Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’
Monday, August 15th, 2011
 “The West is America’s new heartland, and it is increasingly a dominant region of population growth and political influence,” says economist and corporate relocation expert Dr. Ronald R. Pollina in the just-released Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011: The Rise of the West.
In the annual study of job retention and creation by the 50 states and the federal government, Dr. Pollina, author of the recent book entitled Selling Out a Superpower, emphasizes that the “West is not only a leader in population growth but has also become the pro-business leader, thus showing the greatest potential for job growth.”
But Virginia[ is the ultimate model for the rest of the country. Brent Pollina, Vice President of Park Ridge, Illinois-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate (www.pollina.com) and author of the study, names Virginia as “America’s most pro-business state” for the third consecutive year, winning yet again by the largest margin in the study’s history.
“Virginia can certainly be emulated by other states, which should view Virginia’s economic policies as a coloring book,” says Brent Pollina. “All they need to do is stay between the lines of the coloring book, and they, too, can create a powerful pro-business environment.”
This year’s Most Improved State, North Dakota, climbed from 18th to 3rd place in only three years, and it’s one of seven powerhouse Western states in the Top 10. Unfortunately for the region, California ranked dead last for the eighth consecutive year.
The Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011 are: 1) Virginia 2) Utah 3) North Dakota 4) Wyoming 5) Nebraska 6) Kansas 7) South Dakota 8) Missouri 9) South Carolina and 10) Indiana. The study, considered the most comprehensive, unbiased and unvarnished by the economic development industry, is the “Gold Standard” for evaluating and ranking states based on 32 factors controlled by state government, including taxes, human resources, education, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers compensation laws, economic incentive programs and state economic development efforts.
Two new factors—state budget deficit and state property tax index—along with a comprehensive State Report Card have been added to this year’s study.
“In recent years, we have lost millions of the nation’s manufacturing, technology and high-wage service jobs, and this trend is escalating.” says Brent Pollina. “The federal budget deficit, trade deficits, low interest rates, family debt and inadequate educational systems are and will continue to have a negative impact on the U.S. economic, political and military strength in the 21st Century.
“We are deluding ourselves if we believe that we have not been impacted already, both socially and economically, and that our government, along with American ingenuity and tenacity, will correct for any losses. This report details how many state governments have the resources, but not the will, to keep Americans employed in high paying 21st century jobs.”
We haven’t read this full study yet, but we see some similarities and discrepancies with other studies. What do you think of the selections?
Tags: Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pollina report, South Carolina, South Dakota, top ten pro business states, Utah, Virginia, Wyomig
Posted in Economic Development, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Monday, June 27th, 2011
 Atlanta-based Digital Assent, provider of the award-winning PatientPad self-service patient check-in and patient education solution, has received $7.5 million in a Series B funding round. The lead investors were Sanan Private Equity, the BIP Opportunities Fund and Buckhead Investment Partners (BIP). Imlay Investments and BLH Venture Partners, who led the Series A funding earlier this year, also contributed.
The PatientPad is a wireless touch-screen solution that automates the patient check-in process and delivers targeted health information and advertising to interested patients while they sit in their healthcare provider’s waiting room, exam room or treatment room. This funding will fuel expansion of the company’s sales, marketing and product development efforts. Since January, the company has sold nearly 1,500 PatientPads to 175 practices in 25 states.
Atlanta’s Renewvia beams in $2.26M for solar tech
Atlanta-based solar power firm Renewvia has beamed in $2.26 million of an equity raise targeted at $6.15 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company raised a bit over $1 million in a round aimed at $2 million in June 2009.
The company develops, installs, owns and manages solar powr plants for commercial property owners and developers.
Regent Education raises $4.5M for college financial aid automation tech
Frederick, MD-based Regent Education has chalked up $4.65 milion of a $5 million equity offering, according to a filing with the SEC. The company previously raised about $1.85 million.
It sells SaaS solutions for colleges and private education institutions to automate financial aid processes. It caters to schools with non-standard or non-term offerings. It processes more than 1 million students a year.
Grotech sells LivingSocial stake for $200 million
PE Hub reports that venture firm Virginia-based Grotech has sold its stake in group local buying firm DC-based LivingSocial for $200 million. PEHub’s Jonathan Marino reports that Grotech did so without using secondary markets, instead making private sales to investors in multiple blocks.
Virginia-based MANDIANT closes strategic investment wiht One Equity Partners
MANDIANT, which sells detection and response solutions and services says it has closed on an equity investment from One Equity Partners. The amount of the financing was not disclosed.
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, MANDIANT provides products, professional services and education to Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, government agencies, domestic and foreign police departments and leading U.S. law firms. MANDIANT comprises one of the industry’s largest incident response and forensics forces.
“Over recent months the importance of knowing whether your network has been breached has become alarmingly clear. MANDIANT is the global leader in helping major corporate and government entities answer this question and execute an effective response. With the experience and financial resources of MANDIANT’s new investors, we are confident MANDIANT will prosper in the years ahead,” said OEP’s Jody Gessow.
Foursquare locates $50M
Foursquare, the location-based mobile platform and social network that helps members gain points for sharing information about local venues and brands, has raised $50 million in a round led byAndreessen Horowitz with participation from Spark Capital and O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures and Union Square Ventures. TechCrunch says the company’s pre-money valuation is $550 million.
Foursquare co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai met in 2007 while working in the same office space (at different companies) in New York City. Working from Dennis’ kitchen table in New York’s East Village, they began building the first version of foursquare in fall 2008, and launched it at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas in March 2009.
Foursquare has about 10 million users globally and 3 million check-ins daily. More than 400,000 businesses are using its Merchant Platform. Headquartered in New York, it has about 70 employees.
Tags: Andreessen Horowitz, Atlanta, DC, detection and response solutions, Digital Assent, financings, Foursquare, Frederick, Funded, Grotech, Jody Gessow, LIvingSocial, location-based mobile platform, Mandiant, MD, New York, O'Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures, One Equity Partners, Regent Education, Renewvia, Security, solar energy investments, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures, venture fundings, Virginia
Posted in Energy, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
 Charlotte, NC – An easy and fast way to send video mail messages proved to be best in show at the 10th Annual Five Ventures Business Innovation Competition held at the University of North Carolina- Charlotte. The event is held in conjunction with the Charlotte Research Institute, the Ben Craig Center and the Office of Technology Transfer.
“Charlotte-based mailVU is an impressive company. They were selected by an experienced judging panel as the grand prize winner of our business innovation competition,” said Devin A. Collins, assistant director, Business and Entrepreneurial Development for UNCC’s Charlotte Research Institute.
“They also won the People’s Choice Award as voted by the audience, which is equally impressive and speaks to the future commercialization of their product. When investors give a thumbs up and consumers give a thumbs up you know you have something.”
Five Ventures offers opportunities for selected companies to receive assistance with their business plans and mentoring from successful entrepreneurs through a series of workshops held over several weeks.
Contest attracted entries from four Southeast states
“Five Ventures provides an outstanding way for Charlotte entrepreneurs to fine tune their business plans and to gain experience in presentations,” said mailVU CEO Alan Fitzpatrick. “The workshops in particular were great opportunities to hone our pitch and improve our plan.”
The annual contest attracted start-up applicants from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, attracting innovators in a variety of industries including automotive, biotech, business services, consumer marketing, renewable energy, and software as a service.
“The traction mailVU has gained in the market place with little to no marketing has been impressive,” said Paul Solitario, Managing Partner at Cerium Capital in Charlotte. Solitario served as a judge at this year’s competition.
“It’s been impressive how web users have embraced the technology and it’s impressive that there are paying clients asking them to accelerate their development.”
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Five Ventures contest 2011, MailVu, NC, South Carolina, Tennessee, UNC-Charlotte, video mail, Virginia
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
 Fiberight's technology converts solid wastes to biofuel CANTONSVILLE, MD – Fiberight, a company that converts waste fibers into biofuel, has opened a $15 million equity offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The company, which has operations in Virginia and an ethanol plant in Blairstown, Iowa, has a technology that converts waste fibers to biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. Its Iowa plant has a six million gallon a year capacity.
This is the third financing for a company that turns waste into biofuels that we’ve reported in a month. Investors obviously see turning solid wastes into biofuels as an opportunity.
Fiberight takes the non-recyclable components of municipal solid and industrial waste and produces biofuel using a highly cost effective biochemical and enzymatic process involving digestion and fermentation.
The company says its technology has the potential to unlock the 85 gallons of biofuel contained in every ton of non-recycled trash. Its technology can be scaled to turn the 170 million tons of excess trash generated each year in the US — contaminated paper, food wastes, yard discards and other organic degradeables — into over 10 billion gallons of renewable biofuel that will providing an important source of cellulosic ethanol to meet federal mandates.
The company landed a $2.9 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund Board in 2010.
Tags: Blairstown, Cantonville, clean energy, converting solid wastes to biofuel, fiberight, financing, Iowa, MD, Virginia
Posted in Biotech, Events, Maryland, Money, Potomac | Comments Off
Monday, January 24th, 2011
 ASHBURN, VA – Odin Technologies Inc., a company selling radio frequency identification technology, has raised $3.4 million in equity, according to a regulatory filing.
The company’s clients include Airbus and IATA in the Aerospace sector; CArdinal and Medtronic in healthcare; and every branch of hte US military, the State Department, and the US Secret Service; Tenaris in oil and gas; and to financial services customers.
The company’s EasyMonitor product automates monitoring, management and maintenance of RFID infrastructure in a user-friendly and scalable manner from an offsite location.
Odin disclosed the raise in a filing with the US Securiteis and Exchange Commission. Among those cited in the filing are Mark Frantz of Blue Delta Capital Management and Sanju Bansal, COO of MicroStrategy, and Robert E. Spekman, a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, as directors.
Tags: Ashburn, Blue Delta Capital Management, financing, MicroStrategy, Odin Technologies, RFID, SEC, University of Virginia, Virginia
Posted in Government/Defense, Hardware, IT, Money, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
 FAIRFAX, VA – Fairfax-based ManTech, which sells technology to the US government, has acquired Costa Mesa, CA-based MTCSC Inc., for $75 million.
MTCSC is a provider of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems integration, cyber security and network engineering solutions to U.S. government customers.
ManTech funded the $75 million acquisition from existing cash balances.
“MTCSC was looking for a strategic partner that could enhance their growth trajectory and provide liquidity for shareholders,” said Paul Weisbrich,senior managing director of McGladrey Capital Markets’ Aerospace, Defense and Government Services Group.
McGladrey Capital Markets initiated the transaction, led the negotiations and acted as exclusive financial advisor to MTCSC.
“MTCSC will become a part of ManTech’s Systems Engineering and Advanced Technology group, and will help to expand ManTech’s program exposure in the C4ISR segment.”
GeoEye acquiring SPADAC for $6 million
DULLES, VA – GeoEye, Inc. (Nasdaq: GEOY), a provider of superior satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, announced today that it has agreed to purchase 100 percent of the stock of SPADAC Inc., a geospatial predictive analytics company, for $46 million in cash and stock.
Founded in 2002, SPADAC provides geospatial predictive analytic solutions to over 40 customers in key markets of defense, intelligence and homeland security. SPADAC’s revenues are forecasted to be approximately $27 million in 2010.
Tags: Acquisitions, Dulles, Fairfax, GeoEye acquiring SPADAC, ManTech buys MTCSC, Virginia
Posted in Acquisitions, Government/Defense, IT, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Monday, September 13th, 2010
 FAIRPORT, N.Y. & RICHMOND, VA–PAETEC Holding Corp. (NASDAQ GS: PAET)has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Cavalier Telephone Corporation in an all-cash $460 million transaction.
Virginia-based Cavalier is a privately held company whose majority owner is M/C Venture Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston. The acquisition will add nearly 17,000 fiber-route miles to PAETEC’s existing service footprint, allowing the company to offer an alternative for last-mile connectivity to customers and reduce overall expenses through improved cost-structures and network grooming.
Cavalier’s wholly owned subsidiary, Intellifiber Networks, is one of the largest network providers in the nation with a high capacity fiber network spanning nearly 17,000 route miles and representing over $2 billion of investment. The expansive 12,262 route mile intercity network spans the Midwest and Eastern U.S.
“This is a major milestone in the Cavalier story. Our future has never looked brighter,” said Danny Bottoms, president & CEO of Cavalier. “This transaction will soon enable us to take advantage of a combined network and resources that are unmatched in the industry, and build upon a common culture that is singularly focused on the customer.”
Tags: Acquisitions, Cavalier Telephone, Fairport, New York, PAETEC, Richmond, telecom, Virginia
Posted in Acquisitions, Money, Potomac, Telecommunications, Virginia | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
 RESTON, VA – Contact Solutions Inc., a Reston-based company selling contact automation software, including interactive voice response (IVR), email, text messaging and web transactions, has received an investment in an undisclosed amount from North Bridge Growth Equity.
North Bridge took a minority stake in the business.
Contact Solutions says it will use the financing to drive growth, including targeted strategic acquisitions and to expand a number of initiatives.
Paul Logan, CEO, said, “Since 2002, we have kept our focus on a different type of IVR solution – one that centers on continuously monitoring and improving systems to ensure high performance and customer satisfaction – for our customers. We have realized extraordinary success with that model.”
North Bridge General Partner Doug Kingsley said, “”Their model of creating solutions and sticking with their customers to monitor, analyze and improve is one of a kind in the contact automation solutions industry, and we invested in the company because we believe that Contact Solutions has even greater growth potential in the years ahead.”
While the amount of the investment was not disclosed, Mike Lincoln, counsel to Contact Solutions, said, “The North Bridge investment in Contact Solutions represents one of thsi year’s most significant growth capital investments in the United States.”
We’ll keep an eye on the regulatory filings to pin down the amount.
If it is enough to fuel “strategic acquisitions” as well as spur the company’s growth and expansion, we suspect it is a substantial amount.
We have noticed that many of the companies we deal with now use some form of automated interactive contact solutions to handle initial phone calls, email queries and other communications.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: automated email response, Contact Solutions, financing, interactive vocie response, IVR, North Bridge Growth Equity, Reston, Virginia
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Money, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
 MCLEAN, VA – Primus Telecommunications Group, Inc. (OTCBB: PMUG), a global facilities-based integrated communications services provider, announced today that its Board of Directors has named Primus’ lead independent director John Spirtos, 45, Acting CEO, succeeding K. Paul Singh.
Primus is an integrated facilities-based communications services provider offering international and domestic voice, voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP), Internet, wireless, data and data center services to business and residential retail customers and other carriers located primarily in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom and certain Western European countries.
The company’s board is conducting a search for a permanent CEO.
Tags: John Spirtos, K. Paul Singh, McLean, telecom, Virginia
Posted in Florida, IT, People, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
ARLINGTON, VA – FortiusOne, a developer of web tools that transform large amounts of data into visual formats, has named Frank Moyer new CEO.
Previously, Moyer was CEO of EzGov until CACI acquired the firm in 2009.
The company raised $4.9 million of a targeted $5.9 million offering in July, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
It raised a $5.45 million B round from Walker’s Invetement Fund II, SBIC, Spero’s New Market’s Growth Fund, Chart Venture Partners and In-Q-Tel and Frank Bonsal, a New Enterprise Associates founding partner.
Founded in 2005, the company set out to change the way organizations visualize and analyze data for real-time problem solving.
The company says devastating worldwide events such as the London bombings and Hurricane Katrina proved that legacy data analysis tools and techniques which used dated, static location information were no longer effective means for data sharing, risk mitigation or crisis response.
So, the company says, it launched GeoIQ, the first completely web-based location analysis platform, with the capability to unleash a world of dynamic location information that had previously been locked in proprietary databases.
Fortius One was one of TechJournal South’s Tech 50 companies to watch in 2008.
Tags: Arlington, data visualization, FortiusOne, Frank Moyer, IT, Virginia
Posted in Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, IT, People, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
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