Across all of Fairfax County, Tysons has the highest concentration of cybersecurity companies with headquarters or major operations.

According to a list put together by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), Tysons has 119 cybersecurity companies, the most of any jurisdiction in the county. Tysons is followed by Reston with 79 companies and Herndon with 68 companies.

Economic groups have been working to turn Tysons into a Silicon Valley for cybersecurity. Bringing in more tech companies, and how that could impact education and infrastructure challenges around the region, was a major theme of the Tysons 2050 event

Some of the cybersecurity companies — or companies with cybersecurity components — in Tysons include:

• BAE Systems — a defense, security and aerospace company
• Centurum — a network engineering and infrastructure company
• Cyren — a cloud-based internet security services company
• Dell EMC — a data storage and management company acquired by Dell in 2016.
• HumanTouch — a private and public sector cybersecurity company
• Leidos — a defense and intelligence industry focused cybersecurity company
• Merlin International — a cybersecurity company focusing on both government and commercial contracts
• Microstrategy — a data analytics company
• MITRE — a not-for-profit company that operates research and development centers
• Nehemiah Security — a cyber-risk assessment business
• Novetta Solutions — a data-analytics focused business
• OBXtek — a technical and logistics solutions company which works primarily with the federal government
• Preferred Systems Solutions — an IT management, development, and operation company
• PFP Cybersecurity — a cybersecurity company utilizing analog signals to assess the integrity of digital information
• Raytheon — a major defense contractor
• RSA — a commercial-focused cybersecurity company
• Strategic Operational Solutions — an IT strategy and management consulting firm
• Tangible Security — a cybersecurity company
• Tanium — an endpoint security and systems management company
• Trustwave — a business-focused cybersecurity company
• Veris Group — a Tysons cyber-risk assessor that acquired in 2016 by cybersecurity company Coalfire
• Verodin — a cybersecurity management company

There are also several major cybersecurity companies located around the Merrifield area, including:

• Cisco Systems — an IT, networking and cybersecurity company
• Harris Corporation — a company built on improving business’ cybersecurity effectiveness
• Kingfisher Systems, Inc. — a cybersecurity contractor
• Lockheed Martin — a global security and aerospace company
• TEKsystems — an IT staffing company

Photo via FCEDA

Union Hill isn’t anywhere close to Tysons, but state Del. Mark Keam (D-35) is taking an active role in a fight against a controversial gas compressor station proposed to be built in Buckingham County neighborhood.

Yesterday (Wednesday) the State Air Pollution Control Board delayed a decision on whether or not to approve a piece of Dominion Energy’s $7 billion Atlantic Coast natural-gas pipeline.

The board voted 3 to 1 in favor of a delay in approval, but a new vote was not scheduled.

Staff from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality said at the meeting that the area around the compressor was sparsely populated and did not have historic resources of significance.

But local community members have repeatedly protested contested staff’s findings. Keam says he’s in the nearby residents’ corner and told Tysons Reporter there’s reason for concern in his home district.

Keam – "I also cannot sit idly by while a neighborhood of low-income, elderly African Americans in Union Hill is about to be destroyed by a compressor station constructed near the sacred grounds where freed slaves are buried in unmarked graves."

— Blue Virginia (@bluevirginia) December 20, 2018

“[Dominion] has used misleading data that covers a broader range,” said Keam, referring to a census cited in DEQ reports. “But if you go neighborhood to neighborhood, it shows that these [residences] are very close and more condensed. I went around there and I can tell you that there are houses within eyesight of this location.”

Keam’s assessment goes against the findings of DEQ staff, which reiterated at yesterday’s meeting that a failed attempt to have Union Hill recognized by the Department of Historic Resources further cemented staff’s findings that the area surrounding the proposed compressor station does not qualify for historic protections.

While DEQ staff said the broader census data shows no greater concentration of minorities than the rest of the state, local residents characterized Union Hill as a historic African-American neighborhood settled by freedmen and emancipated slaves following the Civil War.

Keam said staff’s findings are the result of understaffing and over-reliance on information provided by Dominion:

I’ve had deep concerns about this from the get-go. DEQ only has a few people that work on these things. Like most government agencies, they are overworked and understaffed… The fact that they have to rely on applicant, I understand that’s the process, but something like this that’s so controversial… it would really beg the question why DEQ isn’t spending more time looking into these issues. I’m hoping this will give everyone a chance to come to consensus. But it tells you, if they’re willing to overlook this, what else are they overlooking.

Keam acknowledged that he would still have been opposed to the compressor station even if it weren’t at Union Hill, pointing to concerns that the federal law authorizing the pipeline allowed Dominion Energy to cite its own affiliates as the customers when making a case for the pipeline’s economic necessity.

At the Atlantic Coast Pipeline website, Dominion Energy says the new pipeline will save consumers an estimated $377 million in energy costs, but Keam said existing underground pipelines are only being used at 50 percent capacity, so Keam said a new line won’t necessarily mean Northern Virginia will see a decrease in energy costs, but that Dominion Energy will push the costs to build the pipeline onto the consumer.

“Our power lines are fine,” said Keam. “It’s not going to have any impact on getting more or less power. But if Dominion is spending, eventually someone will have to pay for it, and that’s ratepayers like you and I. Whatever cost, they get to spread to its ratepayers.”

Finally, Keam argues that the placement of the various compressor stations, like one on Native American land in North Carolina, further shows the oppressive mechanisms at work behind the pipeline.

“You’re not going to see [this compressor station] in McLean or Tysons,” Keam said. “This is land they bought for pennies on the dollar where [the residents] are the descendants of slaves. It’s racial injustice.”

Photo via Twitter

(Updated 3:30) There’s lots of new development around Tysons, but one of the more unusual is a series of residential buildings constructed last night inside the Tysons Biergarten, made entirely from gingerbread.

The Tysons Biergarten is normally a pretty adult-oriented place, one of the few hotspots of the local nightlife, but yesterday (Wednesday) evening the Biergarten toned down the “bier” part and hosted its 3rd annual toy drive for local youth shelter Second Story. The event included gingerbread house making with youth involved with Second Story and a visit by Santa.

The event was the culmination of a month of toy collection at the Biergarten, where over fifty toys were collected. An earlier fundraiser for the organization raised $500.

Second Story, formerly known as Alternative House, is a youth services and safe shelter near Tysons that was founded in 1972.

The shelter offers a variety of programs, from caring for infants and young mothers to helping teenagers and young adults in distress, and offers a crisis shelter for teens for up to three weeks at a time. It also provides counseling for anyone in need across any of the shelter’s programsand offers longer-term support programs, like rent assistance and help with applications and training.

Abigail Brougher, a communications specialist for Second Story, said the Tysons Biergarten event, along with toy drives hosted by the Tysons Partnership and Tysons Corner Center, mean the shelter will be able to make sure every child and youth involved with the program is able to get a Christmas present.

“Second Story is so thankful for relationships in Tysons,” said Brougher. “It’s important to us to be able to give out toys at Christmas and they are all donated.”

Brougher said there’s no total tally of toys and funds raised yet, and it won’t be counted until after the holiday season, but roughly speaking the shelter has received hundreds of toys.

“Our two objectives are providing safe havens and opportunities,” said Brougher. “The opportunity to have that Christmas experience is important to us.”

While it’s a little late in the year to still give toys, Brougher said there’s still plenty that Tysonians can do to support the shelter year-round. Tysons Corner Center is also still collecting toys until Monday, Dec. 24, at the Santa HQ outside the Nordstrom.

“The biggest thing is to get involved,” said Brougher. “We have tours once a month. That is a really important way to learn about Second Story. We hold them on the second Tuesday of the month and you can sign up online. You get to tour our teen shelter, see where young people are staying, and learn more.”

For those looking to learn more about the shelter but can’t make it out for a tour, Brougher said Second Story also recently finished the first season of its podcast, which interviews people who went through the program.

“We have so much support from the Tysons community,” said Brougher. “They’re a huge part of us being able to do what we do.”

https://www.facebook.com/TysonsBiergarten/videos/375456116351572/?__xts__[0]=68.ARCx2HOlHfUy8WA2QtNQ7hRCyru8ha-sA061a0OmRhoyBJkKdKoIAguX0NV_QYREVK2LpwhY9yQQWCfGNm7gACS9oWqV6vFcoIJZD-Aaotc6ttAhKvWvB04iNuEUO0fcUk3KzCp4KD2zxpEeMcqiPDM_NkUdEJcC2RIQUnNZlhd5OSRl6rJqallOPR6hLg20_Bnh3oTyZ9cYPWQWwOWDtkDxZ4VbzLOkyXVu75AnEVSNjiuDWxYkQ7ct9SqH1Cz34zYsCcQorno-jo34M0ZVQ_KkI8H-0e64jiUI-WYn1B5v3_dcWLrO3LskB9zAtt1lANF9dRckRJSkIBL6X7JNTNkUEVFCJgIiTNs1yaMn6ur9LnLVp1Kn_A0euqYwcIrgdAiTqC2twFMx2nKeoJoAc83fu8H8u2eCJ_t3QFt8JyZjr4x2-0gXlJr-HV6TsQ&__tn__=-R

Photo courtesy Matt Rofougaran

(Updated 7:20 a.m.) Fairfax County Police say a pizza delivery driver was finishing up a delivery on Monday in the Gates of McLean neighborhood in Tysons East when he saw a man climb into the car and drive off.

According to a crime report, the theft took place around 10 p.m. The vehicle was unlocked with the keys in the ignition and the engine on while the delivery driver went up to the residence to drop off the food.

“While returning to his vehicle, he saw a man get in his car and drive off,” FCPD said.

“Officers found the car with the man sitting in the driver’s seat. Stolen property belonging to a resident that lived nearby was located inside of the vehicle as well,” said police. “Michael Louk, 47, no fixed address, was charged with auto theft, vehicle trespassing, and grand larceny.”

Photo courtesy Fairfax County Police Department

(Updated 2:30 p.m.) If you’re looking for a last minute holiday gift, the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association’s location in the Mosaic District will be offering (relatively) affordable art until this coming Sunday, Dec. 23.

The ≤500 exhibit features a range of art types with a focus on affordability, all items being priced at or below $500. The artwork in the gallery includes painting, photography, and glass mosaics.

The gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

After the ≤500 exhibit closes on Sunday, a new exhibit called “Voyages” will run from Dec. 26 through Jan. 27 and “MicroResidencies” from Jan. 30 through March 3.

The Mosaic gallery is managed by the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association. The Mosaic gallery opened at 105 District Ave in April this year, on a one-year lease, after a short run in November 2017 as a pop-up gallery.

An outdated office building in northern Tysons could be replaced by a new mixed-use residential and commercial development called Hanover Tysons if its rezoning is approved early next year.

The new development would be located just west of Jones Branch Park at 1500 Westbranch Drive.

Currently, the site is occupied by a seven-story office building that was built in 1983 and is currently vacant. Redevelopment of the parcel would also require rezoning, and is scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing in February 2019, with a Board of Supervisors hearing in March.

The new residential building would be between 5-7 stories with 350-400 dwelling units. Portions of the ground level along Jones Branch Drive would be designed to accommodate retail and service uses. In keeping with Fairfax County’s efforts to promote more affordable housing around Tysons, 20 percent of the residential units, or 66 of the potential 400 units, would be workforce housing.

“Approval and construction of the proposed Hanover Tysons development will continue the implementation of the Tysons vision by converting a suburban-style office building into a lively residential community and help address the current imbalance between those who work and live in Tysons,” wrote Elizabeth Baker, senior land use planner for the law group filing on behalf of developer Hanover Co., in the application. “Provision of on-site workforce housing will promote Tysons as a community for all.”

The development would also bring street improvements to Jones Branch Drive and Westbranch Drive, widening them to allow parallel parking spaces, bike lanes, and streetscape improvements.

In addition to streetscape improvements, the application also includes new public and private parks for recreational use. The public park would add 1.12 acres of gardens, trees, walking paths and outdoor seating. The private amenity space would include a new swimming pool.

Blend 111 is shaping up to be a little different than many restaurants in Vienna.

It isn’t the latest branch of some regional or national chain. Instead, Blend 111 is a food and wine bar for Vienna by local Vienna residents.

Signs are up on the front of the restaurant under construction at 111 Church St., but there’s still a lot of work still to do inside before it’s ready for its first customers. Michael Biddick, principal owner and CEO of Blend 111, says construction will start the first week of January and is scheduled to take 8-12 weeks with an opening in mid-spring 2019.

But when it does open, Biddick says the restaurant will be a blend of the taste and regional dishes of the four different Vienna families coming together to support the project.

“We wanted to bring something you normally find around D.C. or Logan Circle, an upscale restaurant experience that’s accessible for the community,” said Biddick. “We wanted a special place to go on a night out.”

Biddick said the idea for the restaurant came as he was commiserating with neighbors that they all loved going into the city, but with kids and jobs with long hours it was difficult to make the hour drive and get a babysitter.

“A lot of people around here just go somewhere else, like a chain or somewhere in town, but they make do with convenience,” said Biddick. “We wanted to give people a great restaurant to go to for wine and a special night right here in Vienna.”

Around April, Biddick said he sold the last of the tech startups he’d been working on and had extra time on his hands. Wine and food was a hobby for Biddick and he began to take a serious interest in turning that into a local business.

“I started on my own, but as we shared that with neighbors they got really interested and wanted to come in on the project,” said Biddick. “So now there are four families in Vienna investing… They’re mainly neighbors, just people on the street who want to be involved.”

The restaurant will offer a blend of cuisines from Venezuela, France and Spain, three culinary cultures Biddick says were important to the families involved.

“We took those three regions and tried to create some menu concepts off the things we saw when we were traveling,” said Biddick. “Like we really loved this menu dish from Spain, so we made a note to bring that back with us.”

While there are options for meat eaters like grilled quail or duck, Biddick, a vegetarian, said he was also mindful to offer equal portions of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options in the menu.

The restaurant’s origins come from a community need, and Biddick says he aims for that community focus to continue after the restaurant opens. The types of food served and hours the restaurant runs are all planned to be flexible based on what the community responds to.

“The localness of Vienna, and the lack of a lot of the larger restaurant chain environments directly in downtown Vienna, makes it unique,” said Biddick. “I think this is showing that you can do something unique and super high quality that isn’t part of some big chain. That’s something that’s important for us to prove.”

Photos via Twitter

If the new ice cream parlor wasn’t enough dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth in the recently opened Taste of Urbanspace, boutique cakemaker Lady M opened in Tysons Galleria last Thursday.

Lady M’s Urbanspace location is a pop-up that is scheduled to last until February 2019.

During December, the boutique’s website says the shop will offer a selection of classic and seasonal cakes:

Get ready for Mille Crêpes in Signature, Green Tea, Coconut, and Marron. With winter weather in mind, we’re also bringing Chocolate Arc-en-Ciel, Gateau Fromage, Mont Blanc (thoughtfully sized for one), and the beautiful and boozy Black Forest.

Lady M will be open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. from Monday-Saturday, then 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sunday.

Six or nine-inch cakes are available from $55-95, with slices of cake available from $8.50-9.50.

Photo via Facebook

A new bus route will connect the Vienna Metrorail Station to the Pentagon via I-66, starting on Jan. 22.

The new express Route 698 will operate during weekday rush hours only, with ten trips in the morning and evening. The route, approved by the Board of Supervisors in November, will be supported by the Commuter Choice Program and I-66 toll revenues.

The first bus will leave Vienna at 5:40 a.m. and the last bus will arrive in Vienna at 6:46 p.m.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation also announced the Fairfax Connector’s holiday schedule. While most Fairfax Connector buses will not be operating on Christmas Day, the following bus lines in the Tysons area will not operate on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Day:

• Route 422: the Tysons Circulator
• Route 461: Flint Hill-Vienna
• Route 494: Lorton-Springfield-Tysons
• Route 495: Burke Centre-Tysons
• Routes 624, 634: Stringfellow Road-Fair Lakes via Vienna Metro Station
• Routes 640, 642, 644: Stone Road – Centreville North via Vienna Metro Station
• Route 724: Lewinsville Road via McLean Metro Station

Photo via Facebook

The plan for downtown McLean will break it into three zones, but local residents want to make sure it doesn’t become a second version of Tysons.

After a year of meetings with the community, contractor Streetsense presented its final vision for the McLean Community Business Center (CBC) last night (Monday) in Longfellow Middle School.

In Streetsense’s final proposal, the McLean CBC would be broken into three categories: center, general, and edge.

Colin Greene, Director of Planning at Streetsense, said the center zone could be occupied by either retail or residential spaces with a few offices. Buildings in this area would generally go up to seven stories, though Greene said those could be up to ten stories if they offer open space benefits.

In the general zone, Greene said the building heights could go up to five stories tall, with an emphasis on scaling development down as it approaches the edge zone, which would primarily consist of two or three story residential buildings.

“We expect and recommend that that [scale of residential development] continues,” said Greene. “Redevelopment would need to be in-kind and similar in scale and size.”

The map at the meeting showed the center zone in dark purple, with the general and edge zones in lighter shades.

The new plan puts McLean’s downtown center at the corner of Elm Street and Beverly Road, a corner whose most notable occupant today is the “Wok & Roll” Chinese restaurant. But the proposal would see the corner eventually developed with towering new residential and office buildings with retail frontage.

This new plan would also require substantial infrastructure improvements, including road improvements for Elm Street and Beverly Road and converting the nearby Center Street into a pedestrian avenue.

Several of those in attendance at the meeting had concerns about the level of density in the new downtown McLean, particularly with the proposal of a seven or ten-story office building in the heart of the CBC. More than one McLean local said they didn’t want to see the downtown turned into another Tysons.

Robert Moll, a McLean resident, said he looked at the sudden expansion of development in downtown Bethesda, Maryland, and said he didn’t want to see this happen to McLean.

“The CBC is not going to compete with Tysons for office space,” Greene said. “There is a low need for offices [here]. We don’t foresee a long or deep demand for office use.”

Green said most of the office space proposed for downtown McLean would be replacing existing, aging office buildings rather than adding new office capacity.

One local resident said that many of his neighbors and other members of the community would have liked an option for things to remain the same in McLean rather than see any new development, but many in the audience vocally opposed this idea.

“I’m out and about all the time and I get a lot of feedback on when I’m not getting something done,” said Supervisor John Foust. “One [bit of] feedback I get a lot is that we’re not doing enough to make McLean a place people can come together. That’s what they tell me they want in McLean. It’s not a scientific survey, but there’s support for doing something good but not overboard.”

After the presentation, those in attendance browsed the final plan spread across several boards in the back of the room.

“There are some real positive things here,” said Rob Jackson, chair of the McLean Citizens Association’s planning and zoning committee and a member of the CBC task force. “I like the focus on Elm Street and Beverly Road and putting the focus there. But I still have questions about where cars are going to park when people come for this pedestrian area.”

Walkability, even since the early meetings, was one of the most talked about topics for McLean residents at the CBC meetings.

“We enjoy walking everywhere,” said Frank Peterson, a local resident, “so we fully support the comment that this effort should integrate pedestrian-friendly ways to get around.”

Foust said working through the parking and pedestrian issues related to the McLean CBC study are going to be a priority as committees begin to meet in January to start looking at how to turn this vision plan into a reality.