activity in Virginia has trended down. In May 2006, the six-month moving average for single-family building permits fell to 3,258, the lowest level since September 2000. Over the last twelve months, building permits in Virginia decreased 13.6 percent, the fastest year-over-year decline in more than ten 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. Feds Increase Spending to Defend against Cyber-Terror Attacks RESTON--Federal civilian and defense information technology security spending is expected to increase from $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2006 to $6.3 billion by FY11, according to a report released by INPUT, a provider of government business intelligence. As information becomes increasingly valuable and the number of cyber terrorist attacks rise, the requirement to secure federal networks has become a government priority. Said Bruce Brody, vice president, information security: "Information terrorism has evolved from a part-time nuisance to a full-time concern among federal information technology and network management professionals. Recently, a federal Chief Information Officer stated that his Department's network registered 300 million attacks over a period of one year." Virginia Beach Relatively Safe from "iJacking" CHANTILLY-Virginia Beach is the sixth safest of the 50 largest United States cities for risk of identity theft, or "iJacking," a term coined by Intersections Inc., a provider of identity management solutions. With identity theft complaints to the FTC topping 250,000 last year, Sperling's Best Places finds the San Francisco Bay Area to be the most at risk area for iJacking. A combination of high ATM use, Internet use and purchasing habits make the West Coast the most dangerous region for iJacking. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Other News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eat My Rocket Fumes, Kim Jong-Il DULLES--Orbital Sciences Corporation has launched a medium-range target vehicle that served as an intercept target for Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system. The target vehicle flew a trajectory northwest of Kauai, Hawaii, and was intercepted by the Navy's Standard Missile interceptor system before reentering the Earth's atmosphere. Orbital developed the MRT multiple-launch-mode target vehicle according to specs that require launch capability from ground, air or sea, a broad range of ballistic trajectories, and integration of flexible hardware and software designs. Boar's Head Adopts iHotelier Reservation System CHARLOTTESVILLE-The Boar's Head Inn, a 170-room hotel property, has selected TravelCLICK's iHotelier central reservation system for website reservations to increase online booking revenue. The system allows the Boar's Head to present itself in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and German. More. Argh, Matey! Pirate Capital Boards James River Board RICHMOND--James River Coal Company has received letters from the Pirate Capital group, which collectively own 14.6 percent of the company's common shares, indicating its intent to nominate and solicit proxies in support of four new directors. More. In Brief... DULLES-South Africa Airways has added a non-stop route between Washington Dulles International Airport and Dakar, Senegal. The airline plans to offer 14 flights per week. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Commentary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Hold on to Your Wallets! GOP delegates are bragging that they held the line against new tax increases. They are either disingenuous or too naïve to realize that the next tax increase has been set in motion. More. |
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Burned Out The story of Bill Downey, a Fauquier County supervisor who declined to run for re-election, is more than the tale of one man's frustration: It's emblematic of spreading dysfunction as non-urban communities begin to urbanize. At times landmarks on the path to creating dysfunctional human settlement are easy to spot. A few weeks ago Fauquier Times-Democrat reporter Don del Rosso documented such a landmark. He profiled Bill Downey, a former Fauquier County School Board member who ran hard for, and won, a seat on the Board of Supervisors in 2003. Don's story documented why the supervisor "burned out" and would not run for reelection in 2007. The article, "Calling it Quits," examines in depth why a Fauquier County Supervisor will not run for a second term, delineating a troubling trend in Greater Warrenton- Fauquier and highlighting an example of what best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell calls "a tipping point." More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 jabacon@baconsrebellion.com. Click here for a free subscription. Click here to unsubscribe. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
