A new report shows that minority-owned businesses in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia as a region suffered more acutely due to the COVID-19 pandemic than businesses owned by their white counterparts.

The Community Foundation of Northern Virginia released a report in late June detailing findings and recommendations from their minority-owned business working group.

They found that at the end of 2019, there were 128,000 minority-owned businesses in Northern Virginia, which encompasses five counties, including Fairfax. That’s approximately 42% of all establishments in the region, well above the national average of 29%.

Of the 128,000 minority-owned businesses in Northern Virginia, about 55,000 are in Fairfax County, according to statistics provided by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (EDA).

More than 8,000 non-farm businesses with paid employees in the county are owned by people of color, representing about a third of all such businesses in the county.

“It’s turned out to be one of our winning hands,” says EDA’s CEO and President Victor Hoskins about the number and contributions of minority-owned businesses in the county. “It’s something grown up here over time…just part of the DNA of not just Fairfax, but Northern Virginia.”

While the number of minority-owned businesses remained essentially flat throughout 2020, revenue and staffing at those businesses has decreased dramatically, while unemployment insurance claims have gone up.

According to the report, minority-owned businesses are more likely to be smaller in size, concentrated in high-risk industries such as accommodation and food service, and face more difficulties in securing capital. Due to these factors, minority-owned businesses are more likely to have “poor or fair” financial health.

Consistent with the rest of the region, Fairfax County minority-owned businesses have also suffered more acutely due to the pandemic. Because these businesses tend to be smaller in size, they simply have had less ability to overcome the economic hardships brought by the pandemic.

“Smaller businesses were disproportionately impacted by not having the financial wherewithal to weather the storm that this pandemic caused,” said Stephen Tarditi, EDA’s director of marketing intelligence. “They tend to be concentrated in industries more adversely…impacted by the pandemic.”

The report offered a number of recommendations for ways to better support these businesses, including better tracking of data and information to understand more specifically which businesses need help and when.

It also notes that more financial help is needed, including with grant funding and better strategies to improve access to capital for these businesses.

Officials agree with the report that more can be done. For example, specific data, like numbers related to revenue and number of paid staff, can drive policy, but there’s often a lack of up-to-date information.

“I was just surprised at how little…or regularly updated data that we have on hand to make these decisions,” Tarditi said. “I’m having a tough time knowing what the pandemic’s impact has been on our minority business community. This data drives the decisions and drives the strategy, which is extremely important, especially in this past year.”

EDA officials say the plan going forward is to disseminate more surveys more often with better outreach to be able to compile more and better data.

Last year, Fairfax County distributed more than $52 million in relief funding to small businesses through its RISE program, about half of which went to minority-owned businesses.

“We actually designed the RISE program to target a portion of small and minority-owned businesses,” says Hoskins. “I think the target was 30%, but we ended up [with] 72% [going to] women, veteran, or minority-owned businesses.”

The county is currently accepting applications for its new PIVOT program, but that doesn’t have any provisions directly dedicating a certain portion of funds to minority-owned businesses.

The Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce told Tysons Reporter last month that they’ve felt neglected in the development of some of Fairfax County’s major business grant programs.

When asked about this, Hoskins said the EDA works with the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce all the time and are located in the same building. Beyond that, he wasn’t familiar with the details of their comments or complaints.

Photo via Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

With the Fourth of July now in the rearview mirror, community transmission of the novel coronavirus remains low in Fairfax County, but some indicators suggest COVID-19 levels could be on the rise again.

With the addition of four new cases today (Tuesday), the Fairfax Health District has reported exactly 100 new cases over the past week — almost as many as the entire month of June — bringing the total for Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church to 78,204 cases.

The weekly average has ticked back up since mid-June, climbing from zero cases over the preceding week on June 19 to 13.3 cases today, as has the testing positivity rate, which went from a moving seven-day average of 0.7% on June 27 to 0.9% as of July 2, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

These trends reflect the state of the pandemic in Virginia as a whole, which saw May’s steady decline in cases level out in June and now has a weekly average of 180 cases, up from an all-time low of 129 cases on June 20.

Fairfax County’s primary metrics of a 0.9% testing positivity rate and 1.2 new daily cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days are still well within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s thresholds for a low level of community transmission, which is defined as fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate under 5%.

In addition, the severity of cases has been reduced from earlier in the pandemic. The Fairfax Health District reported one hospitalization in the past week for a total of 4,138 people and four deaths for 1,145 deaths overall.

In a blog post published on Friday (July 2), the Fairfax County Health Department attributed the continued low levels of COVID-19 transmission to its ability to identify and isolate individuals who are sick with the respiratory disease and the success of the ongoing vaccination campaign.

According to the FCHD vaccine data dashboard, 743,038 Fairfax Health District residents have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. That is 62.8% of the overall population and three out of every four adults (75.1%). 651,344 residents — 66.5% of adults and 55% of the total population — have been fully vaccinated.

“While we still have work to do and need those unvaccinated to continue to be diligent and wear masks, Fairfax County has made incredible strides in our vaccination efforts,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a newsletter on Friday, reporting that there is only one zip code in the county with a vaccination rate under 70%.

McKay announced that the county flag outside the Fairfax County Government Center has returned to full mast to reflect the end of Virginia’s COVID-19 State of Emergency at the beginning of July. The county’s state of emergency remains in place, however.

County health officials also warn that COVID-19 case levels could surge, particularly among people who have not been vaccinated, due to the spread of variants. The Delta variant first detected in India is considered the biggest current threat.

As of July 2, Northern Virginia had recorded 596 infections caused by variants of concern, including 17 cases confirmed to come from the Delta variant. That variant, which has proven especially contagious, now accounts for more than one in every five cases nationwide, according to the FCHD.

The county health department says studies suggest that the COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized in the U.S. “remain very effective against the Delta variant.”

“Vaccination remains the best tool in preventing a Delta surge,” Fairfax County Director of Epidemiology and Population Health Director Dr. Benjamin Schwartz said in a statement. “This virus can take advantage of any cracks in our defenses. For those who have not yet gotten vaccinated, I urge you to do so. Your actions will keep us on the road to recovery from the pandemic.”

Fairfax County residents can find sites offering COVID-19 vaccinations through vaccines.gov or the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS).

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve searched the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean, and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Wednesday (July 7)

• Watchhouse at Wolf Trap — 8 p.m. at the Filene Center (1551 Trap Road) — Formerly called Mandolin Orange, North Carolina duo Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz presents a new musical journey under the name Watchhouse. Tickets will be sold in socially distanced pods for two to eight people. No single tickets are available. Questions can be directed to Wolf Trap’s patron services at 703-255-1868 or email [email protected].

Thursday (July 8)

• Big Screen on the Green: Remember the Titans — 8 p.m. at Glyndon Park (300 Glyndon St. NE) — Join your neighbors at Glyndon Park to watch “Remember the Titans,” a story about the TC Williams High School football team during their first season as an integrated squad. This is part of the Town of Vienna’s 15th Amendment Week, a celebration of the amendment that extended voting rights to all races and ethnicities.
• Beethoven and Bologne at Wolf Trap — 8 p.m. at Filene Center — Conductor Jonathon Heyward will make his Wolf Trap debut with the National Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7.” There will be two performances, 8 p.m. on Thursday (July 8) and Friday (July 9.) Tickets will be sold in socially distanced pods of 2 to 8 tickets with no single tickets available.
• Summer Live Music Series: Hand Painted Swinger — 5:30-8 p.m. on the Upper Promenade near Boro Park (8350 Broad St.) — This week’s live music performance at The Boro features local band Hand Painted Swinger. RSVP for more information.
• Films in the Park: The Little Giants — 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Strawberry Park (2910 District Ave.) — The Mosaic District’s Films in the Park series continues with “The Little Giants” starring Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill. The film is rated PG and will run for one hour and forty-seven minutes. Grab your picnic blanket and join your neighbors at Strawberry Park for a movie night!

Saturday (July 10)

• Aria Jukebox at Wolf Trap (Online) — 7 p.m. — Tune in to watch Wolf Trap Opera artists sing opera highlights on the Wolf Trap website or their Facebook page. Donate a minimum of $10 on the Wolf Trap page to vote on what the artist will perform.
• Max Weinberg’s Jukebox at Wolf Trap — 8 p.m. at the Filene Center — Join Max Weinberg and company in an audience’s choice concert. There will be two performances: 8 p.m. on Saturday (July 10) and Sunday (July 11.) Tickets will be sold in socially distanced pods of 2 to 8 tickets. No single tickets are available.

Sunday (July 11)

• Summer Sunday Concert — 5 p.m. at McLean Central Park Gazebo (1468 Dolley Madison Blvd.) — McLean’s Summer Concert Series welcomes the Rush tribute band Sun Dogs. Formed after Rush’s final tour, Sun Dogs aim to reproduce the Canadian band’s iconic rock music.
• Blood Drive — 7:45 a.m.-12:05 p.m. at Lewinsville Church (1724 Chain Bridge Road) — The Lewinsville Presbyterian Church will host its quarterly blood drive with INOVA Blood Services. The bloodmobile will be parked in the main parking lot near the music entrance. Masks are required, and donors must bring a photo ID. For more information and to sign up ahead of time, visit the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church website. Walk-ins are welcome!

Photo via Sun Dogs/Facebook

With summer in full swing, the Latin American fusion restaurant Blend 111 hopes to conjure up a cool sea breeze with a new seafood-focused tapas pop-up concept that will launch next Monday (July 12).

Pescao, which translates to “fish” in English, will operate out of Blend 111 (111 Church St. NW) in Vienna every Monday through Sept. 6. The menu will only be available during dinner hours from 4-9 p.m.

“We really wanted to try a small plate, tapas style concept,” Blend 111 owner and sommelier Michael Biddick said in a statement. “With all of the isolation and difficulty that we have all seen over the past 18 months, we thought that a concept that focused on sharing and having new experiences with friends as vaccinations increase was needed.”

Developed by Executive Chef Andrés-Julian Zuluaga, the menu will feature seafood small plates that are intended to be shared. There will be cold dishes, such as oysters and crab and trout cavier arepas, as well as hot dishes, including scallops and pulpo (grilled Spanish octopus).

The pop-up will also serve side dishes, cocktails, and wine, according to a press release.

Pescao represents a continuation of Biddick’s efforts to keep refining Blend 111, as relayed to Tysons Reporter when the restaurant marked its two-year anniversary in Vienna in May.

That willingness to adapt has been crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the introduction of a to-go lunch menu and the conversion of the venue’s parking lot into a patio for outdoor dining.

Biddick says the restaurant has seen “a steady increase” in customers since January.

“Since we have the patio space, we were fortunate to be able to host guests outside,” he said. “Even with the restrictions removed and higher vaccinations, guests still prefer to sit outdoors.”

McLean District Leads String of Vehicle Thefts — Fairfax County police have been investigating a series of stolen vehicle reports since early June. The incidents usually take place overnight and involve the suspects entering unlocked vehicles with the keys inside. The majority of thefts have occurred in the McLean District, which has 15 cases. [FCPD]

Tysons Boulevard Closure Delayed — Plans to close a section of Tysons Boulevard’s northbound lane for bicyclists and pedestrians have been postponed “due to a small delay in installation.” The temporary closure was scheduled to begin today (Tuesday) but will instead start next Wednesday (June 14). [Fairfax County Department of Transportation]

I-495 Ramps in Idylwood to Close Overnight — “The ramps from northbound I-495 to I-66 East and I-66 West are scheduled to be closed nightly Tuesday, July 6, through Thursday, July 8, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and Friday night, July 9, from midnight to 4 a.m. for paving and implementation of a traffic shift…The I-66/I-495 Interchange is being rebuilt as part of the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project.” [VDOT]

Nearby: Tornado Touched Down in Arlington — The National Weather Service confirmed on Friday (July 2) that a tornado touched down during the thunderstorm that passed through the D.C. area the previous day. The twister charted a 4.4-mile path from northern Arlington to the National Mall and brought winds that reached 90 miles per hour. [ARLNow]

The weekend is almost here. Before you get busy with Fourth of July celebrations or head to bed for some much-needed sleep, let’s revisit recent news from the Tysons area that you might’ve missed.

These were the most-read stories on Tysons Reporter this week:

1. Multi-building residential complex planned to transform Tysons office site
2. Falls Church shopping center to undergo makeover starting next month
3. Lidl plans June 30 grand opening for Merrifield store
4. EXCLUSIVE: Capital One Center reveals opening date for The Watermark Hotel
5. The Italian Oven returns to McLean after 20 years

Ideas for stories we should cover can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the community are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.

You can find previous rundowns of top stories on the site.

The Fourth of July is coming up this weekend, and with Monday (July 5) as a designated federal holiday, many public facilities and services will be shaking up their schedules.

The Fairfax County Health Department announced today (Friday) that all of its COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be closed on Independence Day, but walk-in services will be available at the Fairfax County Government Center and the former Safeway at Mount Vernon Square in Alexandria on Saturday.

A vaccine site at Springfield Town Center will also be open for walk-ins on Monday.

Here are some other closures that county residents should keep in mind this holiday weekend:

Fairfax County Government

• County government offices will be closed on July 5.

Fairfax County Courts

• The Fairfax Circuit, General District, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District courts will be closed all day on July 5.

Town of Vienna

• Town offices will be closed all day.
• The Vienna Community Center will be closed.
• The holiday will not affect waste collection. Residents scheduled for pick-up on Mondays can place their waste by the curb as normal, but no brush, bulk, or yard waste will be collected.

City of Falls Church

• All city offices and services, including City Hall, the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, and the Falls Church Community Center, will be closed.

Public Schools

• Fairfax County Public Schools will be closed in observance of Independence Day.

County Libraries, Recreation Centers, Parks

• All Fairfax County library branches will be closed.
• All Fairfax County RECenters will operate at their regular hours.
• Colvin Run Mill, Sully Historic Site, Hidden Oaks, Hidden Pond, E.C. Lawrence, and Huntley Meadows nature centers will be closed.
• The farm at Frying Pan Park and the indoor arena will be open, but the visitor center will be closed.
• The McLean Community Center will be closed on Sunday and Monday.

Public Transit

• Fairfax Connector buses will operate on a Saturday service schedule on Monday. Check the Connector website for details on specific routes.
• WMATA Metrorail service will operate from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday. Details on routes and closed stations can be found on the Metro website.
• WMATA Metrobus will operate on a Saturday service schedule on Monday.

County Trash and Recycling

• There will be no change in the county’s trash and recycling collection.
• The recycling and disposal centers at the I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex will be closed.

Fairfax County is continuing its efforts to transition to renewable energy with the installation of solar panels on county government and public school buildings, but it will now do so with a different vendor.

The county ended its contract with the company Sigora Solar yesterday (July 1), about 18 months ahead of schedule.

Sigora Solar is one of three vendors awarded contracts to install, manage, and maintain solar energy infrastructure for county government and school buildings in December 2019, when Fairfax County announced what it said was the largest solar power purchase agreement initiative by a Virginia locality to date.

The original contracts with Sigora, Sun Tribe Solar, and Ipsun Power were set to run through Dec. 31, 2022.

However, the county amended its contract with Sigora on June 10 to state that it would be “terminated for convenience” effective July 1. Sigora was designated as the primary contractor for roof-mounted solar panel projects.

Moving forward, the county will now work with Sun Tribe Solar, the secondary contractor for roof-mounted panels and the primary contractor for carport or canopy-mounted panels.

“Under the terms of the agreement, the county leases space on its buildings for the companies to install solar panels that those vendors will own, and the county buys the energy generated by the panels at a fixed price,” Brian Worthy, a public information officer with Fairfax County’s Office of Public Affairs, said.

“However, these companies have the right to decide whether or not to install panels at any buildings identified by the county,” Worthy said. “During the past year and a half, the county selected 30 buildings for solar panels, and we are eager to move forward with these projects.”

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved leasing necessary roof space at two batches of county-owned properties so far. The first round of eight sites came on Oct. 20, 2020, and another 22 sites were added on March 9.

The sites approved for solar panel installations in the Tysons area are:

• McLean Government Center and Police Station (1437 Balls Hill Road, McLean)
• Wolf Trap Fire Station #42 (1315 Beulah Road, Vienna)
• McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean)
• Thomas Jefferson Library (7415 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church)
• Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax)
• Merrifield Center and Kerrifield Center Garage (8221 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Fairfax)

Under the solar power purchase agreements, the installed solar panels will be owned, operated and maintained by the contracted vendors, rather than the county. The county will simply purchase electricity produced by these panels over time.

When the contracts were announced in 2019, the county estimated that the initiative could potentially yield over $60 million in electricity cost avoidance over the terms of the contracts. Additionally, it was projected that approximately 1.73 million megawatt hours of renewable energy could be generated at the county’s facilities.

Updated at 4:40 p.m. — Metrorail service has been restored between the Vienna and West Falls Church stations after the transit system encountered power issues at its Dunn Loring station.

“Residual delays continue in both directions,” Metro says.

Updated at 1:40 p.m. — The I-66 eastbound and westbound left lanes in the Vienna/Oakton area have now reopened, the Virginia Department of Transportation says.

Earlier: More than a thousand people in the Pimmit area of Tysons are currently without power after a thunderstorm rattled the D.C. region last night (Thursday).

According to Dominion Energy’s outage map, the most substantial power outage in the Tysons area involves 1,215 customers in the Pimmit neighborhood west of Leesburg Pike, specifically along George C. Marshall Drive.

Those affected include the Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library, which will not open at 10 a.m. today as scheduled.

FYI, #Fairfax: we are sorry to report that our Tysons-Pimmit Regional branch will not open at 10 a.m. today due to a
power outage. pic.twitter.com/AJ1gqNj5fP

— Fairfax Library (@fairfaxlibrary) July 2, 2021

Dominion is attributing the outage to the storm and says crews have been dispatched. The estimated time of restoration is between 6 and 11 p.m.

As of 9 a.m. today (Friday), there were 6,699 customers in Northern Virginia without power, primarily in Fairfax and Arlington counties. Overall, the storm produced 33,000 power outages in the area, according to Dominion spokesperson Peggy Fox.

“Due to much damage from last night’s storm, it’ll take most of day for our @DominionEnergy crews to repair all the damage & get everyone’s power back,” Fox said in a tweet. “Thank you for your patience!”

Outage update:
6,699 customers in Northern Virginia @ 9am.
Many ETRs are in— due to much damage from last night’s storm, it’ll take most of day for our @DominionEnergy crews to repair all the damage & get everyone’s power back.
Thank you for your patience! pic.twitter.com/tt1JkqsB4i

— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) July 2, 2021

Metro announced just after 5 a.m. that the power issues had affected its Dunn Loring-Merrifield station, requiring a suspension of train service between the Vienna and West Falls Church stations. Shuttle buses are being provided to serve that section of the Orange Line.

UPDATED: Orange Line Delay: Train service suspended btwn Vienna & W Falls Church due to a power problem at Dunn Loring. Shuttle buses established.

— Metrorail Info (@Metrorailinfo) July 2, 2021

As of 9:30 a.m., service has not been restored yet.

In addition, the Virginia Department of Transportation says the Interstate 66 east and westbound left lanes have been closed at the new split near the 61-mile marker in Vienna so that crews can clear standing water left by last night’s rain.

The I-66 westbound ramp to Nutley Street was also temporarily but reopened around 7:35 a.m.

Update: 66WB ramp to Nutley has reopened. https://t.co/S6X4nkoIzS

— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) July 2, 2021

According to The Washington Post, the National Weather Service is investigating whether a tornado touched down after a tornado warning was issued last night for neighboring Arlington County and D.C.

Former Mosby Woods ES Cements New Moniker — The Fairfax school formerly known as Mosby Woods Elementary School officially became Mosaic Elementary School yesterday (Thursday), unveiling a new logo and website. The Fairfax County School Board approved the new name in February to replace Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby as the school’s namesake. [Mosaic ES/Twitter]

Metro Police Didn’t Investigate Thousands of Crime Reports — “Metro police didn’t follow through with more than 3,000 complaints filed between 2010 and 2017, the report from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Office of Inspector General says. They included a variety of felony and misdemeanor offenses such as armed robberies, sexual offenses, kidnappings, assaults and other crimes.” [NBC4]

County Rec Centers Introduce “Pay-As-You-Go” Option — Rec Center users can now pay on a month-to-month basis for membership to the nine facilities, including the Providence center in Falls Church and Spring Hill center in McLean. The Park Authority says this has been a longstanding request from customers, especially younger people on a tighter budget. [Fairfax County Park Authority]

Vehicle Thefts on the Rise, Vienna Police Warn — Northern Virginia has seen increased vehicle tampering incidents and thefts, in some cases involving suspects entering unlocked homes or opening garage doors to steal property and car keys. The Vienna Police Department advises residents to “stay vigilant” and lock all doors and garages. [Vienna Police/Twitter]