Recent Articles from Sydney Lake
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 […]
‘The Wild West’
From an outsider’s perspective, it may appear as if technology is improving and changing almost daily — especially sparked by pandemic-driven remote work. But according to a 2021 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more than 80% of technologies improve in performance at a rate of less than 25% per year. Virginia Tech, however, […]
On the road again
Major road projects are happening across the state, but the undeniable headliner is the largest infrastructure project in state history, the $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion. In October 2020, crews broke ground on the HRBT expansion, which will increase tunnel and interstate capacity along 9.9 miles of Interstate 64 between Hampton and Norfolk to […]
Amazon’s Helix gets green thumbs-up
What is now a quiet, achromatic area of Arlington, the National Landing neighborhood in a few years’ time will be a bustling urban area with distinctive office buildings and large green spaces open to the public. In early February, Amazon.com Inc. released plans for its 2.8-million-square-foot redevelopment of the PenPlace block, including three 22-story office […]
A growing legacy
Since his selection as president of Radford University five years ago, Brian Hemphill has fulfilled the mission he set when he was hired: to increase fundraising and open channels to boost enrollment. During Hemphill’s tenure, he has seen the university reach record enrollment numbers and grow its endowment by $20 million. But all things must […]
The pandemic — one year later
One year ago this week, Virginians started bumping elbows instead of shaking hands. We raced about trying to find toilet paper and hand sanitizer and began washing our hands obsessively as a virus we’d only heard about in the news suddenly appeared in Virginia and would quickly transform daily life as we knew it. Virginia’s […]
Vt. company buys Ashburn bioscience tech firm
Williston, Vermont-based bioscience software company MBF Bioscience announced last week it has acquired Ashburn-based Vidrio Technologies. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Vidrio Technologies provides microscope control software and hardware for laser scanning while MBF Bioscience provides microscope-based image analysis tools to researchers. “Vidrio has a pipeline fu[...]
Reston cybersecurity firm names chief cyber officer
Reston-based LookingGlass Cyber Solutions Inc. announced Wednesday it has hired Norm Laudermilch as the company’s first chief cyber officer. Laudermilch most recently served as chief operating officer with software company Control Case. “As chief cyber officer, Norm will be collaborating with many of our team members as his role will be cross-functional, providing guidance across […[...]
Tysons risk analytics firm announces two acquisitions
Tysons-based risk analytics firm Qomplx Inc. announced Wednesday it would acquire Huntsville, Alabama-based cyber intelligence firm Sentar and London-based insurance software modeling firm RPC Tyche. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Qomplx announced earlier this month its plan to go public through a merger agreement with Tailwind Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisit[...]