Goldschmitt & Associates to lay off 217 employees

A Sterling-based business management firm, Goldschmitt and Associates, expects to lay off 217 employees beginning May 1, it said in a letter to the state’s Department of Workforce Development & Advancement last week.

The reason for the layoffs is an “overall reduction of our federal contract SBA Cares that [was] not reasonably foreseeable,” according to the April 24 letter written by Anne Dodson, Goldschmitt’s director of human capital and workforce management. “Nor did we foresee that these events would gravely impact our business not merely for a short period, but now for the foreseeable future.”

Founded in 1998, Goldschmitt was listed No. 13 on Inc. magazine’s 2025 Inc. Regionals: Mid-Atlantic rankings, with 390% two-year growth. In 2024, the firm landed at No. 2 in the regional list, and in the national Inc. 5000 list of the country’s fastest growing companies, Goldschmitt was listed at No. 34 in 2023. According to its website, the company employs more than 300 people.

According to the USAspending.gov site, the federal Small Business Administration in August 2023 awarded Goldschmitt a $28.9 million contract to run through at least December. The contract could have reached $48.9 million and a potential end date of December 2027. Under the contract, Goldschmitt provided platform operation and maintenance support for a COVID-19 relief program funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Goldschmitt’s letter to Virginia Works fulfills the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

The business did not respond immediately to calls for comment Monday.