Fairfax County: Innovators Welcome

Fairfax County, which takes up most of the distance between Washington, D.C., and Washington Dulles International Airport, is one of the nation’s leading technology centers. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes that fact and the county’s welcoming environment for innovators in every technology sector.

The FCEDA — which has offices in San Francisco, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Seoul and Tel Aviv — is a catalyst for growth, says Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., FCEDA president and chief executive officer and NVTC board member. “A company decision maker who is looking for office space and other business development counseling can take advantage of our services, which are free and confidential.”

One of Fairfax County’s greatest assets is the expertise of its residents, Gordon says. “Because of our proximity to the federal government, many Fairfax County residents are at the top of their professions. If you are looking for experts in almost any endeavor, you will find them in our community.”

Fairfax County is the fourth-largest suburban office-space market in the U.S., with more than 114 million square feet. Tysons Corner alone has 26 million square feet of office space. County officials are considering proposals that could increase the amount of office space in Tysons Corner to more than 70 million.

The technology sector directly accounts for
nearly one in three jobs within Fairfax County.

Eighteen of the top 20 federal prime contractors have a major presence in Fairfax County or are headquartered there. “As the federal government grows, Northern Virginia grows,” says Gordon. “But we are no longer just a government town. While defense and homeland security give us a stable economy, we have diversified across all agencies and the private sector as well. We have growing companies involved in telecom, aviation and aerospace. The next generation of advances in genomics, for example, will take place here because we have the technology labor force already in place. And the stimulus package likely will provide opportunities for Fairfax County businesses in new areas such as green technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

“The great diversity of our community and workforce contributes to the climate of innovation. Business problems have myriad potential solutions, and when people from a variety of backgrounds work together, new ways of approaching a problem emerge,” Gordon adds.

Recent additions to the Fairfax County business mix demonstrate the region’s desirability: Hilton Hotels Corporation moved its global headquarters from Beverly Hills to Tysons Corner, and Computer Sciences Corporation moved its headquarters to the Falls Church area from El Segundo, Calif. Foreign-owned companies also are a major force in the Fairfax County economy. More than 350 companies from three dozen countries have over 20,000 employees in the county.

“We chose Fairfax County because a headquarters location in Northern Virginia makes economic sense, gives us great access to our markets, and enables us to run our company more efficiently and take advantage of the great quality of life in the Greater Washington area,” said Hilton President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher J. Nassetta in a recent FCEDA news release.

“Northern Virginia is a melting pot of opportunity, and all players are welcomed in this region,” says John C. Lee, IV, chairman and chief executive officer of Lee Technologies and former NVTC chairman. “We have both quality and quantity of like-minded small companies and entrepreneurs that are willing to help each other.”

Lee Technologies, based in Fairfax, has been a vital part of the region for 26 years. The company designs, builds, operates, maintains and monitors data centers. “We grew from a small company that could count its employees on one hand to a vibrant enterprise,” says Lee. “We see every indication that this industry will have bright, continued growth in the future.”

“The opportunity that is indigenous to this region is the driving force for our company as well as many others to locate here,” Lee adds. “While it may start with the base business of government, many other industries are represented in large numbers, like banking, communications, health care and energy.”

Education and Research Support A Knowledge Economy

Universities in Northern Virginia are a steady source of well-trained engineers and professional staff as well as ongoing innovative research.

George Mason University

Located in the heart of Northern Virginia’s technology corridor, George Mason University plays a key role in the region’s workforce preparation. Nearly half of Mason’s 30,000 students are post-baccalaureate to accommodate the region’s need for advanced education. “Mason performs a function similar to what San Jose State University does for the Valley: education of IT students, continuing education for IT executives and a large IT research program,” says Dr. Alan Merten, president of George Mason University and an NVTC board member. “The education program is the backbone provider of human capital development for the region and is evolving as the leading research organization for the region.”

Established in 1972, Mason now has campuses in Fairfax County, Arlington County and Prince William County (PWC). “PWC has a specific focus in the biosciences,” says Merten. “We envision it as the anchor of a science city and related science and industry development complex.”

“Mason is perhaps best known for its education and research programs in IT, economics, and public policy and management,” says Merten. “Mason is evolving an aggressive program in the biosciences, neuroscience and, more specifically, in proteomics. This initiative is in its fourth year and already has had exceptional breakthrough outcomes.”

The recruitment of Lance Liotta and Emanuel “Chip” Petricoin, intramural researchers from the National Institutes of Health, was a significant accomplishment for Mason three years ago. Lance and Chip, as they are known around the region, have established a large-scale research laboratory that houses one of the top two research programs in the world in this area. Their work has generated some 40-plus patents and related licenses, and two companies that specialize in personalized medical services. Both companies are in their second round of financing and promise to be forerunners in the vision of a health care system that delivers medical care directly to the patient, designed to meet his or her unique needs.

“This research program is evolving into one of considerable external impact, with sponsored funding in the millions each year,” says Merten. “It has led to contracts like the one with the Italian government that supports more than 20 medical scientists working in the team’s laboratory. Further, bioscience companies are attracted to sites adjacent to Mason’s PWC Campus because of Lance and Chip’s research and other related research activities located there or adjacent to the campus.”

Mason professors conduct groundbreaking research in areas such as cancer, climate change, IT and the biosciences. “Mason is a key actor in any new development project that occurs,” says Merten. “For example, a large-scale personalized molecular medicine institute has been proposed for the region. Mason, along with other organizations such as the Inova Health System, is a core leader in this evolving project along with the state economic development office.”

The George Washington University

The George Washington University(GW) is in a unique position with its main campus in the nation’s capital and a graduate research campus in Northern Virginia. Located eight miles from Washington Dulles International Airport, The George Washington University Virginia Campus is a world-class facility with centers of excellence in transportation safety and security, energy science and high-performance computing. It is home to more than 20 graduate certificate and degree programs and a dozen research centers, and has turned into a natural hub for international collaboration, education and research partnerships. “We are truly a global university,” says GW President Steven Knapp, Ph.D. “We are anchored in the capital city of the U.S. and in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we draw students from some 150 nations around the world. We measure the impact of our research not only in regional and national but increasingly in global terms.”

GW faculty members combine their capital connections to contribute to a global body of knowledge in myriad fields. For example, GW’s National Crash Analysis Center has ensured the safety of U.S. federal buildings and foreign embassies by testing the crash-worthiness of security bollards and barriers. The center is now advising a corporation in China about American safety standards for electric cars.

One of GW’s new Energy Institute faculty at the Virginia Campus is the vice chairman of the Implementing Agreement on Advanced Materials for Transportation of the International Energy Agency, coordinating the development of advanced materials among the U.S., U.K., China, Germany and Canada. Advanced materials such as lightweight, friction-reduction, low-cost carbon fibers and nanomaterials can reduce the weight of a vehicle by 50% or more, giving it the potential to reach 100 miles per gallon.

GW faculty members are also working with major U.S. corporations like IBM, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins and SGI.

The chief academic operating officer at GW’s Virginia Campus, Craig Linebaugh, Ph.D., plays a leadership role in the regional business community.

“We have a business community that values higher education,” says Linebaugh. “Having a world-class university like GW in Northern Virginia, as well as in Washington D.C., helps attract and keep businesses here. We are an asset for the region and part of its economic development strategy.”

Some of the most exciting work being done at GW is in the area of pharmacogenomics, says Linebaugh. “It’s personalized medicine — the study of how a person’s unique genetic profile interacts with medications.”

A unique Bachelor of Science in health sciences, offered only at the GW Virginia Campus, is in partnership with Shenandoah University’s Dunn School of Pharmacy in Winchester. Many students continue in the Doctor of Pharmacy program, while others go to work in the biotech industry. The faculty use videoconferencing to teach classes simultaneously at both campuses.

The region’s universities serve a high demand for higher education to support a knowledge economy. “Virtually everyone in this part of Virginia expects their kids to go to college,” Linebaugh observes. “In this highly educated population, well over 50% have a bachelor’s degree.”

That highly educated population includes more than 40,000 GW alumni living in Virginia, among them leaders like U.S. Senator and former Governor Mark Warner.

Virginia Tech

With a presence in Northern Virginia since 1969, Virginia Tech (VT) equips the region’s workforce with problem solving skills applicable to regional and global issues. Virginia Tech’s presence in the national capital region continues to grow, with campuses in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, Leesburg and Middleburg. Among the university’s newest degree programs is a joint degree with Georgetown University for a Master of Science in Biomedical Technology Development and Management. An executive master of information security assurance program will launch in spring 2010.

VT’s contribution of brainpower to the area is significant: More than 40,000 alumni reside in the capital region. Research conducted at VT is generating fresh ideas for business, industry and communities worldwide. “We have well over $400 million in ongoing research projects,” says Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, who also is an NVTC board member. “International partnerships are important to our research programs. We now have close to 2,000 projects involving 72 countries. These range from the DNA mapping of plants to make them more salt tolerant, to work to help developing countries produce cash crops, to modeling malaria for better prevention and treatment.”

One current program is looking to develop technology that will support crisis-management plans in real time. Virginia Tech, IBM and Arlington County are jointly developing an informatics lab — the Center for Community Security and Resilience — to focus on advanced research and systems for routine and crisis event management and ultimately aid government decision makers. The operation will be based in Virginia Tech’s new $100 million research center, which is under construction in Arlington.

Northern Virginia welcomes new and expanding businesses to explore the region that has become Innovation Central for the world. To learn more about Northern Virginia’s technology business community and its advantages for innovators, visit www.nvtc.org.

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