In order to better service its’ existing multinational and local customers, Falls Church based, Computer Science Corporation (CSC) will open a new information and technology (IT) services delivery facility in Tianjin, China by next spring. For now, they’ll operate from a temporary location for delivering services such as applications development and maintenance. CSC also plans to build a data center facility near Tianjin to support its demands for technology hosting and managed services in the region. Five hundred CSC employees are expected to be employed in Tianjin by 2011.

“We are pleased to announce the establishment of our new China delivery center,” said Michael Laphen, chairman, president and CEO of CSC. “Strengthening our global delivery framework and expanding our presence in Asia are key elements of our multi-year growth strategy.

Jim Sheaffer is the President of CSC’s Federal Sector and runs the company’s largest business unit that provides business and mission solutions to US federal government agencies worldwide. Jim’s extensive IT knowledge, and past international business experience in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe, helps advance operational and financial goals to both CSC and their clients.

On Tuesday, the Tysons Corner Ritz Carlton served as ground zero for the intersection of politics and technology, drawing hundreds of the area’s leading political and technology leaders. Through the hotel’s wood and glass doors and up to the 5th floor ballrooms streamed, among others, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Jim Moran (D-VA), and congressional hopeful Gerry Connolly. They were joined by area technology executives and innovators such as Mark Ein and CES head Gary Shapiro.

With the Presidential Election just days away, the undercurrent of politics was certainly palpable, but the Potomac Officer’s Club (POC) lunch event panel discussion featuring Gov. Kaine, Rock Creek Partners Managing Director (and member of Obama’s high tech brain trust) Julius Genachowski and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra, really focused on recognizing and honoring Northern Virginia’s emergence as one of the nation’s true business and technology success stories.

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Ted Offers Advice on Navigating the Financial Crisis

As world markets continue their volatile tumble, the impact of the financial crisis is being felt in the corridors of our own Beltway region. There is no regional immunity from the tough economic climate but, according to Ted Leonsis, there are methods of navigation that will reduce its impact.  We caught up with Ted Leonsis, Washington Caps owner and Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL, who tells us how to do just that. Click here to read the details of his tips for CEOs who not only want to survive, but thrive!

Have you heard of the “Card Check Bill”?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has chosen to highlight the potential problems with the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), better known as the Card Check Bill.  The main purpose of this bill is to allow unions to organize more easily.  However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is concerned because unions would no longer be required to administer a secret ballot determining if employees want to be unionized; rather, the unions would be allowed to collect “authorization cards” directly from the employees. Read more about the Chamber of Commerce’s position here.

Representing America’s union workers, the AFL-CIO has a different position.  The AFL-CIO believes that the majority of American workers would like to have union representation, and are regularly impeded by their employers.  Read more about the AFL-CIO’s perspective here.

Do you know Jim Geiger of Unisys?

ExecutiveBiz recently had the opportunity to sit down with Unisys Federal’s Jim Geiger, Vice President and Managing Partner, Department of Defense.  Jim is known for his remarkable understanding of the ins and outs of the Department of Defense and has an impressive track record of driving growth.  Jim shared his thoughts on the future of the DOD space and how important building your personal brand is to your business.  Click here to read more!

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Headlines Potomac Officers Club Event  

On Tuesday, October 29, 2008, the Potomac Officers Club welcomed Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra and Rock Creek Partners Managing Director and Obama Technology Advisor Julius Genachowski.  They spoke to a crowd of a few hundred local executives on a variety of issues, but most notably recognizing Virginia’s technological growth and what’s in store for the region’s technology future.  Read more about this event.

One of the most underreported business technology stories of 2008 in my opinion is the imminent changes in store for the type of web domains available to businesses, government agencies and individuals (of ample financial means). Last week ICANN, the Internet’s primary oversight agency, put forward preliminary guidelines on the expended universe of web addresses that will be available - for a price - beyond .com, .biz, .gov, and .info.

Under the potential new domain structure, organizations and individuals would not be limited to the current suffix structure- so for instance CACI could pony up for a “.CACI” suffix, while others could choose a geographic suffix if desired. One small catch: the application fee for one of these top-level suffixes would be in the neighborhood of $200,000, pricing most individuals, small businesses and even some local public sector organizations out as interested parties.

The costs associated with applying for the existing suffixes will not change, but it is fair to say that when the new suffixes do appear (the expectation is late 2009 at the earliest) it will create both opportunity and confusion. For example, a NextGov post last week includes ICANN Vice President Paul Levins outlining some potential battles over intellectual property via trademark infringement and brand dilution; as well as domains with offensive content.

What this means for both government organizations and organizations with government interests or focus will be interesting to follow. ICANN will be accepting public comments for 45 days and plans to start accepting bids early next year.

As senior vice president for corporate development at Alion Science and Technology, a McLean, Va.- based technology solutions company, Steve Kimmel is responsible for overseeing the company’s organic growth, strategic planning and acquisitions. In the following Q&A, Kimmel shares his top priorities for the coming year and his take on what’s needed to be a successful business development executive.

What are your top priorities for the coming year?

Steve Kimmel: Planning for and adjusting to the change in administration’s national security priorities followed by remaining competitive in our current market space and lastly penetrating one to two new markets.

What’s the greatest challenge you face in either the short and long term?

Steve Kimmel: My personal challenge is to maintain an objective understanding of the priorities associated with Alion’s primary customer — the federal government — especially since such priorities effect Alion’s ability to provide operationally effective, technology-based solutions.
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Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC), the environmental remediation subsidiary for Homeland Security Capital Corp. (HSCC), was awarded a contract worth up to $10.8 million to provide construction installation services for a Tennessee manufacturer’s capital improvement expansion project.

Arlington-based Homeland Security Capital (OTCBB: HOMS) specializes in technology-based radiological, nuclear, environmental, disaster relief, and security solutions for government and commercial customers.

“This project affords us the opportunity to demonstrate our expanding suite of infrastructure upgrade and refurbishment services to one of our most important commercial clients,” said former Congressman and company Chairman C. Thomas McMillen (right).

Since 2007, SEC has been awarded 18 projects from this commercial client totaling over $34 million. The scope of the work includes infrastructure support and facility upgrades, system modernization, new industrial facility construction, and excavation and demolition services. They are international leaders in environmental services, which focus on chemical, radiological, and nuclear consequence management throughout the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.

Jim Moran(D) Congressman for Virginia’s 8th District and serving his 9th term in office has shared with ExecutiveBiz his perspective on the upcoming elections and why he endorses Gerry Connolly(D) to sit beside him in Congress. The 8th district is a significant employer of government contracting jobs and Jim Moran has worked with employers and in congress to ensure the strength of the federal contracting market, particularly in Northern Virginia. 

 As he explains in his interview with ExecutiveBiz, his support of Gerry Connolly is aligned with his ongoing support of the business and government contracting sphere of Northern Virginia.  Click here to read more. 

Click here to read our interview with Gerry Connolly.
 

Gov. Tim Kaine Talks Technology on Oct 28th

Last Chance to Register for the Potomac Officers Club upcoming (members only) event about the technology that is impacting the presidential campaign. Governor Kaine will be joined by Julius Genachowski and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra.

George Pedersen, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder of ManTech International Headlines ExecutiveBiz Event 

On October 15, 2008, ExecutiveBiz welcomed George Pedersen of ManTech International as our “Been There Done That” luncheon speaker.  Mr. Pedersen co-founded ManTech International and has watched the company grow from two people to $1.45 billion in top line revenue.  He spoke to a full house of executives on relevant topics, from acquisitions to regional growth.  Click here to read more. 

Do you know Rick Attilio of Apptis?

ExecutiveBiz recently had the opportunity to sit down with Apptis’ CFO, Rick Attilio, and hear his thoughts on what it takes to be a successful CFO in today’s challenging business environment.  Rick believes that a key ingredient in today’s CFO is the ability to be “more than just your textbook accountant and financial person.”  In the last 2 1/2 years, Rick has defined the strategic vision of Apptis.  Click here to read more.

These could charitably be called uncertain times. Among those feeling the heat of the financial meltdown are Washington, DC area companies that face the tricky task of balancing their existing customer base with business development. So, how can companies weather the financial storm and still see their businesses grow? For answers, we went straight to Ted Leonsis, vice chairman emeritus of AOL. Leonsis offers a six-point plan that — by his estimation — every CEO at every company needs to put in place right now. Here’s a rundown:

• Forget the long-term and focus on the next 18 months. “Too many business plans have growth coming in Year 2, Year 3 …  and that’s when you get the cash flow profitability for start-ups — all those plans have to be thrown out the window with a focus on cash-flow profitability now being central to any business case,” says Leonsis, adding, “Growth for growth’s sake is no longer in fashion.”
• Cash is now king. Those companies that have cash not only will be able to weather through current credit issues, they’ll also be able to consolidate companies that are less solvent than they are. “So, I think you’ll see some real opportunities where cash-rich companies will be able to buy and merge with great companies that just didn’t get financed or for whatever reason didn’t have the wherewithal to raise money at the time it was needed,” says Leonsis.
• Double-down and focus on your existing customer relationships. It’s expensive to get a new customer — and your most profitable customers are your existing ones.  “Getting into deeper, more profitable relationships with your existing base — and hunkering down with them — is a wise course of action,” says Leonsis.
• Raise monies today — and keep your pride in check. “There’s money to be had, it’s just that the terms are much more onerous — entrepreneurs will have to keep their pride in check and not worry about valuations,” says Leonsis. “Right now many funds and most individuals’ portfolios are down significantly and it would be naive to think that valuations of many companies haven’t been affected right now,” he adds. So, Leonsis’s advice: take the money and don’t worry about the valuation.
• Look at your business with a third-party critical eye. Look at what is “must-have” versus “what’s nice to have.” If you have three product lines, and one is very profitable, one is marginally profitable, and another one is just being rolled out and is eating cash — even if you like the product and customers like the product — it’s time to either go to one product or two products, says Leonsis. “The ‘nice to have’s’ in your business are no longer financeable,” he says, “and every CEO has to be really hypercritical on what they really need to get to the next phase of their business.”
• Be brutally honest and ask yourself: Is your company going to make it? “We’re in that time period where it will be survival of the fittest, so I can see some people who have cash literally almost stopping operations now — getting things down to the bare bones — just to wait until it gets better,” says Leonsis. “Because if you run business as usual you will run out of gas and be out of business,” he adds. Leonsis offers a scenario: A lot of times entrepreneurs, through force of will, will try to make a venture happen. So, let’s say an entrepreneur has $1 million in the bank, and he’s losing $100,000 a month. But his business plan says that by Month 6, he’ll be losing $50,000 a month. The entrepreneur needs to ask himself now: Is that outcome really going to happen? If not — because sales may be affected now — the entrepreneur might be better off keeping that $1 million, stop marketing his product, and retool the business. “So, have 10 people in the company and try to figure out how to live to fight another day,” says Leonsis.

Jim Geiger came to Unisys in March of this year, having wrapped up a 27-year career at BearingPoint.  He started off at BearingPoint in 1980 as a consultant and for a while ran the DOD and Intelligence community business. His last role was as executive vice president working in the office of the CEO. “I then had the opportunity to come over here and run a P&L organization again, which is what I really wanted to do,” says Geiger. These days, Geiger’s charter is to grow the business in the DOD space.  Recently, Geiger debriefed on how that mission is coming along.

What is your view of the marketplace from where you are now versus where you were before?

Jim Geiger: Unisys is a much more technology-oriented company than where I have been in the past but with a sharp focus on quality and delivery. Over the last several months I’ve been working to establish with my team’s future direction. Much of that direction will be in the area of security — and by security I’m talking big “S,” not small “s.”  For Unisys, security covers everything from physical security to identity and access management to biometrics.
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For years, Tom Davis (R-VA-11th District) was known as a voice for the government contracting community in Northern Virginia. Now Gerry Connolly, Democratic nominee for US Representative from Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, is looking to fill those shoes. “He [Tom Davis] has been a voice for the industry, an advocate for what we do here in the 11th Congressional District and I would expect to play a similar role, both in protecting the federal workers who live in this district and in making sure that federal contractors get a fair shake and a fair hearing and that there is a balanced approach in the Congress as it approaches federal contracting,” says Connolly. Connolly recently shared these and other thoughts with us on what he’d bring to the table as a member of Congress.

What background would you bring to bear in protecting local government contracting jobs in Northern Virginia?

Gerry Connolly: I’ve spent 20 years in the federal contracting technology sector — first as the head of SRI International’s Washington office and now working for SAIC.  I have direct experience advocating for the government contracting community by working with the Northern Virginia Technology Council, working with Information Technology Association of America and trying to make sure that we protect this industry and the critical services it provides to the federal government.

Having interacted with the federal contracting world for the better part of 20 years gives me a huge leg up in the next Congress.  Also understanding the congressional process. I worked for 10 years in the United States Senate.  I understand the legislative process.  I’ve written a lot of legislation.  I’ve organized a lot of oversight hearings. I can hit the ground running in those scores to make sure that the interests of the 11th Congressional District are protected.

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