George Mason’s Fuse tech hub opens to public
On the third floor of George Mason University’s new state-of-the-art Fuse tech hub, robots jumped, begged, rolled over and offered a mechanical paw to shake Friday while a small drone hovered above. The endearing welcome by George Mason’s RobotiXX Lab robots offered a brief glimpse into the future for the group of academ[...]
Customer bankruptcy, severance charges push Hooker’s loss in Q3
Martinsville-based Hooker Furnishings reported consolidated net sales of $104.4 million in the third quarter ended Oct. 27, a decrease of $12.5 million, or 10.7%, from last year. It also reported an operating loss of $7.3 million, marking its third quarterly loss in a row. The company attributed ongoing low demand as a reason fo[...]
FAA certification clears way for DroneUp to scale up
Virginia Beach-based drone delivery company DroneUp has received a Federal Aviation Administration certificate that will allow it to grow its delivery operations. On Tuesday, the company announcedi t received an FAA Part 119 air carrier certificate under Part 135. The certificate allows DroneUp to carry third-party property as a[...]
BAE Systems wins up to $238M Navy ship repair contract
Falls Church-based federal contractor BAE Systems Inc. has won a Navy contract worth up to $238.8 million to maintain, modernize and repair a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. The Department of Defense announced the $212 million firm-fixed-price contract award, which has options that would bring its cumulative va[...]
Navy awards RTX subsidiary $590.8M contract for electronic attack system
The Navy has awarded Raytheon, a subsidiary of Arlington County Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor RTX, a $590.8 million contract to produce nine Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) ship sets for the military branch’s EA-18 Growler electronic warfare aircraft and four more sets for the Royal Australian Air Force[...]
Engineering without boundaries
The surging demand for energy. The country’s aging, overwhelmed electrical grid. Threats of cyberattacks. The explosion of interest in — and confusion about — artificial intelligence. These real-life problems don’t know boundaries. Neither should the search for solutions, says Azim Eskandarian, dean of Virginia Commonwea[...]
Maximus announces feds have backed off $6.6B contract rebid
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct an error in the original version, which incorrectly stated that the contract, not the rebidding process, had been canceled. Tysons-based Maximus, a government contractor specializing in administrative support for Medicare and Medicaid, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Depart[...]
GDIT wins $330M in Army training support contracts
Falls Church federal contractor General Dynamics Information Technology has won two Army contracts totaling $330 million, the General Dynamics subsidiary announced Tuesday. The Army Contracting Command – Orlando awarded the task orders to GDIT in August as part of the $975 million Mission Training Complex Capabilities Supp[...]
Unanet acquires D.C. AI firm
Dulles-based software company Unanet has acquired Washington, D.C.-based GovPro AI, Unanet announced Friday. Unanet did not disclose financial details of the transaction, which it completed in November. Unanet provides project-based enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software solutions for governme[...]
United begins building $16M training center in Fairfax County
United Airlines has started construction on a $16 million inflight training center in Fairfax County, the county’s economic development authority announced Monday. The 20,000-square-foot facility near the airline’s hub at Washington Dulles International Airport, which straddles the Fairfax and Loudoun county lines, is expect[...]
Coldwell Banker Premier acquires Hampton Roads Coldwell affiliate
Winchester-based Coldwell Banker Premier has acquired Virginia Beach-based Coldwell Banker Now, merging into a brokerage with a combined $600 million sales volume in 2023. Coldwell Banker Premier did not disclose financial details of the merger, which it announced Monday. The combined real estate company is the second-fastest gr[...]
Virginia mail service improves; second Trump push to privatize USPS ‘unlikely’
U.S. Postal Service operations have continued to improve, but a bipartisan coalition of state leaders say more work is needed to get the service to a level Virginians deserve. Virginia was ranked at the bottom for on-time mail delivery in October 2023, at the start of the federal government’s fiscal year. Just over 66% of [&he[...]