How Northern Virginia’s Ties to Europe Boost and Sustain the Local Economy and Environment – and What More Can be Done
Northern Virginia’s business and economic ties to Europe was the focus on a June 26 webinar hosted by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. The featured speakers were Victor Hoskins, President and CEO, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority; Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton, Senior non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University SAIS; and Jill Kaneff, Senior Regional Demographer at the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. Dr. Dale Medearis, Senior Regional Planner at Northern Virginia Regional Commission, was the panel facilitator.
Fairfax County: Gateway U.S. Location for 100+ European Companies
Fairfax County is home to more than 400 foreign-owned companies from across the globe. The $8.7 trillion transatlantic economy employs more than 16 million workers in mutually on shored jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. Ties are particularly strong in portfolio investment, banking claims, trade and affiliate sales in goods and services, digital links, energy, mutual R&D investment, patent cooperation, technology flows, and sales of knowledge-intensive services.
The transatlantic economy has special effects on Virginia in general and Northern Virginia in particular. Six of the ten largest foreign investors in Northern Virginia are from Europe (the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands). Together, these six countries invest approximately $4 billion into 570 foreign-owned establishments creating approximately 30,000 jobs – predominantly in the science, technical services and information sectors.
More than 100 continental European companies are currently part of the dynamic and diverse business community in Fairfax County. For more information on European companies in Fairfax County, click here.
Interstellar Dreams Launches Aerospace Camp at Reston Town Center
With the global space industry expected to reach $1 trillion by 2040, a rapidly increasing number of career opportunities will be available at commercial space companies, as well as at government agencies and defense-related companies. With Fairfax County and the Greater Washington region emerging as a global hub for the aerospace industry, Robin McDougal founded Interstellar Dreams, a program of the Pearl Project Institute for Innovation in S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) literacy, a nonprofit organization with the goal of fostering future space talent in the region and across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Sponsored by Leidos and Boston Properties, Interstellar Dreams wrapped up the first session of its Summer Space Exploration Camp on June 24 at its space center pop-up hub at the Reston Town Center. Interstellar Dreams has a new take on a summer space camp, designed for rising 6th graders through rising 9th graders, that blends “hands-on” fun and “minds-on” tech with their imagination to launch the future of space exploration. Interstellar Dreams incites passion and cultivates an awareness of S.T.E.M. careers in the emerging commercial space industry. Participants use their imagination to design the future of space exploration and space tourism. While building on the history of space exploration, the role of satellites, and careers in aerospace, campers solve problems using critical thinking techniques.
Click here to check out Interstellar Dreams magazine.
During the press conference, the students presented their week-long aerospace learning experience about “The Road to Mars” to parents and guests from Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce.
Click here to see The Road to Mars Press Conference Guide, which includes photos of the space center event.
Registration is open for upcoming camps: (The focus of the camp is noted.)
- Session #2: July 8-12: The Interstellar Lunar Gateway
- Session #3: July 15-19: Earth is Changing: Observe with Micro-Satellites
- Session #4: July 22-26: Planet Hunters Unite: Search for Strange New Worlds
- Session #5: July 29-August 2: The Ferocious Sun
- Session #6: August 5-9: Space Travelers, Living and Working in Space
- Session #7: August 12-16: Space Entrepreneurs: Design a Space Business
Click here for registration information.
About the Fairfax County
Economic Development Authority
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a business and technology center. The FCEDA offers site location and business development assistance, and connections with county and state government agencies, to help companies locate and expand in Fairfax County.
Want to know more about the services of the FCEDA, or how economic development helps Fairfax County? Visit the FCEDA website or e-mail info@fceda.org.