County to Seek Input on Safe Streets Program — The Fairfax County Department of Transportation will hold two virtual public meetings in November to present draft recommendations for a Fairfax County Safe Streets for All Program. Developed by county’s ActiveFairfax team, the program is “a comprehensive initiative to address systemic transportation safety issues for people walking, biking and using other forms of active transportation.” [FCDOT]
Virginia Among Top States in COVID-19 Vaccinations — “Virginia now ranks 10th among all states for the percentage of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and for the total number of shots administered. More than 82 percent of individuals 18 years and older have received at least one dose and 74 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.” [Office of the Governor]
Local Magnet School Admissions Now Open — “Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology…has opened its application process for admissions for the Class of 2026. This will be the second year that applications for the school’s 550 freshmen seats will be reviewed using the new admissions process which eliminated the standardized admissions test and the $100 application fee, while continuing to maintain the school’s high academic standards.” [FCPS]
Madison Student Launches Art Business — “A business showcasing the art of Madison High School students is looking to build connections with Vienna area businesses by offering professional artwork services. Spectra Artwork is the brainchild of Madison High School senior Colin Crowley, combining his skills in business and marketing with the talents of his artist friends.” [Patch]
McLean Startup Raises Funds for Healthcare Jobs App — “ShiftMed, one of the largest workforce management platforms in health care with over 60,000 credentialed health care professionals, has raised $45 million led by health care investors, Panoramic Ventures and Heathworx…In 2021, the company has already hired more than 10,000 nurses, which provided over 1 million hours of care, and received more than 100,000 app downloads.” [ShiftMed]
County Commits to Carbon Neutrality by 2040 — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors pledged yesterday (Tuesday) to make county government operations carbon-neutral by 2040 as part of a newly adopted Operational Energy Strategy. The move follows up on a recommendation issued by the county’s Joint Environmental Task Force last fall. [Fairfax County Government]
Virginia Named Best State for Business — CNBC named Virginia the number-one state for business in the U.S. for the fifth time, making it the only one to ever top consecutive rankings. CNBC, which didn’t release rankings last year due to the pandemic, highlighted the Commonwealth for its ability to recruit and retain talent. [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]
Northrop Grumman to Test Moon Outpost — “NASA has finalized a $935 million contract with Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman for a moon outpost living quarters for astronauts as part of its Artemis program, which will eventually return humans to the surface of the moon…NASA is currently targeting November 2024 to launch the spacecraft on a SpaceX rocket.” [WTOP]
Park Street in Vienna Closed for Utility Work — “Park Street SE will be closed to SE-bound traffic between the traffic circle and Cherry Street SE for water utility work tomorrow, July 14, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Thursday, July 15. One-directional NW-bound traffic on Park Street SE will be open.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
The Tysons-based consulting firm LMI has been named one of the best places to work in the D.C. area by The Washington Post, which announced the results of its eighth annual Top Workplaces survey on Friday (June 18).
Recognized in a virtual awards ceremony held on June 17, LMI landed at the top of the list for “Largest Companies,” the category for organizations with 1,000 or more employees in the D.C. area.
Employing 1,800 local workers, LMI primarily serves the federal government, but it recently announced a partnership with Howard University that will support academic research and student mentoring for the university, according to The Washington Post.
“Having recently joined LMI myself, very quickly I realized there were distinct aspects that set us apart as an organization — the resiliency and commitment of our employees,” LMI President and CEO Doug Wagoner said in a press release. “Over the past year, LMIers have not missed a beat. We continue to excel in terms of contract wins, revenue, and profitability, as well as expand our capabilities by hiring great talent and remaining focused on our customers’ missions.”
According to the Post, more than 3,500 area companies were invited to participate in the survey, which was conducted through the third-party platform Energage LLC. More than 65,500 employees completed the questionnaires, addressing topics from pay and benefits to the company’s direction and leadership.
While LMI was ranked the highest, the Tysons area was well-represented among the 200 companies on the list. Here are the other local businesses that made the cut:
Largest (1,000+ employees)
- Capital One Financial Corporation (#3)
- Jim Koons Automotive (#8)
- Dovel Technologies (#10)
Large (500-1,000 employees)
- Appian (#8)
- HITT Contracting (#21)
- ActionNet (#23): This Vienna-based cybersecurity firm has been recognized every year of the survey
- Applied Insight (#29)
Mid-Size (150-500 employees)
- ValidaTek (#8)
- SMS Data Products Group (#9)
- Thomson Reuters Special Services (#10): This is the McLean-based data and research analysis firm’s third consecutive appearance on the list
- Markon Solutions (#18)
- MicroHealth (#21)
- Credence Management Solutions (#26)
- Tax Analysts (#29)
- Steampunk (#36)
- EGlobalTech (#44)
- IntelliBridge (#48)
- Slalom Consulting (#53)
- Metropolitan Hospitality Group (#54)
- CollabraLink (#58)
- Alpha Omega Integration (#62)
Small (50-150 employees)
- New Editions Consulting (#5)
- Octagon (#12)
- Cassaday & Company (#22)
- SpinSys (#38)
- Favor TechConsulting (#51)
- Quadrint (#62)
- Infina (#67)
- B&A (#73)
- Counterpoint Consulting (#79)
Photo via Google Maps
Tysons company Urgent.ly has scored a high spot on Deloitte’s new list highlighting the fastest-growing tech companies in North America this year.
The roadside assistance company nabbed the #6 spot on the “2019 Technology Fast 500 Ranking.”
Earlier this year, the company gained national attention for its partnerships with Uber, Volvo and Amazon.
In total, five Tysons-based companies made the list.
The other Tysons companies on the list are:
- #59: Ridgeline International Communications
- #184: Binary Fountain Software
- #333: GTT Communications, Inc.
- #411: KLDiscovery Software
The list “provides a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and energy tech companies — both public and private — in North America,” according to Deloitte.
The companies on the list were chosen based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2015 to 2018.
Image courtesy Urgent.lyÂ
The Town of Vienna is no stranger to landing on lists for prime spots to live.
For the second year in a row, Vienna nabbed the #1 spot for “The Best Places to Live in Virginia” list by HomeSnacks, which uses data from the Census, FBI, OpenStreetMaps and other sources to rank areas around the country.
HomeSnacks analyzed 62 places around the state and determined that Vienna’s low unemployment rate, “very stable household median incomes” and low crime rate made it stand out.
HomeSnacks used several criteria to evaluate its national “Best Places to Live” list this year, including high population density, low unemployment rates, median income adjusted for the cost of living, low housing vacancy rate, high expenditures per student, low student-teacher ratios and low crime.
So what do you think? Which of the following criteria do you think makes Vienna so desirable?
Several public high schools in the Tysons-area, including Langley and McLean high schools, made the cut for U.S. News and World Report’s annual roundup of best high schools on the state and national levels.
“Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
Fairfax County Public Schools dominated U.S. News and World Report’s “Best High Schools in Virginia,” and five out of the eight Fairfax County schools included two in McLean, two in Vienna and one in Falls Church:
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology: Alexandria
- Langley High School: McLean
- McLean High School: McLean
- Oakton High School: Vienna
- Open High School: Richmond
- Marshall High: Falls Church
- Madison High: Vienna
- West Springfield High School: Springfield
- W.T. Woodson High School: Fairfax
- Deep Run High School: Glen Allen
The Tysons-area high schools bumped up a few spots for this year’s list. Last year, Langley ranked #3, McLean was #5, Oakton was #6 and Marshall was #8.
Their rankings on the national level hit the top 200 and 300 categories:
- Langley: #123
- McLean: #127
- Oakton: #173
- Marshall: #251
- Madison: #261
Image via Google Maps
McLean Runner Places Third at Marathon — McLean native Anna Buser placed third among female competitors at the Rock n Roll D.C. marathon over the weekend, with a time of 3:15:43. [Getty Images, WTOP]
Temporary Amenities Help Improve Tysons — “Temporary urbanism, like holiday markets, beer gardens, and Park(ing) Day parklets, are an increasingly important part of our cities. But in many places, including Tysons, zoning regulations make them difficult to build.” [Greater Greater Washington]
Local Neighborhoods Among NoVa’s Hottest — The “hottest up-and-coming neighborhoods in Northern Virginia” include the Mosaic District, Pimmit Hills and Tysons, according to Northern Virginia Magazine. [Northern Virginia]
Fresh off a ranking in Bloomberg’s wealthiest places in America list, McLean took the number 10 spot in a rundown of American cities ranked by money management.
The list by WalletHub, a personal finance website based in D.C., compared over 2,500 cities and ranked them based on 10 indicators of money management.
The ranking factors in things like credit card, mortgage, and other debts as compared to incomes.
The median credit score in McLean is particularly high at 761 with an average number of late payments at 0.75.
Vienna also made an appearance on the list at 37th overall. The town’s average credit score is 763, but residents are a little sloppier on the payment deadlines, with an average 1.1 late payments.
Falls Church comes in at number 68 with a credit score of 733 and 2.08 late payments.
Tysons Company Tops Fortune List — Tysons-based Hilton is No. 1 on Fortune’s new 100 Best Companies to Work For list. The hotel operator was also joined by local companies Navy Federal (#29, Vienna), Capital One (#39, Tysons), CustomInk (#86, Merrifield) and Mars Inc. (#98, McLean) on the annual list. [Fortune, Twitter]
State of McLean: Under Construction — “McLean is poised to benefit from a raft of infrastructure and revitalization projects, Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville) told the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce Feb. 14 [during]Â his annual ‘State of McLean’ speech.” [InsideNova]
Falls Church Property Assessments Rise — “Property values are on the rise in Falls Church, according to 2019 assessment data released by the city. Overall residential and commercial property values have increased from January 2018. Commercial property values rose by 4.3 percent and residential real estate values by 2.93 percent over the last year.” [Patch]
McLean, like nearby Great Falls and Wolf Trap, are all still in the Top 50 for Bloomberg’s 2019 Richest Places ranking, but the elite suburban communities took a dip in this year’s rankings.
McLean’s average household income is $283,992, a slight increase over 2016’s $280,225 and 2015’s $268,997, which was what the 2018 rankings were based on.
But that wasn’t enough to keep the locality from falling five spots in this year’s ranking. It was surpassed by newcomers like Rumson, a wealthy corner of Monmouth County in New Jersey.
Great Falls ranked higher than McLean, at number 16 in the rankings. It too took a hit, falling from a lofty 14th place with its $309,599 average household income.
Wolf Trap, currently ranked 42nd, fell three places. The neighborhood’s average household income is $251,610.
Overall, Fairfax County was ranked second in U.S. News & World Report’s richest counties, with a median household income of $117,515, between Loudoun County in first place and Howard County, Maryland in third place.
