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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. Note to readers: VA Newswire will not publish next week. The editor will be soaking up rays on the world's most beautiful beach, on Ocracoke Island. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Hot   | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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H2Gen Raises $10.6 Million ALEXANDRIA-H2Gen Innovations Inc., a manufacturer of on-site hydrogen generators and gas purification equipment, has raised $10.6 million in a Series C found of financing. The funds will be used to build "a significant presence in the expanding on-site hydrogen gas markets," said CEO Barney Rush. The HGM 2000 hydrogen generator produces 2,000 cubic feet of hydrogen per hour with up to 99.9999 percent purity. H2Gen is working on adapting the HGM series to use ethanol as a feedstock. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Not | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ePlus Gets a D-Minus for Stock Option Accounting HERNDON--ePlus inc., a provider of enterprise cost management solutions, has announced that it will restate financial statements for fiscal 2004 and 2005. At issue is incorrect accounting for stock-based compensation. An audit committee review estimates that the aggregate amount of stock-based compensation expense to be recorded from April 1, 1997 to March 31, 2006 is $3 million, equivalent to about two percent of the company's cumulative earnings before taxes. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Who's Winning Business... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MeadWestvaco to Supply Eco-Packaging to Costco RICHMOND-MeadWestvaco, a global packaging company, has signed up Costco, the national discount retailer, as a customer for its Natralock, paperboard-based packaging material. Natralock replaces tough plastic clamshells used to deter theft. The clamshells are hard to recycle, however, and cause "wrap rage" because they are so difficult to unwrap. Natralock is made from paperboard, a renewable resource, and can be safely opened with a pair of kitchen scissors. Costco is rolling out Natralock with the repackaging of five unspecified but "high value" products. More. Video Convergence Snags VDOT Contract SPRINGFIELD--Video Convergence, a division of Cornet Technology, Inc., has won a long-term contract to design, test, and install surveillance camera systems on arterial roadways in the Northern Operations Region of the Virginia Department of Transportation. This new system will transmit real-time video, via an IP-based network, directly to VDOT's Smart Traffic Center in Arlington. Virginia currently operates camera surveillance systems on freeways, but not on arterial roadways. The implementation of cameras on arterials will allow VDOT to integrate traffic management efforts between the freeway and arterial roadway systems. More. In Brief... ARLINGTON-The R.M. Vredenburg subsidiary of CACI International Inc. has been awarded a $14.4 million prime re-compete contract by the U.S. Army National Guard to continue developing a software application that supports military construction projects. More. VIRGINIA BEACH--IntraNexus Inc., a provider of hospital information systems, has added Franklin Regional Hospital, of Franklin, N.H., to its roster of clients. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Deal Makers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saxon Capital Sold to Morgan Stanley for $706 Million GLEN ALLEN--Saxon Capital, Inc., a residential mortgage lending and servicing real estate investment trust, has agreed to an acquisition by Morgan Stanley in a transaction valued at approximately $706 million. The transaction supports Morgan Stanley's strategy of building a global, vertically integrated residential mortgage business. Said Chairman Richard A. Kraemer: "This acquisition is in the best long-term interests of our shareholders, clients and employees. Morgan Stanley's scale, access to funding and strong mortgage franchise will all help to enhance Saxon's business, particularly as we see increased competition in a consolidating market. Saxon will be able to build on Morgan Stanley's existing origination and securitization capabilities." More. And more. Mantas Sold to i-flex for 122.6 Million HERNDON-Mantas, a provider of anti-money laundering and compliance software, has agreed to be acquired by Mumbai, India-based i-flex solutions, in an all-cash transaction valued at $122.6 million. The combination of i-flex and Mantas products is expected to create a "market-leading risk & compliance solution suite." To fund this acquisition, i-flex the Board of Directors has proposed to make a preferential allotment of i-flex shares to Oracle, which is already a majority shareholder of the company. More. SV Investment Partners Completes WILink Takeover RICHMOND--SV Investment Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has completed the acquisition of WILink plc, a worldwide provider of investor relations services and web-based communication solutions. SV purchased the shares of the London-traded WILink in a private transaction. Said Kathleen Jordan Stowe, a principal at SV: "Based on regulatory change and ongoing advances in technology, there is a clear opportunity for WILink to build on its well-established presence in the North American and European investor-relations and webcasting markets and create significant value over the long term." Said WILink CEO J. Patrick Galleher: "As a well-capitalized, private company, WILink is now strongly positioned to ... grow our client base by expanding the breadth of the products we provide as well as our geographic reach." More. AOL Acquires Userplane DULLES-AOL has acquired Userplane, of Los Angeles, a developer of Web-based chat and instant messaging tools licensed to more than 100,000 websites and online communities. Userplane users spend an average of 20 minutes engaged in the Userplane experience per visit, which enables the company to provide rich advertising space - including streaming audio and video. Advertisers can precisely target an audience based on user profiles and demographics. More. Billington Buys Napa Valley Vineyard SPRINGFIELD--Billington Imports has acquired the brand name and inventories of Havens Wine Cellars, a Napa Valley winery. The Havens brand will join Billington's existing portfolio, which includes several brands from California as well as brands acquired from Sin E Wine Company in April. Billington, founded in 1985 by Alfredo Bartholomaus, pioneered the importation of premium wines from Chile and Argentina in the late 80's and 90's. More. WRIT Purchases Falls Church Office for $30 Million FALLS CHURCH--Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, of Rockville, Md., has acquired 6565 Arlington Blvd., a five-story, 140,000-square-foot office building, for $30 million. The property is currently 82 percent occupied with four tenants and includes a detached two-story parking garage and additional surface parking. WRIT expects to achieve a first-year unleveraged yield of 6.8 percent on a cash basis and 7.2 percent on a GAAP basis. More. AIMS Acquires Two Communications Firms FAIRFAX--AIMS Worldwide, Inc., a vertically integrated marketing communications consultancy, has agreed to acquire Target America, of Fairfax, and IKON Public Affairs, of Washington, D.C. The companies will contribute to AIMS' strategic model that allows for cost-effective cross-selling opportunities among its brands. AIMS will also be able to leverage the companies' existing client base to expand AIMS' service offering to clients. More. In Brief... WILLIAMSBURG--MHI Hospitality Corporation has sold the 137-room Holiday Inn Downtown to Jay Ganesh, Inc., for $4.75 million in cash and promissory notes. More. Alpha Omega Sells Target Sales - sponsored content - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Innovations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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AOL Targets Students with StudyBuddy.com DULLES--AOL has launched StudyBuddy.com, a search-engine geared to helping K-12 students with their homework. Connecting students to more than one million pieces of trusted content -- educator-approved websites, as well as books, journals, articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, multimedia videos, audio clips, maps and more - StudyBuddy can be customized to each student's grade level and homework needs. More. Backfence.com Launches Crime-Alert Blogs VIENNA--Backfence.com, a web portal for local communities, is launching an interactive Web log (blog) on Backfence's eight local websites to keep members informed about crime and safety issues in their neighborhoods. Alarm.com, a provider of wireless, Web-enabled security and technology, will sponsor the blog and supply experts to interact with community members. Backfence.com members will be able to get up-to-date statistics on local crime and then comment on safety issues. The ultimate goal is to create a nationwide "citizen watch" focused on trends and tactics for protecting lives and property. More. AOL to Offer Personalized E-mail Domains DULLES--AOL will make personalized e-mail domains available for free to all Web users, the first company to offer the service at no charge. With AOL My eAddress, anyone can set up and register a completely customized email address using .COM or .NET domains, and add up to 100 additional identities onto their personal domain. For example, someone could choose a domain that family, friends, teams, social organizations and others could use. Said Roy Ben-Yoseph, director of communications products: "AOL is about to make online communications more personal than ever before. The most popular Internet activity is email, yet many people don't have an online identity that's truly personal and meaningful to them." More. XO Adds Spam-Fighting Capability RESTON--XO Communications has introduced Perimeter Email Protection, an e-mail security and e-mail disaster recovery service. Based on an existing XO e-mail and hosting service delivery platform, the new service combats junk email, denial-of-service attacks and viruses spreading on the Internet. According to a University of Maryland survey released last year, spam costs more than $21 billion annually in lost productivity. More In Brief... VIENNA--Convera Corporation, a provider of search technologies for professional workers, has announced the beta launch of govmine, a commercial search site designed for government professionals. More. HERNDON--Digital Focus has released its flagship open source product, NAG, a continuous integration monitor which assists agile development teams in monitoring the stability of their applications. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Partnerships and Collaborations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Click & Pledge Allies with GuardID Systems BLACKSBURG--Click & Pledge, a provider of software that enables nonprofits to offer online financial transactions and online event registration in an outsourced IT environment, has formed an alliance with GuardID Systems to protect against Internet phishing, farming and keystroke logging. Click & Pledge will join a database of 5,000 financial institutions that rely on the ID Vault's proprietary software to monitor and update IP addresses. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | People | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Datatel CEO Dies in Sleep FAIRFAX--H. Russell "Russ" Griffith, chairman, the 59-year-old president and CEO of Datatel, Inc., died peacefully in his sleep while attending an industry conference in Chicago. Vernon Hollidge, the company's senior vice president of finance and administration, has been named interim CEO. Datatel provides enterprise information management software and professional services to the higher education community, generating sales of $108 million last year. More. In Brief... ALEXANDRIA--Robbins-Gioia, LLC, a provider of program management services, has appointed John Marselle as CEO. A member of Robbins-Gioia's board of directors, Marselle joins the company from Sun Microsystems, where he led the organization's government division. More. RESTON--Synchronica, a developer and provider of mobile device management and synchronization solutions, has announced the appointment of Joachim Gmeinwieser as COO. More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Trends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Chmura Economics & Analytics |
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 Virginia unemployment rate. The unemployment rate in Virginia continues to be one of the lowest in the United States. In June, the state unemployment rate stood at 3.1 percent, tying several states for the third-lowest in the nation. By comparison, the national unemployment rate rested at 4.6 percent in June. 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. comScore: Video Websites Driving Web Traffic RESTON--Youtube.com, a website featuring thousands of free videos, has broken into the comScore Media Metrix Top 50 for the first time, debuting at number 40 with 16 million visitors - up 20 percent since June. Video mania also drove a two-fold increase in traffic to MySpace Videos, which had 20 million visitors, trailing only Yahoo! Video with 21.1 million visitors. Said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president: "Consumers clearly view video as one of the most accessible, interesting and entertaining sources of content on the Web." More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Other News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CBS Affiliates to Syndicate Jamestown Programming WILLIAMSBURG--Jamestown 2007 and a consortium of four CBS affiliates in Virginia and Washington, D.C. have agreed to produce and syndicate a one-hour television special honoring the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. Participating affiliates include WTVR in Richmond, WTKR in Hampton Roads, WUSA in Washington and WDBJ in Roanoke. The consortium will syndicate the program to individual affiliates of CBS and other networks, as well as cable channels and other potential distribution outlets. Said Peter Maroney, general manager of WTVR: "America's 400th Anniversary is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event." More. RBI Upgrades Online Catalog ASHLAND-RBI Corporation, a distributor of outdoor power engines, is upgrading its online parts catalog with EMPARTweb to provide ongoing updates to its catalog as well as a seamless interface between its online shopping cart and its business management system. Said Tom Miller, vice president, the upgrade "will help us increase the accuracy of orders, save time, eliminate manual processing and increase customer sales and loyalty." More. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back To Top | Commentary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Soft Consumption Paths Energy consumption in the United States is growing at an unsustainable rate -- and we're running out of time before a crash landing. We need to think seriously and comprehensively about conservation. More. |
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Beach Week Reading might be a lot safer than swimming outside of Virginia this year. Almost every American takes a little beach time in the summer, whether along a lake, a bay or the ocean. It's part of the ritual and rhythm of the season for families everywhere. A bright sun makes things good. Clean, safe water makes things better. But increasingly that plunge into beach waters means another tradition - Americans unknowingly swimming in human and animal waste that can make them sick. That's why reading a just released report from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) might be a safer beach activity in certain places this month than swimming. More. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
