COVID-19 Means Big Growth for Reston Company — “A virtual care startup working to help doctors manage telehealth is raising its first funding round to build up its team and expand its reach, after breaking out of stealth mode and into an explosive growth year fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.” [Washington Business Journal]
Northam: ‘Virginia Will Be There’ — In a recent press release, Northam says, “I continue to pray for the safety of every member of the House and Senate, all the staff, the journalists, everyone who works in the Capitol. And I commend the Virginia National Guard and Virginia State Police for quickly stepping up in this time of great need. Let me be clear: Virginia will be there for as long as it takes to protect our nation’s capital and ensure the peaceful transfer of power.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]
Reston Firm Sells Off Division — Reston-based civil engineering and surveying firm Wiles Mensch Corp. announced Tuesday that it has sold off its federal projects division, which now operates as an independent. [Virginia Business]
State Considers Speeding Up Vaccinations — “Governor Ralph Northam today announced new actions to support the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution program and accelerate the pace of vaccinations across Virginia.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]
Photo by vantagehill/Flickr
One of the world’s largest golf management companies, Troon, has acquired Reston-based Indigo Golf Partners, formerly known as Billy Casper Golf.
The Reston company owns and operates more than 160 golf courses, country clubs, and resorts in 29 states.
“Troon aligns with our commitment to quality service and has a complementary course portfolio making it the right company for us to join. We are confident in growth ahead for Indigo and appreciate the dedication and commitment of all team members and partners who have made our great company what it is today.” Peter Hill, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Indigo Golf Partners, wrote in a statement.
The office in Reston will continue to support managed clubs in the Troon family, including OB Sports and Troon Golf. The company has offices in Reston, along with others in the United States, and one in Dubai.
“Peter Hill and I have been good friends for many years,” said Troon Founder and Executive Chairman Dana Garmany. “While we have been friendly competitors over time, we’ve always shared a mutual admiration for each other’s company.”
Reston Company Lists Millions in Liabilities –‘A Reston-based corporate housing provider owed nearly $90 million to a wide range of creditors from across the country before filing for bankruptcy late last month, including the owners of the Apartments at CityCenter and the 672 Flats in Ballston, representatives for the company disclosed in court documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria on Friday.’ [Washington Business Journal]
Business Robbed on Worldgate Drive — A business on the 1300 block of Worldgate Drive was robbed around noon on Thursday, Dec. 17. The subject entered the business and stole cash. [Herndon Police Department]
Fox Mill Road Closed in Both Directions — The road is closed between Lawyers Road and Steeplechase Drive due to a fallen tree on utility lines. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Photo by Marjorie Copson
Be Wary of Icy Conditions — The county is advising residents to be wary of icy patches and slippery spots on roads and sidewalks this morning until temperatures rise later today. [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department]
New Process for Requesting Park Programs Now Available — ”The Park Authority has a new program request form that makes it easy to register for personalized programs for birthdays, scout gatherings, school enrichment and family fun in parks throughout Fairfax County.” [Fairfax County Park Authority]
Reston HR Services Contractor In the Spotlight — ”Golden Key Group LLC (GKG) scored a major feather in its cap Wednesday with a contract to provide the Department of Commerce’s human resources information technology services — but that’s just the start for the company, executives said.” [Washington Business Journal]
Photo by Doug Errett
Great Falls Resident Arrested and Charged with Child Pornography Incidents — Stefan Julian Koza, 33, was arrested by the Herndon Police Department on five felony counts of possession of child pornography and five felony counts of distribution of child pornography. The arrest was made on Dec. 2. [HPD]
Reston Company Merges with Fairfax-based Company — Reston-based Octo Consulting Group, Inc. has announced a deal to combine with Fairfax-based Sevatec Inc. [Washington Business Journal]
Metro Monitors Service Impact of Weather Storm — “Metro is closely monitoring a winter storm that may impact travel conditions Wednesday. Based on the current forecast, Metrobus customers may experience delays or detours as outlined in Metro’s ‘light snow plan.'”[Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
A new Self Storage Plus has officially opened a new facility in Reston.
The company, which provides management services for storage, opened its 44th location at 1808 Michael Faraday Court earlier this month.
In a statement, Mike Anthony, the company’s executive Vice President, said the new facility includes “modern storage solutions with features including video surveillance, gate security, auto-payments and online rentals.”
“We are now open and ready to serve your storage needs,” he said.
The four-building facility in Reston has 1,100 units and is roughly half a mile from the Wiehe-Reston East Metro Station.
The property is owned by company partner Rich Whealen and Arcland Property Company, a local real estate and development company.
“We are excited to open the doors of our state-of-the-art facilities in the communities of Reston and Kensington,” said Tom Cross, VP of Construction for Arcland.
Photo via Self Storage Plus
Reston Woman Brightens Sister’s Holiday Season — “Carolina Oneill’s sister, Jess, was furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic back in March. Although Jess was receiving unemployment insurance, it was cut off in October.” [Reston Patch]
A Peek Inside Made in Fairfax Manufacturers — “The Made in Fairfax Directory provides an opportunity for residents and supporters to connect directly with Fairfax County makers. Please note that listing in this directory is not an endorsement of businesses or products, and is provided for informational purposes only.” [Fairfax County Government]
Northam Expected to Announce New COVID-19 Restrictions — “Virginia’s Governor is expected to announce tighter COVID-19 restrictions following a record-setting day for new coronavirus cases. Gov. Ralph Northam hasn’t detailed yet what the restrictions will be but says ‘mitigation measures will be nuanced and in-line with our targeted, data-driven response.'” [NBC4]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
Great Falls Woman Dies in Two-car Crash — Holly Kuga, 72, died as a result of injuries from a car crash that happened on Sunday around 11 a.m. at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Towlston Road. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Two People Injured in Crash — Two people were taken to the hospital with injuries after a crash happened in the area of Reston Parkway. North of Sunset Hills Road yesterday evening. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Reston Cybersecurity Firm Hit by ‘State-sponsored’ Attack — “US cybersecurity firm FireEye says it has recently been attacked by a “highly sophisticated threat actor”, believing the hacking was state-sponsored. In a blog, FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said company tools used for testing customers’ security had been stolen.” [BBC]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
A barbershop-bar concept is reportedly working on deals in Reston, Bisnow reports.
Scissors & Scotch is planning to expand in the area with several locations in Reston, Vienna and Loudoun County.
The Kansas City-based retailer was founded in 2015 and offers a cocktail bar with a men’s barbershop. It recently signed a deal to open a second new location in the District.
Here’s more from Bisnow on the company’s expansion:
Given the challenges the retail market is facing today, Koroma said launching an expansion across the region is allowing Scissors & Scotch to land tenant-favorable deals. He said he has gotten frequent calls from developers with available retail space asking if Scissors & Scotch would be interested.
“The concessions have been tremendous, and the positive note on what’s happening is everyone is in deal mode,” Koroma said. “Everybody wants to make a deal, and it’s a win-win situation. Landlords are happy to do this because you get a concept that not only do you know will be successful, but you see it as a value-add and an amenity to the project.”
Photo via Scissors & Scotch/Facebook
Spotify, the audio-streaming and media services provider, recently agreed to acquire Reston-based Megaphone, a podcast hosting company, for $235 Million earlier this week.
The company announced the acquisition on its website Tuesday (Nov. 10).
“The acquisition of Megaphone represents the next step in Spotify’s expanding the possibilities of this intimate and screen-less medium,” the company said.
Megaphone is currently headquartered in Reston Station.
CEO of Megaphone Brendan Monaghan and Spotify’s VP of Global Ad Business and Platform, Jay Richman, spoke about the acquisition and the future of the two companies.
“Megaphone provides publishers with a suite of tools and technology to distribute, monetize and measure their shows wherever podcasts are listened,” Monaghan explained. “At the same time, we created a marketplace to aggregate unsold ad inventory from our publishing partners and sell that inventory to premium advertisers based on desired audience segments (demographics, psychographics and even geography).”
The acquisition will allow the company to continue to do this, in a new way.
“The acquisition will allow us to provide products and services to publishers and advertisers in more depth and at a faster pace than we have in the past,” Monoghan said. “We’ll be able to bring new products to our partners, like Spotify’s SAI technology to support even greater revenue generation for publishers and another way for advertisers to reach their desired audience.”
Photo by Marjorie Copson
Reston Company Charges Up — “Reston, Virginia-based Electrify America said it has more than 500 electric vehicle charging stations now open across the U.S., with a total of more than 2,200 individual fast chargers. Electrify America began building its nationwide network of EV charging stations in 2018 to address the range anxiety many EV drivers experience when venturing too far from work or home.” [WTOP]
Northam Says Rising COVID-19 Cases Are ‘Concerning’ — “Northam said there were 1,435 new cases of the novel coronavirus detected Monday, continuing a daily trend upward that’s been going on for weeks. He added that the test positivity rate, which had been down below 5% a few weeks ago, was up to 6.2% — a key indicator of how reliable the other numbers are.” [WTOP]
Clearview ES Adds Winter Coat Drive to Giving Program — “Clearview Elementary and the Clearview PTA are teaming up once again to bring joy to the school’s community as part of its annual Joy of Giving Program. The school will distribute winter coats, hats, gloves, gift cards, and Thanksgiving food baskets to Clearview families in need.” [Reston Patch]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
Pet Valu, a retailer of pet food and supplies, is closing its operations, including its two Reston location,
Both locations along with the company’s 358 stores in the United States will close over the next several days, the company announced earlier this week.
Canada locations will remain open, which are run by separate service that simply licenses its names and contracts from Pet Valu. Pet Valu has locations at 1442 North Point Village Center and 11160 South Lakes Drive.
Jamie Gould, the company’s Chief Restructuring Officer, attributed the closure to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Pet Valu U.S. team is proud to have met the needs of our devoted pet lover customers in the U.S. for more than 25 years. However, the Company’s stores have been significantly impacted by the protracted COVID-19-related restrictions. After a thorough review of all available alternatives, we made the difficult but necessary decision to commence this orderly wind down,” she said.
Customers can continue to shop at the stores, but orders can no longer be placed online.
Service Outages Planned for Silver Line — This weekend and in early December, service outages are planned between Spring Hill and Wiehle-Reston East Metro Stations. Free buses will offer transportation between the stations during outages. [Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]
Herndon Cruiser Rear-ended — A Town of Herndon police cruiser was rear-ended by an alleged drunk driver. The police department is reminding residents to move over when emergency vehicles are on the side of the road. No injuries were reported. [Herndon Police Department]
Reston Company to Provide IT Services to USDA — “The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Reston-based Fortune 500 defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) a position on the department’s potential five-year, $620 million Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) multiple-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA), SAIC announced Wednesday.” [Virginia Business Monthly]
Reston Company Goes Public During ‘Tipping Point’ — “Reston’s SOC Telemed is the latest Greater Washington company to make its debut on the public markets, opening Monday at $10 per share on the Nasdaq stock exchange.” [Washington Business Journal]
How Fannie Mae Helped Boston Properties Land Volkswagen’s Headquarters — “Fannie Mae agreed to give back two floors in the town center’s next phase, previously known as Reston Gateway, to help Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) seal the nearly 200,000-square-foot lease with Volkswagen Group of America.” [Washington Business Journal]
Return to School Information Available — The Fairfax County Public School system has published a number of guides to help students and parents navigate the return to school. [FCPS]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
Northland Controls Expands into Reston — The company, which designs, installs and manages security systems around the world, has new offices in Reston on 12100 Sunset Hills Road. The new space allows the company to “hire additional talent and better accommodate our growing team,” according to CEO Pierre Trapanese. [Northland Controls]
Reston Bike Club Hands Out Bike Lights — The Reston Bike Club and the Dulles Area Transportation Association are making sure local essential workers have front and bike lights to get them through the winter safely. [Local DVM]
Winners Named in Carving Test — Reston Association has named three winners in its Great Pumpkin Carving Contest. Winners were named in the categories of classic, most creative and funniest looking. [RA]
Photo by Marjorie Copson
