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byline: Jason Roop

The Lester Group names new executive

The Lester Group has tapped Kevin Silveira to lead its building supply group and Fredericksburg-based Fortress Door Co., the Martinsville-based real estate and building materials company announced May 6.

Silveira leaves a 19-year career at National Lumber Co., where he started as account manager and most recently served as vice president of sales.

As vice president of its building supply group, Silveira will oversee the company’s five building supply stores in Virginia.

Silveira earned his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Based in Martinsville, The Lester Group is marking 125 years in business since its origins as a sawmill. It now runs building materials stores, manufactures treated lumber and doors, and manages real estate and forest land.

Intelligent Waves announces new senior vice president

Reston-based federal information technology contractor Intelligent Waves LLC has named Kathy Barlow as its senior vice president of contracts and pricing, it announced May 6.

Barlow spent more than 10 years with government contractor IntelliDyne LLC, where she served as senior director of contracts. She also held roles overseeing contracts at QinetiQ and Horne International.

A graduate of George Mason University, Barlow earned an MBA from Marymount University in Arlington.

Intelligent Waves President Tony Crescenzo said in a statement that Barlow would help expand the company’s market share and contract vehicles. “Kathy’s proven track record in strategic contract management will add value and impact to our organizational growth plan,” he said.

Founded in 2006, Intelligent Waves is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. It announced its acquisition of Maryland-based cybersecurity firm Ski Systems Inc. in December.

Arlington County names new planning director

Arlington County has promoted Anthony Fusarelli Jr., a 15-year veteran planning employee, to planning director effective in early June, the county announced May 6.

Fusarelli started as a principal planner with the county in 2006. Most recently he served as assistant director of the county Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

Fusarelli was chosen after a national search. County Manager Mark Schwartz cited his experience and work with the community on long-term plans.

The county also credited Fusarelli with spearheading the first Crystal City Sector Plan in 2010 and managing the the Realize Rosslyn planning process, an update to that sector plan in 2015.

“I’m grateful and excited to help advance Arlington’s evolution towards a better, more inclusive community,” Fusarelli said in a statement.

Fusarelli received his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from University of Massachusetts Amherst and his master’s degree in regional planning from Cornell University. He has an accreditation from the American Institute of Certified Planners and is an alumnus of ULI Washington’s Regional Land Use Leadership Institute.

Atlantic Broadband announces $7.2 million partnership

Atlantic Broadband has announced a $7.2 million partnership to deliver broadband to more than 1,200 homes and businesses in Caroline, Mathews, Lancaster and Middlesex counties.

A $4.2 million grant from the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative pays for the bulk of the project, with $1.5 million coming from Atlantic Broadband and the remaining $1.5 contributed by the four counties.

In March, Gov. Ralph Northam announced $20.1 million in grants to 17 localities as part of the broadband internet initiative, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The company’s 130-mile project is expected to take 18 months to complete, it said in its May 6 announcement. A timeline for construction and activation will be announced after contracts are formalized and design is complete, it said.

Based in Quincy, Massachusetts, Atlantic Broadband is a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. It provides internet, television and phone services to homes and businesses in 11 states, including Virginia.

Parsons lands $618M GSA contract

Centreville-based Parsons Corp. has won a $618 million contract with the U.S. General Services Administration, it announced this week, bringing the company’s total contracts won since the end of the first quarter to approximately $1 billion.

The new contract covers professional services that advance the intelligence community’s global cyber and intelligence technologies for C5ISR, the U.S. Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center, as well as exercise, operations and information services.

Under the contract, Parsons will work with agencies including the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Parsons staff will provide “open-source intelligence, system engineering, integrated training, research and development, and rapid prototyping, enabling the customer’s ability to process, exploit, disseminate, and act on information against emerging and evolving threats,” according to a company release.

“Our transformative acquisitions truly created a differentiated platform to rapidly provide mission-critical intelligence solutions in support of the customer’s mission,” Paul Decker, executive vice president and general manager of Parsons’ cyber and intelligence market, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the customer and bringing the dedicated talents of our employees to achieve mission success.”

Parsons secured six contracts during its first quarter worth more than $100 million — including a 10-year information technology contract potentially worth $12.6 billion from the Defense Intelligence Agency, announced in March.

The company highlighted the wins in its quarterly financial report May 5, noting that quarterly revenue was down 10% from the the previous year to $875 million. It attributed the decrease to the pandemic and lower pass-through revenue.

Parsons Chairman and CEO Charles “Chuck” Harrington, who is retiring as CEO in June, said in a statement that he expects growth “as we benefit from our technology solutions aligned with the Biden Administration’s infrastructure and defense priorities and as we move beyond COVID and pass-through revenue headwinds.”

Parsons, which employs more than 16,000 people, specializes in defense, intelligence, security and infrastructure engineering.

UPDATED: Peraton completes $7.1B Perspecta acquisition

UPDATED MAY 7, 8:20 A.M.

Herndon-based national security contractor Peraton Inc. completed its $7.1 billion, all-cash acquisition of Chantilly-based federal IT contractor Perspecta Inc. on Thursday, according to a news release from Peraton’s parent company, New York-based private investment firm Veritas Capital.

The combined companies will be known as Peraton and will be overseen by Peraton Chairman, President and CEO Stu Shea. Perspecta Chairman and CEO Mac Curtis has announced his retirement. The move follows Peraton’s $3.4 billion cash acquisition in February of Falls Church-based Northrop Grumman Corp.’s federal IT and mission support services business.

“Perspecta has always been a differentiated, innovative leader in this industry, and this combination with Peraton will create a powerhouse within the government technology market,” Veritas CEO and Managing Partner Ramzi Musallam said in a statement. “With unparalleled capabilities and a deep bench of highly skilled employees, the combined Peraton is poised to drive enhanced value for all of its stakeholders. We look forward to investing in the long-term success of the unified enterprise and to working closely with Stu and management to support our customers’ most vital missions.”

“This is a truly transformational acquisition for Peraton and for our industry and we are thrilled to welcome our talented new colleagues from Perspecta,” Shea said. “This milestone follows our recent acquisition of Northrop Grumman’s integrated mission support and IT solutions business and further strengthens Peraton’s leading position within the government technology market. We are confident that with Veritas’ continued support, we will be well-positioned to deliver highly differentiated solutions that meet the mission-critical needs of our combined customer base.”

Perspecta Inc. shareholders voted Thursday to adopt the merger agreement, under which shareholders will receive $29.35 per share.

Veritas Capital held approximately 14.5% of Perspecta’s outstanding shares when the companies announced the pending acquisition in late January.

Perspecta, which employs more than 14,000 people, was launched in 2018 as the result of a three-way merger among Vencore Holding Corp., KeyPoint Government Solutions and the U.S. public sector business of DXC Technology. It posted $4.5 billion in fiscal 2020 revenue.

 

$257M Western Rail Initiative to bring NRV train service

Passenger train service will return to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday, announcing an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway.

The $257.2 million deal is an addition to the $3.7 billion rail expansion package the governor hailed in March as part of the Transforming Rail in Virginia program.

The agreement, called the Western Rail Initiative, extends service to the New River Valley, an area that includes the city of Radford and the counties of Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski.

It also increases intercity passenger rail service between Roanoke and the Northeast Corridor, according to the announcement, complementing Amtrak’s service in the area.

The governor’s office said the new service will add approximately 80,000 passengers in the first year, citing ridership predictions. The Roanoke train currently provides 220,000 passenger trips per year.

The initiative includes $219 million in infrastructure investments, including improvements to Roanoke Yard and the Route 29/Interstate 81 corridor, and $38.2 million for the acquisition of 28.5 miles of track on the Virginian Line between Salem Crossovers to Merrimac. Legal agreements between Norfolk Southern and the state are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“Bringing passenger rail service back to the New River Valley will fuel tourism, drive economic growth and create new opportunities for the region’s 180,000 residents and 40,000 college students,” Northam said in a statement.

An additional round-trip train from D.C. to Roanoke will be added in 2022, serving Alexandria, Burke, Manassas, Culpeper, Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Roanoke, according to the announcement. Infrastructure improvements are planned to be complete in 2025 to allow for the Northeast Corridor round trips to be extended from Roanoke to Christiansburg. The state also plans to work with the New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Authority to fund construction of a station building and parking.

George Mason University approved to start school of computing

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia gave the green light to George Mason University’s plan to start a school of computing, the Fairfax-based university announced today.

Three departments will comprise the core of the school, which will be the first of its kind in Virginia, the university said: statistics, computer science and information sciences and technology.

Those departments are being pulled out of the Volgenau School of Engineering and into their own school, which will fall under the new College of Engineering and Computing.

University officials said the new focus will prioritize and elevate George Mason’s computing brand for students and research partners and further economic development in the community.

The school’s interim divisional dean, Sanjeev Setia, said in a statement that several factors contributed to the school’s creation, including the Tech Talent Investment Program in Virginia.

The program, which Gov. Ralph Northam announced in November 2019, aims to create 31,000 new computer science graduates in 20 years through investment agreements with 11 public universities — including George Mason.

“The Tech Talent Investment Pipeline funding from the state of Virginia, the creation of the [Institute of Digital InnovAtion] and expansion of the Arlington campus, and the growing tech sector in Northern Virginia hastened this effort,” Setia said in a statement.

George Mason, which enrolls 39,000 students, ranked No. 1 in Virginia for research funding in computer and information sciences, the university said in its announcement, citing figures from the National Science Foundation.

Mitre names new cyber technologies VP

McLean-based The Mitre Corp. has hired research scientist Wen Masters as its vice president for cyber technologies, effective May 17.

Masters most recently worked at Georgia Tech Research Institute, where she served as deputy director for research and led its Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate. She was principal research scientist at Georgia Tech.

Founded in 1958, Mitre is a not-for-profit organization that manages federally funded research and development centers. Masters will lead corporate cybersecurity strategy and Mitre’s cybersecurity innovation centers, where more than 600 people work on such issues, according to the announcement.

Masters, who holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics from the University of California, Irvine, worked for the U.S. government for 23 years, including at the Office of Naval Research. She also brings experience from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Masters serves on the U.S. Army Science Board and the National Academy of Sciences Naval Studies Board.

Leidos names new CFO

Longtime Leidos Holdings Inc. executive Christopher Cage has been named as the Reston-based federal contractor’s new chief financial officer.

Cage will begin his role July 5. He currently serves as senior vice president and chief accounting officer for the Fortune 500 company, where he’s worked since 1999.

Cage was director of financial planning and analysis with Ledios when it was SAIC. He became senior vice president and CFO of the company’s health and engineering sector in 2009, and in 2016 took the role of senior vice president, operations finance.

The announcement of Cage’s appointment coincided with the company’s first quarter report May 4, when Leidos Chairman and CEO Roger Krone announced a 14.7% increase in quarterly revenues to $3.32 billion.

“As demonstrated by today’s strong, first quarter financial results and growth momentum,” Krone said in a statement, “we are well-positioned to deliver on our business commitments and believe Chris brings the right skills to help drive Leidos forward on our current path of value creation.”

Cage holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and MBA from San Diego State University, and graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2019.

Cage will succeed James Reagan, who announced his retirement and will serve in an advisory role through the year.