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Capital One, Discover shareholders approve $35.3B acquisition

The proposed $35.3 billion blockbuster of Financial Services by Financial has been approved by each company’s shareholders, the credit card giants announced Tuesday.

Stockholders representing 85.1% of the total number of outstanding shares of Capital One common stock were in favor of the acquisition at a Tuesday meeting held in . Investors representing 81.6% of the total number of outstanding shares of Discover common stock gave the transaction the OK at a separate meeting held in Illinois Tuesday.

Capital One expects the deal to close in early 2025 subject to approval by the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as well as customary closing conditions.

Capital One announced in December 2024 that it had received approval from the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner to complete the purchase of and its subsidiary, Discover Bank, a Delaware-chartered bank.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation to determine whether the acquisition violates that state’s antitrust laws, asking in October for a state judge to subpoena Capital One for documents, Reuters reported

Both U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, spoke out about the deal after it was announced in February 2024, stating that it would hurt consumers.

A Fortune Global 500 company, Capital One had $362.7 billion in deposits and $490.1 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Boeing to lay off about 200 workers in megarocket program

Arlington County-based Fortune Global 500 aerospace and giant plans to lay off about 200 employees working on ‘s Space Launch System program in anticipation of potential program cuts or cancellation.

The company previously expected to eliminate about 400 positions in the program by April, according to Bloomberg, but now plans to keep roughly half of those after talks with NASA.

NASA’s $24 billion SLS program is developing a super-heavy lift rocket being used in its program to send astronauts back to the moon.

The SLS program is receiving heightened scrutiny under the new presidential administration. Six space industry representatives advising billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald told Reuters they wanted the program canceled or phased out over several years.

Trump’s administration could propose ending the program in its next budget proposal, although Congress determines the program’s federal funding appropriation. The House of Representatives and Senate are currently moving forward with different budget resolutions, which will require reconciliation before a budget resolution can be sent to Trump.

David Dutcher, Boeing Space Launch System (SLS) vice president and program manager, told employees working on the program on Feb. 7 that the company was preparing for in case NASA does not renew its contracts with Boeing, according to Ars Technica.

According to a letter sent Feb. 12 by Dutcher and seen by Bloomberg, Boeing will send 60-day layoff notices to fewer than 200 employees.

“As Boeing and NASA continue to finalize contract revisions for Boeing’s work on the Space Launch System program, we have successfully mitigated a majority of the previously announced reductions,” Boeing said in a statement. “While Boeing is committed to supporting NASA’s Artemis missions … workforce adjustments are still necessary to drive efficiency and cost effectiveness on the program.

“We will redeploy teammates where possible,” the statement continued, “but expect to proceed with fewer than 200 involuntary layoffs.”

Congress directed NASA to develop the SLS rocket in 2011 to replace the Space Shuttle. During Trump’s first administration, he signed a policy directive to send astronauts back to the moon, leading to the Artemis program’s formation.

Boeing and Falls Church-based Fortune Global 500 Northrop Grumman are the primary contractors for the SLS program.

The program has suffered delays and growing costs. From 2011 to 2022, development of the SLS cost $23.8 billion. Each rocket launch costs more than $2 billion, and the rockets are not reusable.

Musk’s Space X, meanwhile, is developing Starship, a less powerful but cheaper and reusable rocket. And Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is introducing New Glenn, another reusable and cheaper but less powerful rocket.

The first SLS rocket launched in November 2022 in an uncrewed test flight of the rocket components and systems as part of Artemis I, which was originally scheduled to launch by the end of 2016.

Various aspects of the rocket’s production for the Artemis II mission, scheduled for April 2026, are underway, according to Dutcher’s email to employees.

In a statement, NASA called the SLS rocket an “essential component” of the Artemis mission.

“NASA and its industry partners continuously work together to evaluate and align budget, resources, contractor performance, and schedules to execute mission requirements efficiently, safely, and successfully in support of NASA’s Moon to Mars goals and objectives,” the agency said in the statement.

Boeing previously was expected to layoff about 10% of its 170,000-person workforce by January, including 68 employees across Virginia by Jan. 17. The company did not directly answer a request for confirmation of the 10% workforce reduction.

Boeing did not directly answer where the affected employees in the SLS program are located, but its SLS program is managed out of its Space and Launch division in Huntsville, Alabama, and the program has employees there, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and “at other Boeing sites and suppliers across the country.”

Boeing announced it would move its corporate headquarters from Chicago to in May 2022. The contracting behemoth has so far resisted talk of moving its headquarters from Arlington to Seattle, where Boeing Kelly Ortberg has located to be near the company’s troubled commercial aircraft division.

Langley Federal Credit Union CEO to retire

Langley Federal Credit Union President and will retire at the end of the year, following 13 years of leading the financial institution.

The credit union, which is the fourth largest credit union based in Virginia, announced Ryan’s retirement Wednesday and credited him with overseeing significant growth of the organization – with its assets growing from $1.7 billion to over $5.4 billion under his leadership, and its membership base expanding to 390,000.

Langley says Ryan’s “commitment to innovation and service” enhanced member offerings, expanded outreach programs and spurred technological advancements.

“Serving as president and CEO of has been the most rewarding experience of my career,” Ryan said in a statement. “As I prepare for retirement, I am confident that Langley will build on the strong foundation we’ve created together to support Langley in its continued success for years to come.”

Ryan, who has spent 40 years in the credit union industry, has racked up numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Credit Union Chief Executive Award in 2021 from the Credit Union Executive Society (CUES), the 2018 Eugene H. Farley Jr. Award of Excellence and recognition in Virginia Business’ Virginia 500 Power List from 2020 to 2024 honoring the most influential business leaders in Virginia.

According to a news release, Ryan also played “a pivotal role” in creating the Langley for Families Foundation, a nonprofit that has donated more than $7 million to local charities, assisting more than 160 organizations and reaching tens of thousands of people.

“Tom’s dedication has transformed Langley into the strong organization it is today,” said Audrey Douglas-Cooke, chair of the credit union’s board of directors, in a statement. “His ability to foster a collaborative, high-performance culture has been exceptional, and we are grateful for his impact at Langley.”

According to the release, Langley has engaged D. Hilton Associates to conduct a nationwide search for Ryan’s successor.

“We are looking for a leader who not only possesses strategic expertise but also embraces the collaborative, team-oriented values that have been central to Langley’s success,” Bruce Hoogstraten, board vice-chair and CEO search committee chair, said in a statement.

Langley Federal Credit Union was founded in 1936 and today is one of the 100 largest credit unions in the nation, with approximately 700 employees and 20 branch locations in Roads, Richmond and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Derivatives exchange to add 33 jobs in Fairfax

Nodal Exchange, a derivatives exchange, will invest $300,000 to expand its operations, adding 33 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.

“Nodal Exchange’s in Fairfax County demonstrates Virginia’s ability to attract and retain global financial technology leaders,” Youngkin stated in a news release. “As North America’s largest exchange, Nodal Exchange showcases how international firms can thrive in the Commonwealth while developing innovative solutions for the world’s markets.”

Founded in 2007, Nodal Exchange is part of the EEX Group, a network of companies serving international commodity markets. Its Fairfax County office is at 1921 Gallows Road in .

Nodal Exchange provides price, credit and liquidity risk management solutions through sets of environmental and electric power futures and options contracts. The majority of U.S. power futures open interest is on Nodal Exchange with 1.43 billion megawatt-hours, representing 57% market share as of January 2025

Its subsidiary Nodal Clear, which serves as an intermediary between buyers and sellers, clears all transactions. The company has 145 employees, according to a spokesperson.

“Fairfax County is an ideal location for attracting and retaining the highly educated and diverse team necessary for operating Nodal Exchange and Nodal Clear, and we are thrilled to be able to continue to grow and further expand here,” Paul Cusenza, and chairman of Nodal Exchange and Nodal Clear, said in a statement.

In 2022, Gov. Youngkin announced an earlier $300,000 expansion by Nodal Exchange.

The worked with the Fairfax County  Authority to secure the project for Virginia. VEDP will support Nodal Exchange through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. Created by VEDP in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, the program provides free, customizable recruitment and training services to qualified new and expanding companies.

Leidos names new chief growth officer

Reston-headquartered announced Wednesday that it’s promoting Jason Albanese to corporate executive vice president and , effective March 3.

Currently senior vice president of growth for the company’s National Security sector, Albanese is succeeding Gerry Fasano, who is retiring as planned on April 4.

Albanese joined Leidos in 2017 following the merger with Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Solutions business. He initially led strategy and business development for the company’s group before holding similar responsibilities for the health and intelligence businesses. Albanese assumed his role in the National Security sector last year.

In his new role, Albanese will report to Leidos Tom Bell and play a crucial role in implementing the company’s new growth strategy developed in 2024.

“I want to congratulate Jason and thank Gerry for all he has done for our company, and our country, during a remarkable 40-year career,” Bell said in a statement. “Gerry built a strong team and an excellent long-term strategy. Jason will lead our work to differentiate Leidos as a trusted partner who helps make customers’ outcomes smarter and more efficient.”

Albanese holds engineering degrees from the of Pennsylvania and Villanova University and an MBA in from the University of Maryland.

Earlier this month, Leidos reported record financial performance for 2024, with the company’s revenue rising 7.9% to $16.7 billion, earnings margin reaching 12.9% and operating cash flow hitting $1.39 billion. For 2025, the company forecasts revenues between $16.9 billion and $17.3 billion, an earnings margin in the mid-to-high 12% range and an operating cash flow of $1.45 billion.

Leidos provides technology, engineering and science services to defense, intelligence, civil and health market customers. It has about 48,000 employees.

U.Va. board to meet over gender-affirming care dispute

The of Virginia’s Board of Visitors — now controlled by members appointed by — has scheduled a Feb. 21 special meeting to discuss UVA Health’s decision to resume gender-affirming medical care for patients under the age of 19.

The university-affiliated health system suspended treatments in late January after a federal , followed by a directive from Virginia’s attorney general, but it restarted care after a federal order last week.

Friday’s meeting is set to be a showdown between university administration and conservative-leaning board members over the hot-button issue concerning whether transgender minors can receive gender-affirming medical treatments at UVA Health, even with their parents’ permission.

A group of U.Va. faculty, alumni and UVA Health physicians, nurses and clinical staff have sent an unsigned letter to the university’s board ahead of the meeting, arguing that “preemptive compliance” with executive orders that run contrary to state and federal law “would invite significant legal liability” for the university. The group calls for gender-affirming treatments to continue. A copy of the letter was provided to Virginia Business.

The matter has become a partisan issue ignited by President Donald ‘s Jan. 28 executive order banning all gender-affirming medical treatment for patients under 19, even in Virginia, where the Virginia Human Rights Act in the state code explicitly protects people from discrimination related to their gender identity. Despite the state law, Youngkin and Virginia , both Republicans, have voiced support for the executive order’s limitations on medical care, and Miyares issued a directive to UVA Health and Health enforcing the order last month.

Both health systems suspended gender-affirming medical treatment for patients under 19 on Jan. 30, citing Trump’s executive order and Miyares’ interpretation. However, after a federal judge issued a two-week restraining order on Feb. 13 that suspended Trump’s executive order, UVA Health and took different paths.

UVA resumed treating patients immediately, and VCU Health and its affiliated children’s hospital did not. Both are public health systems with financial ties to the state, but with different leaders and governance structures. Also, VCU’s Feb. 14 statement acknowledges the direct involvement of the governor’s office in its decision not to resume treatment.

VCU Health and the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, which are overseen by the VCU Health Systems Authority board, “have received verbal guidance from the governor’s office that the Virginia attorney general’s prior directive that prohibits gender-affirming services outlined in the White House’s executive order still stands,” the statement said.

But on the evening of Feb. 13, UVA Health issued a statement that it would “resume the provision of those services that were previously paused in response to the order. UVA Health will continue to monitor legal developments in this case and provide our patients with the best care possible under Virginia and federal law.”

Much of the U.Va. board’s discussion Friday will take place in closed session, according to the agenda, and the meeting will include “consultation with legal counsel and legal advice” regarding the BOV’s authority to “make regulations and policy concerning the university; the university’s posture regarding compliance with executive orders and the potential impact on the business of the medical center.”

Legal opinions

Miyares’ Jan. 30 memo lays out some of the potential perils of defying the president’s executive order: “Any hospital or other institution … is at risk of losing” federal or grants, and “may involve Medicare or Medicaid conditions of participation/coverage.”

But U.Va. law professor Craig Konnoth, who specializes in health and LGBT civil rights law, said Tuesday that “it was illegal” for Virginia’s hospital systems “to stop gender-affirming care,” even after the president’s executive order.

Calling it “basic civics,” Konnoth said the federal executive branch — i.e., the president — doesn’t create laws or serve as final arbiter for the interpretation of laws.

Meanwhile, “the law was already settled in the state,” both under the Virginia Human Rights Act and under federal law, and those statutes have been supported in court, he added.  “The executive order has no legal weight. Congress has spoken. The courts have spoken.”

With regard to Miyares’ memo, Konnoth said, “The attorney general issued a letter that summarized the executive order. You notice the attorney general doesn’t say anything about what the law is. He just says, ‘This is the executive order. Follow it.’”

The faculty, alumni and staff members’ letter to the board members includes similar arguments, citing the Virginia Human Rights Act, the Affordable Care Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

“To prohibit the provision of specific medical and surgical treatments to transgender minors, but not cisgender minors, is illegal discrimination,” the letter states. “To abruptly terminate gender affirming care, absent any binding legal requirement to do so, is medical abandonment. Given the high likelihood that patients will suffer harm as a result (severe psychological distress, worsening gender dysphoria, depression, or even suicide), this action would invite medical malpractice claims and create significant civil liabilities for the University and its health system.”

Despite what Konnoth and others view as settled law, Trump has made assertions in his second term that nothing he does as president is in violation of the nation’s laws or Constitution. On Sunday, he posted the following statement on his Truth Social feed: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

However, there are political considerations, aside from the law, leaving questions about what could occur Friday. Two-thirds of U.Va.’s board members, who have hiring and firing authority over the university’s president, Jim Ryan, are Youngkin appointees, although the board’s rector and vice rector were both appointed by Youngkin’s predecessor, Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat.

Meanwhile, UVA Health is overseen by a committee under the purview of the university’s board of visitors, and it includes seven board members and five “public members” named by the BOV. UVA Health Dr. Craig Kent answers to Ryan, and both men are state employees.

Upon taking office in 2022, Miyares fired U.Va.’s former general counsel, Tim Heaphy, who worked for the university for about three years and was on temporary leave while serving as lead investigator for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 committee.

Miyares hired Cliff Iler to replace Heaphy, and Iler remains the university’s top lawyer and an employee of the state attorney general’s office. Iler is likely to be the attorney offering legal guidance to the board Friday in closed session.

This sets up an apparent battle of wills over the resumption of medical care for transgender teens at U.Va., services that include prescriptions for puberty blockers, hormone treatments and referrals for surgical procedures.

Konnoth predicts, “The board of visitors, I assume, will go ahead and follow the law,” and endorse UVA Health’s resumption of gender-affirming medical services.

“At the end of the day, if you’re an American, you believe that the laws of the country should be followed. I would expect that to be the case whether you’re appointed by a Democrat or Republican.”

Iron Mountain plans $1B data center campus in Henrico

Boston-based Iron Mountain has acquired a 66-acre site in with plans for a major campus, the announced Tuesday.

Henrico Authority Executive Director Anthony Romanello says Iron Mountain’s campus in White Oak Technology Park will house four data center buildings covering more than 1 million square feet. He said the project will cost more than $1 billion and generate millions in tax revenue for the county. The business park in eastern Henrico features over 2,200 acres for technology and data center campuses.

“The most important thing is the long term tax revenue that we can use for schools, roads, parks, all of the services that are provided in the county,” Romanello said.

Iron Mountain, which touts itself as a global leader in storage and information management services, purchased the 66-acre site at 6110 Technology Creek Drive from Henrico’s EDA for about $8 million on Nov. 1, 2024, according to the county’s real estate assessment division.

A representative from Iron Mountain did not provide a timeline for when construction may begin or be complete, saying all information currently available is being provided in news releases. Romanello, who said the county is “very excited” about the project, also didn’t have a timeline but said, “We anticipate that they’ll be moving very quickly on the first building that they’re proposing.”

White Oak is home to other data centers owned and operated by Kansas-based QTS Data Centers and Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company. QTS also is set to build in White Oak Technology Park II nearby, and LL Flooring last year sold its 97-acre Sandston property to QTS for $104 million, including a 995,792-square-foot distribution center.

According to a release from Iron Mountain, its Henrico data center campus will produce more than 200 megawatts of expected capacity.

Virginia said in a statement that Iron Mountain’s project would create jobs and strengthen Virginia’s position within the data center industry. Mark Kidd, Iron Mountain’s executive vice president and general manager of asset lifecycle management and data centers, said in a news release that Henrico is the right place for the company to achieve its goals of delivering exceptional solutions for customers and making a positive contribution to the communities where it operates.

The Greater Richmond Partnership said it assisted Henrico County’s EDA and with Iron Mountain’s decision.

“We are proud to add Iron Mountain to Henrico’s community, as our locality is a trailblazer in allocating data center tax revenue toward the Henrico Affordable Housing Trust Fund program,” said Henrico Supervisor Jody K. Rogish, a board member of the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Henrico’s supervisors established the trust fund, effective July 1, 2024, with $60 million in previously unbudgeted revenues from data centers, according to a release from the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Iron Mountain also recently acquired a 40-acre development site in for two new data center buildings. The company purchased the land, Manassas Point, from real estate investment management company PRP for $113.5 million in November 2024. Iron Mountain said the site will offer an estimated 150 MW of additional capacity and that the includes the planned development of an electricity substation to ensure continued uninterrupted supply across the Manassas campus.

The company did not provide a construction timeline for the new Manassas site, and ‘s EDA did not return calls for comment immediately Tuesday.

Iron Mountain said the recent acquisitions in Henrico and Manassas strengthen its data center presence in Virginia. The company currently has a 142-acre campus in Manassas, offering more than 2 million square feet of energy-efficient space.

Northrop Grumman receives two contracts totaling $1.4B

Northrop Grumman has received two air and missile contracts worth a combined $1.4 billion, the -based government contractor announced last week.

The contractor received two contracts from the U.S. and Poland. Under the $481 million, five-year contract from the Army’s Aviation Missile Technology Consortium, will expand software development for the Integrated Battle Command System, which integrates sensors and weapons into a single global air and missile defense network to provide real-time information.

The contract includes $347.6 million dedicated to Poland’s defense initiatives and $133.7 million for the U.S. military and the Guam Defense System. Northrop Grumman will lead collaborations with specialists in artificial intelligence and model-based systems engineering to boost the IBCS’ software development capacity. It will also integrate Polish sensors and the United Kingdom’s Common Anti-Air Modular Missile system.

Under the second contract, worth $899.6 million, the contractor will deliver IBCS as the single command and control system for Poland’s WISŁA medium-range and NAREW short-range air defense programs.

“Expanding IBCS capabilities will keep the and U.S. allies, such as Poland, ahead of evolving threats and capabilities, giving warfighters more decision time to save lives,” Kenn Todorov, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager of global battle management and readiness, said in a statement.

Northrop Grumman delivered the first full set of major end items — the final combination of components and materials ready for end use, such as vehicles or aircraft — for the IBCS to the U.S. Army in 2024, which allowed for early fielding.

Northrop Grumman employs about 100,000 people and reported $41 billion in 2024 sales, up 4% from 2023. It ranked No. 382 on the 2024 Fortune Global 500. The company is building a $200 million-plus electronics facility in Waynesboro.

HII’s CEO doesn’t expect major defense spending cuts under Trump

President Donald Trump’s suggestion last week that he could cut U.S. defense spending in half spooked the stock market — but the CEOs of Virginia’s and Science Applications International Corp. are taking Trump’s statement in stride.

Thursday afternoon, Trump said, “One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia, and I want to say, ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half.’ And we can do that, and I think we’ll be able to do that.”

Shares of Virginia-based aerospace and contractors and General Dynamics dropped following the president’s statement.

But President and CEO Christopher Kastner said Tuesday at a Florida tech conference he doesn’t expect China, Russia and the United States to all come together on such an initiative, or for the U.S. to slash defense spending by half.

“I’m all for world peace, but I think … it’s not really realistic to assume that’s going to happen,” Kastner said, speaking at Citi’s 2025 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference in Miami. “I don’t see it unless peace breaks out somewhere.”

Toni Townes-Whitley, CEO of Reston-based SAIC, said at the Citi conference that in 2024, her Fortune 500 company pivoted its portfolio toward “more mission and enterprise IT,” a more reliable business model, no matter what new priorities take hold in the White House.

With Trump returning for a second term, she added, “it just so happens that that type of portfolio also plays well in this environment. So, I’m pleased that we did the strategy last year, and that we’re actually just executing it now.” She noted that SAIC has a $19 billion backlog of projects.

Moreover, SAIC has witnessed only “nominal disruption” to regular business in the first month of the Trump administration, Townes-Whitley said. Kastner, meanwhile, noted that HII and subsidiary Newport News Shipbuilding are working to fulfill their current Navy contracts while waiting for the next secretary of the Navy to go through the U.S. Senate confirmation process. John Phelan, a Florida businessman with no military experience, is the president’s pick for the job. (While unusual, that’s not unprecedented. Twenty of the 26 naval secretaries confirmed since 1955 have been veterans, according to Military Times.)

Kastner did acknowledge the Trump administration’s greater speed than typically associated with the federal government — particularly with regard to world’s richest man Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tasked with making massive federal and spending cuts.

Asked what recommendation he would make to DOGE, Kastner said, “Every person in my position can recognize going into a Pentagon meeting and seeing a lot of chairs around the table with people in them, but you’re not sure what their job is. Simplifying the oversight of the Pentagon would be positive.”

So far, DOGE’s focus has been on agencies and departments outside of the Pentagon, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the FBI. However, the Department of Defense is already preparing for DOGE aides’ arrival, including making lists of weapons that defense officials would like to see canceled, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last week, more than 200,000 federal employees in probationary periods — people who had started roles less than a year ago, or less than two years in “excepted service” positions — were fired. They included employees of the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of and the Office of Personnel Management, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“I’ve long supported our strong national defense, and have worked to secure critical funding to equip our nation’s military, provide for our veterans and strengthen our national security,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior Democratic senator, said this week. “Now, I do encourage conversations to ensure that our defense spending is actually meeting the emerging needs of our military, but what we’ve seen from the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE thus far has simply been reckless and ineffective. If they continue on this path that seems entirely devoid of a reasoned strategy, they will hurt our defense workforce in Virginia, and hurt our national security.”

However, Townes-Whitley said she feels secure in SAIC’s federal government customer base. “We are leaning in heavily with our customers to understand how they’re feeling relative to budget and funding. They’re obviously concerned about a [potential government] shutdown or a yearlong [continuing resolution].”

Without a new federal budget passed by Congress by March 14, new programs’ start dates will be delayed.

Nonetheless, Townes-Whitley added, SAIC is focused on integrating new technologies into government agencies’ existing systems, a need that she says will exist in the new administration.

“As an integrator, our goal is to ensure that commercial providers — whether they’re new tech, defense or literally part of our industrial base — that they are building in a manner that we can integrate quickly,” she said. “At the end of the day, it isn’t just about bringing great tech. It almost doesn’t matter how good the tech is, if it doesn’t integrate into the mission environment, if it doesn’t connect with coalition or allied partners. None of our fights are solo fights at this point.”

Uncertainty for now

Jerry McGinn, executive director of George Mason ‘s Baroni Center for at its Costello College of Business, said Tuesday that “there’s a lot of uncertainty right now,” including all types of government contracting and priorities under Trump in his second term.

“Right now, there’s a great amount of disruption,” he said. “That can’t continue forever. Some of this disruption and turbulence will level out and move in different directions. I think by the summertime, you’ll have a better picture of where the administration is building and putting their principal efforts.”

A few things that govcon firms in general can count on is that “spending around DEI or alternative energy, I would expect to stop immediately,” McGinn said. Defense spending priorities are a bit fuzzier, though.

“The idea of 50% defense spending cuts would require China and Russia to agree, and that’s almost zero chance,” McGinn said, and he would expect the Trump administration to want any new weapons or battlefield technology to reach the field faster, although “that’s been the theme for the past five or six years” under former President Joe Biden as well.

Possibly there will be more focus on small drones and unmanned systems in defense, as well as the possibility of a U.S. Iron Dome, which Trump ordered the Pentagon to prioritize in an executive order in January, although it would require a budget change. If an Iron Dome — missile defense technology pioneered by Israel with $1.6 billion in U.S. funding — is built in the United States, that would be beneficial for “lots of government contractors” in Virginia, McGinn said.

Townes-Whitley said that the Iron Dome “by definition is an integration project. We’ve been collecting space sensor data, ground sensor data. It’s … integration of not just data but secure data at every level of security across multiple countries. We feel like we’re positioned to support [it] because of the work we do in Space Force, the Air Force and combat demands.”

Kastner called Israel’s Iron Dome a “fabulous technology. It would be great to have it, but I think it’s a ways away” for the United States.

Hampton University achieves prestigious R2 research status

Hampton announced last week that it has obtained 2 designation — making it one of the few historically Black colleges and universities to do so.

The university received the designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of , which ranks research institutions based on the volume and breadth of their research activity.

With the new designation, joins 139 institutions nationwide that meet the requirements of spending at least $5 million in annual research and awarding 20 or more research doctorates yearly.

Of the 101 in the United States, only 13 hold an R2 designation. The university said in a news release that this reinforces “the rarity and prestige of this classification” and that the new R2 status will increase its eligibility for competitive federal grants, help attract top-tier faculty and provide students with greater access to hands-on research opportunities.

University President Darrell K. Williams says the milestone strengthens the university’s position among the nation’s leading research institutions.

“This is a transformative, defining moment for ,” Williams said in the release. “Achieving Research 2 status reflects our unwavering dedication to academic excellence, groundbreaking research, and the of opportunities for our students and faculty.”

While HBCUs account for only 3% of the country’s colleges and universities, they produce 25% of Black STEM graduates.

The university says its elevation to R2 status is “a vital step” in increasing the presence of Black institutions in high-level research categories.

“This designation highlights the tremendous progress Hampton has made in research and innovation,” said Neelam Azad, vice president for research, in the release. “Our faculty and students are engaged in groundbreaking research with real-world impact. Achieving Research 2 status is a significant breakthrough that not only expands our research capacity but also enhances our ability to secure funding and drive transformative advancements in critical fields of study. ”