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Recent Articles from Sydney Lake
Under the radar
Considering that four of the world’s five largest defense contractors are headquartered in Northern Virginia and that Hampton Roads is home to the world’s largest naval base, it isn’t surprising that Virginia was ranked the top state in the nation for defense spending in 2021. But what many observers may not know is that quiet, […]
The ‘wrong inventory’
During the pandemic, consumers wanted things to make them feel comfortable at home — whether it was sweatpants, home décor or the latest fuzzy blanket. But as many workplaces have transitioned to hybrid or in-office work models and people are back to socializing outside the home, products that were over-ordered by companies during the pandemic […]
At max capacity
Supply chain and logistics executives used to joke that no one knew or understood what their jobs were — that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic upended how goods were transported to warehouses and ultimately to customers. “Until you start to look behind the scenes, you don’t know how all of this gets to your door […]
Magical moments
2023 BEST PLACES TO WORK — LARGE EMPLOYERS WINNER The pandemic put a damper on workplace culture, which was particularly difficult for service-oriented organizations like Vaco, a Tennessee-based national staffing and consulting firm with an office in Richmond. Recruiters and salespeople are typically more social and outgoing, so adjusting to a remote — and now […]
Health first
2023 BEST PLACES TO WORK — SMALL EMPLOYERS WINNER SmartEdge IT LLC, a Herndon-based business software development company, places a high premium on employee health and well-being. SmartEdge pays 100% of the premium for its health care package and provides $50,000 life insurance policies for all full-time employees, benefits that start on the day a […]
A balancing act
While there was no way to predict that a global pandemic would disrupt office life as we knew it, one Virginia-based company already had a grip on one trend impacting working professionals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one in five U.S. households adopted a cat or dog, accounting for about 23 million households, according to a […]
A challenging year
2023 BEST PLACES TO WORK — MIDSIZE EMPLOYERS WINNER The last couple years have been a trying time for many businesses, but probably not for the same reasons as Patriot Group International Inc. When the U.S. Armed Forces withdrew the last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a 20-year war, the Warrenton-based federal contractor […]
‘Inferiority complex’ no more
As recently as 30 years ago, few people would have imagined that Fairfax County would grow to contain one of the most robust technology ecosystems in the nation, with thousands of tech-fueled firms, fed with workers trained by some of the state’s top universities. Bruce Caswell, president and CEO of McLean-based federal tech contractor Maximus […]
Exceeding expectations
In the greater Richmond region, local economic development authorities have been hard at work landing new business and securing expansions, and this year those efforts bore fruit, they say. In fact, 2022 has outpaced the past two decades, declares Jennifer Wakefield, the Greater Richmond Partnership’s president and CEO, as the region landed two “megaprojects” — […]
Keeping watch
The question of the quarter: Are we entering a recession? One key indicator of a future recession can be inflation, which hit a 40-year high this year. Between June 2021 and June 2022, the consumer price index increased by 9.1%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the first tangible signs for […]
