Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Courtney Mabeus-Brown

McLean tech firm Pangiam to sell to BigBear.ai for $70M

Columbia, Maryland-based BigBear.ai Holdings is acquiring Pangiam Intermediate Holdings, a McLean-based facial recognition and biometrics solutions provider for the trade, travel and digital identification industries, in a $70 million, all-stock deal, BigBear announced Monday.

The move will combine Pangiam’s technologies with BigBear.ai’s computer vision capabilities and allow BigBear.ai to expand its customer base and offerings to airlines, airports and identity-verification companies, as well as within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024 and is subject to regulatory approval.

BigBear.ai has more than 20 federal defense and intelligence customers and 160 commercial customers.

“Vision AI [artificial intelligence] has long been considered the holy grail of applied AI because of its potential to perceive and interact with the world in a human way,” BigBear.ai CEO Mandy Long said in a statement. “BigBear.ai’s acquisition of Pangiam will create a full-vision AI portfolio — among the first in the industry — leveraging near-field vision AI in support of localized environments and far-field vision AI in support of global-scale environments.”

Pangiam was created in 2020 by Boca Raton, Florida-based private equity firm AE Industrial Partners through the acquisitions and combination of Alexandria-based software company Linkware and Pangiam’s predecessor company, PRE. In 2021, Pangiam purchased veriScan, an integrated biometric facial recognition system for airports and airlines, from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in September 2022 that Pangiam would invest $3.1 million to expand its Fairfax County office and establish its global headquarters there, creating 201 jobs over three years. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday if the company would move as a result of the acquisition or if staff changes or cuts will be made.

“The combination of Pangiam and BigBear.ai will position our combined companies to vault solutions currently available in market,” Pangiam CEO Kevin McAleenan said. “With our shared mission and a complementary customer base and product set, our teams will be able to pursue larger customer opportunities, enhance our technology development and accelerate our growth. We’re thrilled to soon join the BigBear.ai team.”

 

Bain Capital affiliate to acquire Guidehouse for $5.3B

Guidehouse has entered into an agreement to be acquired by a Bain Capital Private Equity affiliate for $5.3 billion, the McLean-based consultancy announced Monday.

The investment will support Guidehouse’s growth plans, the company said, and it will continue to operate under its current management team, which is led by Chairman and CEO Scott McIntyre. Guidehouse has been owned by Veritas Capital since 2018; the management consultancy formed that year when Veritas acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers’ public sector arm.

In a statement, McIntyre said Guidehouse looked forward to kicking off “the next phase of our growth in partnership with Bain Capital,” adding that the private equity group “shares our people-first culture, consulting heritage and commitment to embracing complexity.”

“Together, we see significant opportunities to capitalize on attractive marketplace dynamics to further grow the business with our best-in-class client delivery capabilities,” McIntyre said. “We look forward to an impactful partnership with the Bain Capital team leveraging their resources and operational expertise as we work towards building our next generation consultancy with an unwavering commitment to creating the scalable, innovative solutions our clients need to succeed in this increasingly digital and complex environment.”

Guidehouse employs more than 17,000 people across 55 locations around the globe. In 2022, the company opened its new McLean headquarters, moving from a previous location near the White House in Washington, D.C. Later that year, it consolidated its defense and national security units, naming Ed Meehan, who had led the company’s defense group, its chief growth officer.

“Guidehouse has established a clear leadership position in its space using a differentiated model built on collaboration, expertise, and great execution,” Boston-based Bain Capital Partner Joe Robbins said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Scott and his proven management team to continue growing organically and inorganically in an industry with strong, long-term fundamental tailwinds.”

Brick Industry Association names new prez, CEO

The Reston-based Brick Industry Association has announced that Tricia Mauer will become its next president and CEO on Jan. 1, 2025.

Mauer, who has served as the association’s vice president of membership and programs since 2016, will take over as chief operating officer for the organization on Jan. 1, 2024, and work in that position until taking over for Ray Leonhard, the organization’s current president, CEO and chief financial officer, who will retire on Dec. 31, 2024. He will become a part-time adviser to Mauer at that time.

“Trish has my wholehearted support and best wishes for her continued success,” Leonhard said in a statement. “The future is bright for our members and the clay brick industry, and I can think of no one better suited to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Mauer started at the association in 2005 as a project coordinator, and joined from the American Chemistry Council, according to her LinkedIn account.

“I am honored to become the Brick Industry Association’s next president, entrusted to lead our great industry,” Mauer said in a statement. “We represent the best, most sustainable building product, one that undeniably leaves our world a better place. We are truly fortunate to have exceptional members and a dedicated BIA Team, united by our unwavering commitment to our mission.”

Leonard worked for the association for nearly 17 years, having joined the organization in 2007 from the Reston Association, according to his LinkedIn account.

“I am very thankful to Ray Leonhard for his outstanding leadership during the last several years,” Ed Watson, president and CEO of Acme Brick and incoming BIA board chair, said in a statement. “The BIA is in a very strong position financially and is poised to continue to strengthen and support the brick industry for years to come. By giving the board adequate time to transition his successor, I am extremely confident that this mission will be accomplished.”

Founded in 1934, the Brick Industry Association represents distributors, manufacturers and suppliers of clay bricks and suppliers of products and services across the United States.

Former Lynchburg Chapstick factory sells for $1.9M

A 218,818-square-foot industrial property in Lynchburg where Chapstick was once manufactured has sold for $1.9 million, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer said.

Valley Properties purchased the industrial/manufacturing building, located at 1000 Robins Road, from KDC/One as an investment. KDC/One, a global contract manufacturer of personal beauty and home care items based in Canada, announced in 2022 that it would close the location, where as many as 675 full- and part-time employees worked, by the end of 2023, according to The News & Advance.

Norman K. Moon Jr. and Thacher Jennings, both of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, handled sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

Chapstick, a lip balm created by Lynchburg pharmacist Charles Browne Fleet in the 1890s, was at one point manufactured in the building, Moon told Virginia Business. Fleet sold the Chapstick formula, and rights to it, to his friend John Morton for $5 in 1912, according to a company history. Morton revamped the product, and created the Morton Manufacturing Co., which produced Chapstick in Lynchburg until 1963, when it was bought by Richmond-based A.H. Robins Co. A Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, Robins went bankrupt in the 1980s amid thousands of lawsuits over its Dalkon Shield birth control device and was acquired by American Home Products. That company in turn became Wyeth, which was acquired by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in in 2009 for $68 billion.

Williamsburg medical office sells for $1.75M

A medical office in Williamsburg has sold for $1.75 million.

320 Monticello LLC sold the 9,000-square-foot office building at 320 Monticello Ave. to Stellar Ventures LLC as an investment. The building is 100% leased and located directly across the street from William and Mary’s School of Education and Midtown Row apartments. Current tenants include a family counseling business, a massage/physical therapy business and an eyebrow service, Erik Conradi, an associate with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer Capital Markets Group, told Virginia Business.

Conradi handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

Glass manufacturing operation to create 659 jobs in Prince George

PGT Innovations, a Florida-based manufacturer and supplier of windows and doors, will invest $54.3 million to establish a glass manufacturing operation in the former Rolls-Royce facility in Prince George County’s Crosspointe Logistics Center, creating 659 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

Virginia competed with Arizona for the project. The plant will manufacture glass under the company’s Triple Diamond Glass, a wholly owned subsidiary.

“Today’s announcement is a gamechanger that will put more than 650 Virginians back to work, return the shuttered Rolls-Royce facility to productive use, and expand PGT Innovations’ footprint and brand into Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Manufacturing is on the rebound, and the commonwealth is leading the way. We look forward to supporting the future success of PGT Innovations in Prince George County.”

The company’s portfolio includes products that can withstand strong storms. Through its brands, PGT Innovations is the nation’s largest manufacturer of impact-resistant windows and doors, Youngkin’s office said in a news release.

Rolls-Royce announced in May 2011 that it was investing $170 million to open its first Virginia facility in the Crosspointe park to manufacture discs for aircraft engines, and was expected to generate about 500 jobs over time. In 2020, the company announced that it would close the plant by the middle of 2021, eliminating 280 jobs, The Progress-Index reported.

“The creation of Triple Diamond Glass represents a major step forward in our company’s journey,” Jeff Jackson, PGT Innovations president and CEO, said in a statement. “Prince George, Virginia offered an ideal blend of proximity to customers, robust infrastructure, and skilled workforce to support this operation and bringing its cutting-edge products to the window and door industry. We greatly appreciate the efforts put forth by the state of Virginia and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and we are looking forward to contributing to job growth and the economic success of the region.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Prince George County and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia. The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for new, full-time jobs created, as well as benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.

Support for PGT Innovations’ new jobs will come from the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a workforce initiative created by VEDP in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System and other higher education partners, with support from the governor’s administration and the Virginia General Assembly. All program services are provided at no cost to qualified new and expanding companies as an incentive for job creation.

Real estate firm CBRE represented PGT Innovations in its search for a new facility location and in its transaction at Crosspointe, CBRE spokesperson Ashley Houk told Virginia Business in an email.

Leidos shakes up C-suite in restructuring

Months after new Leidos CEO Tom Bell hinted at a “new North Star” for the Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor, the company has announced a shakeup of its C-suite and a reorganization.

The company solidified the changes Thursday, two days after releasing its third-quarter report, which included revenues of $3.9 billion for the quarter, an increase of 9% over the same period in 2022. Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Leidos will be organized into five sectors. Those are:

  • Health and civil, led by President Liz Porter, who currently leads the company’s health group;
  • National security, led by President Roy Stevens, the current leader of the company’s intelligence group;
  • Commercial and international, led by President Vicki Schmanske, who currently serves as executive vice president of Leidos Corporate Operations;
  • Digital modernization, led by President Steve Hull, who currently serves as executive vice president for enterprise and cyber solutions and was also Leidos’ chief information officer from 2016 through March 2022;
  • Defense systems, led by President Cindy Gruensfelder, who previously served as vice president and general manager of Arlington County-based Boeing’s missile and weapons systems division. Her retirement was announced in November 2022 when Boeing announced a restructuring from eight divisions to four.

Leidos said its Alabama-based Dynetics unit will continue to be led by President Steve Cook. Leidos acquired Dynetics in 2020 in a $1.65 billion all-cash deal.

At the C-suite level, Gerry Fasano, who currently serves as president of the defense group, will become chief growth officer, and will be responsible for fusing strategy, marketing, sales, government affairs and communications. Carly Kimball, who currently serves as chief accounting officer and corporate controller, will become Leidos’ chief performance officer and will be responsible for program execution, real estate, security, IT and procurement.

“These leaders bring a combination of expertise, vision, and unwavering dedication that is essential for guiding Leidos into the next decade,” Bell said in a statement. “With this exceptional leadership at the top table and the dedication of our entire team, I am confident that our trajectory of innovation and success will continue and accelerate.”

Tuesday’s revenue announcement also included an income loss of $396 million, which the company said reflected $699 million in impairment and restructuring charges associated with its Security Enterprise Solutions unit. That unit, which provides technologies for airports, ports and borders, has been impacted by delays in airline travel infrastructure projects, and Leidos also refined its portfolio in the third quarter, nixing some products and also ceasing operations in some countries, the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Leidos stock increased from $100.33 a share at 9:50 a.m. Thursday to $103.28 by about 3 p.m. Bell mentioned the “new North Star” idea in a presentation coinciding with his first earnings call on Aug. 1.

Bell took over as CEO of Leidos in May from Roger Krone, who retired that month as CEO and board chairman after nine years of leading Leidos. Bell previously served as CEO and chair of Rolls-Royce North America.

Leidos employs 47,000 people and reported $14.4 billion in 2022 revenue.

Northrop Grumman awarded up to $732M for satellite contract

Fortune 500 Falls Church defense contractor Northrop Grumman will build 38 data transport satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency under a contract valued up to $732 million as the agency builds out a space-based communications network.

The work, announced Monday by the agency, falls under Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Alpha, a prototype constellation that the agency is rolling out as part of its low-Earth orbit Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Denver-based York Space Systems will build 62 satellites under a $617 million agreement, bringing the total award up to about $1.3 billion.

The alpha constellation variant will provide encrypted communications for warfighters and provide missile warning, tracking and advance missile threats and supports the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) mission to provide “sensor-to-shooter” connectivity across the military branches into a single network. Monday’s announcement follows another, from August, in which the SDA announced $1.5 billion in awards, including about $733 to Northrop Grumman and about $816 million to Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, for 72 beta variants, with each company providing 36 satellites.

The first orbital plane of the alpha constellation is expected to be launched by Sept. 2026, the same month that the first beta prototype plane is expected to be ready for launch. The SDA has announced awards to Northrop Grumman for 132 satellites so far.

“Northrop Grumman, in partnership with our industry teammates, is fully committed to the Space Development Agency’s vision of fielding a next-generation, low-Earth orbit architecture connecting and protecting our warfighters wherever they serve,” Blake Bullock, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of communications systems, said in a news release. “Our Northrop Grumman team is bringing our deep Military SATCOM (satellite communications) experience to this mission, and we’re executing on our commitments.”

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the first satellites in the network, Tranche 0, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 2 to demonstrate the network’s feasibility.

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman employs roughly 95,000 employees and reported $36.6 billion in 2022 revenue. The company ranked No. 413 on Fortune magazine’s Global 500 list for 2023, and No. 113 on its annual 1000 list of U.S. corporations for the year.

King George exploring second industrial park

King George County officials are negotiating with two landowners where the county wants to build a new industrial and technology park as it looks for a spot to lure more businesses.

The existing 149-acre King George County Industrial Park is full, and there’s nothing to offer economic development prospects there. During the past two years, the county had to pass on two projects that could have accounted for at least $520 million in investment and 220 jobs, says Nick Minor, the county’s economic development and tourism director.

“Those two hurt, and I wish I started working on this park two years ago just to win those two projects,” he says.

Minor’s vision for a second county industrial park starts with 48 county-owned acres near U.S. Route 301 and state Route 3, where the county owns a transportation depot, and continues with adjacent 28-acre and 107-acre privately owned plots; a third owner with 104 acres is interested in selling in the future. King George supervisors gave the county’s economic development authority authorization to purchase the properties in June; Minor says an agreement could be reached by December.

Minor believes the new site provides an excellent location: on a main corridor, within half a mile of water and sewer, and 10 minutes from Naval Support Facility Dahlgren. He sees a park catering to the base, which accounts for 11,000 of the county’s 13,000 jobs. In fiscal 2020, the base accounted for $472 million in local contracts, and 30% of its employees live in King George.

“They’re a [research and development] base, and we don’t have anything that necessarily complements what they do,” Minor says.

Minor estimates it will cost about $2 million to “get the site where someone could come in and start moving dirt.” The county will have to conduct engineering studies, perform impact reviews and get water and sewer infrastructure to the site. The county’s comprehensive plan also must be revised to include a new industrial park.

Gov. Glenn Younkin has pushed for more site readiness, and the General Assembly included $200 million in its 2022-2024 budget toward such initiatives.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi calls such long-term investment critical.

“Generating capital investment and new jobs can be transformational for more rural communities, and King George County is prudent to consider strategic investments in this initiative,” El Koubi says. 

Scout Space founder has out-of-this-world goals

Eric Ingram wanted two things as a kid: blue hair and to travel to space.

As CEO of Alexandria-based aerospace startup Scout Space, Ingram found the freedom to establish his now-trademark electric-blue hair. And it might provide the boost to reach that other goal.

Ingram co-founded Scout Space in 2019 while he was furloughed from his job as an aerospace engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration during the federal government’s shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019.

Scout Space manufactures and develops sensor-based systems to enable satellites to safely navigate space while collecting data about what’s going on in orbit. As the race to dominate space continues, orbital space is becoming crowded. Safe and sustainable navigation is becoming increasingly important. Without controls in place, space could be a minefield.

“If you get a fender bender on the highway, you do not ruin the highway for the next 25 years,” says Ingram, a 2013 graduate of Old Dominion University. “If you get into a fender bender in space going 17,000 miles an hour, that debris cloud could potentially disrupt that entire orbital slot for 25 years.”

Scout Space landed early success in 2021 when it piggy-backed onto a demonstration mission with Colorado-based startup Orbit Fab, which is developing space-based fueling stations, on the SpaceX Falcon 9. Orbit Fab needed a system that could help it practice for “rendezvous and docking guidance algorithms,” says founder and CEO Daniel Faber. The company didn’t have money for cameras, so Faber reached out to Ingram and Scout Space co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Officer Sergio Gallucci, both of whom he met when they interned for a previous company Faber ran.

That set off a frantic race to build a payload in six months, and the result allowed Scout Space to prove itself. In June, Scout Space, which has reached about $9 million in total revenue to date, closed a seed round for an undisclosed amount, with Reston-based federal contractor Noblis as majority investor. Scout Space is using the funding to establish an office and lab in Reston and plans to double its technical team to about 20 employees by the end of 2024.

Scout Space has three missions planned in the next nine months and a large product announcement set within the year, Ingram says.

“Everything I’m doing,” he says, “is [with] the end goal of me hopefully going to space at some point.”