Arlington's business community came out to honor Arlington's "Best Businesses" at the ABBIES Awards Ceremony, held on May 13 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott. Held in conjunction with Arlington County's Economic Development Commission (EDC), this annual event features awards given out by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and the Arlington EDC. Nine ABBIES were awarded. The recipients were: Arlington Community Foundation, Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty, Crescent, Kerns Group Architects, Sushi-Zen, Technology Management International, Travel Partners Inc., Virginia Hospital Center and WETA.
The South Arlington Lead Share Association (SALSA) meets for breakfast Friday mornings from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Juke Box Diner, 7039 Columbia Pike, Annandale. The first half hour is for networking. The meeting officially begins at 7:30 a.m. Only one business per profession can be represented. Visit salsanetworking.org or call Pat Cardillo at 571-331-8670.
Northern Virginia companies can now apply for the 2005 CARE (Companies As Responsive Employers) Awards administered by Northern Virginia Family Service. Applications are available online and must be submitted by June 10.
The CARE Awards recognize businesses located, but not necessarily headquartered, in Northern Virginia that are leaders in promoting a positive work-life balance for employees through company policies and benefits. The program was developed by Northern Virginia Family Service and area business leaders, not only to give recognition to family-friendly companies, but also to encourage and challenge other companies to examine their policies and programs. Since 1992, the CARE Awards have identified the best places to work in Northern Virginia.
The application can be downloaded from www.nvfs.org/applyforcare.pdf. Applicants are evaluated against other businesses of like size and resources. Award winners are recognized at a breakfast to be held Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Hilton McLean in Tysons Corner.
First Edition Toastmasters meets every Friday at noon at 1700 N. Moore St., Suite 1030, Arlington. The diverse membership of this Toastmasters chapter includes small-business owners and employees with a variety of government agencies and associations. Visit to find out how Toastmasters can improve skills in all areas of public speaking and communicate more effectively. Call Barbara Hicks at 703-558-2266, or visit www.firsteditiontm.org .
The Arlington Chapter of Business Networking International (BNI) meets for breakfast every Tuesday from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Arlington Holiday Inn, N. 4610 Fairfax Drive, Arlington. BNI leverages the power of word-of-mouth marketing and offers members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and referrals as they grow their business. Only one person per professional classification or specialty may join a chapter. For more information, please contact Greg Brewer at 703-237-2705.
The Northern Virginia Business Referrals group meets every Tuesday at 7 a.m. for breakfast at the Metro 29 Diner, 4711 Lee Highway, Arlington. The group facilitates networking by limiting membership to one member per profession and has been in existence since 1996. For more information on Northern Virginia Business Referrals, call 703-312-7117, or visit the NVBR Web site, www.nvbr.org.
The Small Business Development Center at the Arlington Campus of George Mason University has announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is providing long-term loans at low interest rates for small businesses that have been impacted by having personnel in the National Guard or reserves called to active duty. The program is called the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
Loans of up to $1.5 million are available at interest rates up to 4 percent. Terms can be as long as 30 years depending on individual cases. Loans of $5,000 or less do not require any collateral, while loans above that amount require collateral to the extent it is available.
For additional information or help with a loan application, contact the Arlington SBDC at 703-993-8128. The Center is located at the George Mason Campus, 3401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 320.
Steve Kelly, the Director of the DOD Voluntary Campaign Office for the past 10 years, was awarded the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Association's inaugural Leadership Award for his achievements in leading the DOD CFC office. This office is responsible for both the DOD campaign in the Washington metropolitan area and the Overseas CFC to raise charitable contributions from personnel stationed overseas. Mr. Kelly retired on April 15 after 30 years of service .
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce announced the annual "Fantastic Fifty" list of the state's 50 fastest-growing companies at an awards banquet at the Marriott in Chantilly on April 28. Several Arlington-based companies were among those honored, including Number Six Software, ranked 43rd; Dante Consulting Inc., ranked 39th; Applied Predictive Technologies, ranked 31st; Milestone Group LLC, ranked 24th; Creative Information Technology Inc., ranked 17th; Cherokee Information Services Inc., ranked 16th; and Plateau Systems Inc., ranked 12th.
Turner Construction Company, already acknowledged as the leading construction company in the Philadelphia market, officially garnered the same position in the Mid-Atlantic region with the $10 million 2003 acquisition of Washington, D.C. construction company Tompkins Builders. Turner is headquartered on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington.
George Walton of Arlington, CEO of Patent Analysis Research Technology Systems, received the honor of Who's Who in Executives and Professionals — 2005-2006 from the National Register. Walton spent over 32 years in the field of intellectual property rights and law at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office before starting his own intellectual property service business. He currently serves on the Supervisory Committee for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Federal Credit Union and serves as treasurer of the Alfred Street Baptist Church, where he also volunteers to assist homeless and needy families.
Ray Detig, RA, AICP, joins Woolpert's Arlington office as a project director and senior military master planner in the planning and design group. Detig is retired from the Air National Guard (ANG) with 27 years of service. With the ANG, he held the positions of architect, military master planner and program manager for the ANG Readiness Center at Andrews Air Force Base. As a project director for Woolpert, Detig will be responsible for creating master plans and managing projects primarily from the Department of Defense.