The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as one of the world's best business locations, and our offices around the globe work with businesses interested in expanding in the U.S. market. We are delighted to have this opportunity to tell you about some of our recent work at our Tysons Corner headquarters and our satellite offices to help companies. |
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NEWS FROM OUR HOME OFFICE |
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Businesses continue to choose Fairfax County The FCEDA announced that it worked with 164 businesses that were creating 8,200 jobs for the county economy in 2017. Of those companies, 36 were foreign-owned. Information technology companies led the way in 2017 with the largest single announcement coming from Amazon Web Services, which is bringing 1,500 jobs to its east coast campus in the Herndon area of Fairfax County. Among foreign-owned firms, Granules, an India-based pharmaceuticals company, announced a major expansion which will add 102 jobs at its facility in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County. Electrify America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of German automaker’s Volkswagen Group of America, announced 48 new jobs in the Reston area of the county. That trend is continuing here in 2018. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam made two recent visits to Fairfax County to major economic development announcement: software maker Appian's commitment to add 600 jobs and a $28 million investment at a new headquarters in Tysons Corner, and business intelligence firm MicroStrategy’s commitment to invest $6 million in capital improvements at its Tysons Corner facility and add an additional 300 jobs. (Above, Governor Northam presents a Virginia flag to Appian founder and CEO Matt Calkins at Appian's announcement event.) The governor also attended a ribbon cutting by Favor TechConsulting, a growing healthtech information firm that expanded to new headquarters in the Tysons Corner area. The company intends to grow to 1,200 jobs. And, last week brought news that Cvent, which began in Fairfax County in 1999 and develops software and services focused on event management, will expand by 1,000 jobs, including 500 in the Washington, D.C. area. |
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| Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe presents a Virginia flag to Granules India principals during announcement of their expansion in Chantilly. Among officials on hand: Fairfax County Supervisor Kathy Smith, second from left; Sharon Bulova, chairman Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, third from right; FCEDA President Gerald L. Gordon, far right. (Photo FCEDA) |
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French cloud leader OVH chooses Fairfax County for U.S. expansion base OVH US, a global cloud provider with roots in France, celebrated its continued expansion in the U.S. market with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new corporate headquarters in the Reston area of Fairfax County. OVH Group is the largest European hosting provider and has 1.3 million customers in 138 countries. Russ Reeder, CEO of OVH US, told the crowd of employees, partners and customers that a Fairfax County location made sense because it is the optimal place to cultivate computing talent. "It's where can we find the right employees to join OVH," said Reeder, who has helped manage tech companies in other locales, including San Francisco, Nashville, Austin and Los Angeles. "That was the number one thing we looked for. Coming here and finding the employee base that is tech-savvy, that comes in and has team spirit, and is willing to...create a culture of growth -- that's an amazing opportunity for us." |
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Dutch cyber firm EclecticIQ opens North American HQ in Fairfax County EclecticIQ, headquartered in Amsterdam, recently opened its North American headquarters in the Herndon area of Fairfax County. The cyber threat-intelligence firm, which operates in Europe, the U.S., Australia and Singapore, doubled its customer base in 2017. The company won Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Rising Star Award as "Most Disruptive Innovator" in 2016. |
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Israeli companies in Fairfax County expand through acquisitions Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology. Priority Software Ltd., an Israel-based provider enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions with U.S. headquarters in the Reston area of Fairfax County, has acquired New Jersey-based Acclivity, a producer of small business accounting software. The January acquisition is part of Priority’s plan for global expansion and follows the company’s 2017 purchase of Monitin Information Systems ERP, also based in Israel. Priority previously bought Performa Apps, a Reston-based ERP consulting and services firm. On January 30, Amdocs, a leading provider of solutions to communications and media companies, announced it had entered into a $224 million agreement to acquire Vubiquity, a provider of premium content services and technology solutions with a U.S. headquarters office in Reston. Amdoc’s U.S. Open Network main office is located in the Herndon section of Fairfax County. |
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FCEDA joins leader in unmanned vehicle technology The FCEDA has become a member organization of the Association for Unmanned Vehicles international (AUVSI), the world’s largest organization dedicated to unmanned vehicles and the emerging technologies they spawn. Founded in 1972, AUVSI and its members are involved with unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), robotics, Internet-of-Things (sensors), satellites, telecommunications and undersea vehicles as well as self-driving cars. With more than 35 chapters around the globe, AUVSI has 7,500 members including Fortune 500 companies, universities and economic development organizations. At least 26 members currently operate in Fairfax County including Intelsat, SAIC, MITRE and Lockheed Martin. Other prominent members include Amazon, Facebook, Intel and NVIDIA. Fairfax County is home to numerous drone technology companies and innovative satellite communications and communications firms. County officials have expressed a desire to place the county at the forefront of driverless vehicle technology and the infrastructure that supports it. |
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FCEDA’s Dr. Gordon considered among most influential For the sixth consecutive year, Virginia Business magazine named FCEDA President and CEO Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., (pictured, right) as one of the 50 Most Influential Virginians. The magazine said it was looking for: “Entrepreneurs. Visionaries. People who build things,” when assembling its list for 2018. Virginia Business wrote: "Fairfax County continues to develop and diversify its economy. Last year, the county was home to nine Fortune 500 companies and 132 businesses on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing firms. During his tenure, Gordon has seen the total number jobs in Fairfax grow from 243,000 to more than 600,000." |
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FCEDA’s message resonates with international media The FCEDA is building its profile around the world as more international media outlets publish news and opinions from FCEDA experts. It’s a trend that began last fall when Battlespace, an international defense electronics news service, published FCEDA London office director Ian Metcalf’s column about British cybersecurity firms finding a home in Fairfax County. It continued when FINN Magazine published Metcalf’s column in which he compared Farnborough’s commitment to the aerospace and defense industries to that of Fairfax County. The Times of Israel published two blog posts from FCEDA sources. In December, it ran Tel Aviv office director Yair Ephrati’s piece outlining why many Israeli companies choose Fairfax County as a business hub. In March, it published a Q & A featuring FCEDA business development manager and Israel native Asher Kotz with his take on the similarities between Israel and Fairfax County, and his reflections on Israel after returning home years later. That same week, FCEDA President and CEO Dr. Gerald L. Gordon’s opinion piece outlining the business relationships between Fairfax County and India was published online by The American Bazaar, which covers the Indian-American community, technology and news. Gordon has appeared in print three times in Korea this year. His columns about the success of Korean businesses in Fairfax County have been published in English (by the Korea Times) and Korean (by Investor’s Business Daily). The Korea Herald ran his column about the ability of Korean startups to thrive in Fairfax County. Back in Virginia, the Fairfax County Times looked at Korean-owned companies that have found success in Fairfax County. Writer Angela Woolsey examined GINIA, an IT consulting firm in the Alexandria portion of the county, Design Be Art, a Tysons Corner producer of architectural scale models, and Language on Demand, a translation and interpretation company based in the Annandale section of the county, as examples of the flourishing Korean community in the county. |
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NEWS FROM OUR LONDON OFFICE |
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FCEDA’s regional collaboration is taking flight in Farnborough For the last several years, Fairfax County has been developing an increasingly deep relationship with the region around Farnborough, southwest of London. Farnborough bears multiple similarities to Fairfax County, not the least of which is its proximity to a major airport. In fact, with the oldest continuously operating runway in the world, Farnborough considers itself a home of aviation and to many companies with ties to Fairfax County and the U.K. As it is every other year, Farnborough will be home to a major worldwide airshow in July. Many major Fairfax County firms have direct involvement in the aerospace and defense industries and, this year, the FCEDA will have a visible presence, with a booth at the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium (FAC) pavilion. In late March, Jan Mul, the FCEDA director of international marketing, joined Ian Metcalf, director of the FCEDA’s London office, for a preliminary visit, fostering links with business groups, academic institutions and local government officials in the Farnborough area. |
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Above: A Tweet from our partners in Farnborough (UK) – Rushmoor is the council area that includes Farnborough. Pictured (l to r) are David Clifford, leader of Rushmoor Council; Jan Mul, FCEDA; David Barnes CBE, CEO Farnborough Aerospace Consortium; Sir Donald Spiers, chairman of FAC); Ian Metcalf, FCEDA. |
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FCEDA thanks Ross Clarke, embraces Ian Metcalf On January 4, the FCEDA announced that it selected Ian Metcalf (pictured) to become director of its London office, succeeding Ross Clarke who retired as head of its outreach efforts in the United Kingdom. Clarke worked with the FCEDA for 19 years and received a thank-you video from his colleagues and co-workers, past and present. Beyond working hand-in-hand with Clarke since 2015, Metcalf brings trans-Atlantic experience in key industry sectors. The owner and managing director of Farnham, Surrey-based business development firm Critical Outcomes, Metcalf has established a partnership with the Enterprise M3 Local Economic Partnership (FCEDA’s counterpart in the English county of Hampshire) and other organizations including the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium. He also developed a pipeline of small and medium-sized enterprises in the defense, security and aerospace industries. Metcalf has built working relationships in Britain and Virginia, working with members of Parliament and local authorities in Hampshire and Oxfordshire while extending outreach to chambers of commerce and local enterprise partnerships across the U.K. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics from Balliol College, Oxford, and is a fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust. |
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NEWS FROM OUR SEOUL OFFICE |
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FCEDA part of Virginia team working with entrepreneurs at forum The FCEDA partnered with D.Camp, a leading accelerator in Seoul, to hold the Mentors Investors Partners for Korean Startups (MIPS) Forum on March 15. D.Camp is funded by Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs, a non-profit organization developed to revitalize the entrepreneurship ecosystem and create work opportunities for aspiring millennial entrepreneurs. Several prominent business executives from northern Virginia were guest speakers during this event. Ade Odutola, founder and CEO of Solvitur Systems LLC, Laszlo Horvath, founder and president of ActiveMedia, and Steven Lee, founder and CEO of GINIA Group, joined Andrew Yu, the FCEDA’s marketing manager for Asia, for a panel discussion and provided information about doing business in the U.S. The event included a special session at which time three startup firms were selected to pitch their companies to the executives from the U.S. All told, more than 40 companies received valuable information about business opportunities in the U.S. and the advantages of doing business in Fairfax County. Photo: Sophie Eom, CEO of Adrian AI, makes a presentation to a group including the FCEDA’s Andrew Yu (right) and Laszlo Horvath of ActiveMedia, to his right. (Photo FCEDA) |
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NEWS FROM OUR TEL AVIV OFFICE |
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Tel Aviv forum focuses on opportunities in cybersecurity, HLS On January 25, the Tel Aviv and Central Israel Chamber of Commerce teamed with the FCEDA to hold a business forum “Business Opportunities in the U.S. 2018.” The event, attended by about 30 executives, highlighted current business opportunities in the U.S. market with a focus on high-growth segments such as cybersecurity, homeland security and emergency response. (Photo: Asher Kotz, FCEDA business development manager for Israel and cybersecurity,left, helped organize the Tel Aviv panel.) The event, which took place at the Tel Aviv Chamber of Commerce, was held in partnership with multinational consulting firm Deloitte, the law firm of Holland & Knight, and Israel Advanced Technology Industries. |
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NEWS FROM OUR BANGALORE OFFICE |
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Sixty attend emerging-market outreach event in Kochi For the first time, the FCEDA conducted a business reception in Kochi, a major port city in the state of Kerala, on the southwest coast of India. The FCEDA and The American Bazaar co-hosted the “US-India Emerging Technologies Forum” on February 15 at the Kochi Marriott Hotel. Panel discussions focused on the emerging technologies of blockchain, IoT and artificial intelligence and on doing business in the United States. (Photo: Juhi Naithani, the FCEDA business development manager for India, participated in one of the Kochi panels.) Featuring a video highlighting Fairfax County, the forum spotlighted successful business strategies and investment opportunities in the U.S. market in key technology sectors The audience of startups and mid-size IT companies from three IT tech parks in Kochi learned about the landscape for startups in the U.S. and about investment trends in the technology arena. The event was organized with FCEDA partner Brickwork India and strategic partners The American Bazaar, TiE Kochi and NASSCOM 10,000 Startups. |
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NEWS FROM OUR BERLIN OFFICE |
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FCEDA makes new connections in Spain Jatinder Kaur Khosla, business development manager, Europe, and Markus van Tilburg, director of the FCEDA Berlin office, took advantage of Mobile World Congress Week (MWC18) to expand connections at several events in Spain. The week kicked off in Barcelona on February 25at the Mobile Sunday event organized by tech.eu (Photos by Markus van Tilburg, FCEDA). The evening enabled the FCEDA to gain valuable insights about recent trends within the European tech community, new developments within multiple industries and to make connections with innovative companies, venture capital providers and startups. The FCEDA team participated at MWC18, which was held from February 26 through March 1. That time allowed for meetings with multiple established European firms. The 2018 Mobile World Congress attracted more than 107,000 attendees from 205 countries. In all, 2,400 companies showcased their products and solutions and 12 international delegations exhibited. In Barcelona, the FCEDA also participated and held several meetings at an event created especially for startups. Called 4 Years From Now (4YFN), this event ran concurrently with MWC 2018. Incubators from companies such as Airbus and Mercedes Benz offered the chance for young companies to showcase their business models, get in touch with investors and launch new ventures. FCEDA’s Europe office organized two days of meetings with promising start-up companies to discuss their growth strategy and potential for future market entry into the U.S. |
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NEWS FROM OUR LOS ANGELES OFFICE |
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FCEDA participates in O.C. blockchain and cryptocurrency event Blockchain and distributed ledgers are becoming increasingly popular, with startups, multinationals, governments and non-profits evaluating the benefits of the technology. Mark White, director of the FCEDA Los Angeles office, was part of a large gathering in Orange County in mid-January to learn more about blockchain technology, key uses, ICOs, smart contracts and security. In 2017, the FCEDA became the first local organization to join the growing Chamber of Digital Commerce, the world’s leading trade association representing the digital asset and blockchain industry. The blockchain ecosystem, with its large value and potential to grow, remains of great interest to the FCEDA’s activities and in attracting top companies that participate in this industry. |
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The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA offers site location and business development assistance, and connections with county and state government agencies, to help companies locate and expand in Fairfax County. Want to know more about the services of the FCEDA, or how economic development helps Fairfax County? Visit the FCEDA Web site or e-mail us at info@fceda.org. Offices worldwide: Bangalore, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Seoul, Tel Aviv Fairfax County: "One of the great economic success stories of our time" -- Time magazine Fairfax County Economic Development Authority - Headquarters Telephone: +1 703-790-0600 Fax: +1 703-893-1269 |
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