LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 11 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
Loudoun hockey: a youth movement
30
[ January 31, 2019 ]
Reopen But Not Whole Businesses Warn of Federal Shutdown’s Long-term Effects BY DANIELLE NADLER
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Professor Nasser Maksoud guides students through a lesson on multimedia software at Northern Virginia Community College.
Region Teams Up to Grow Tech Talent BY RENSS GREENE AND DANIELLE NADLER
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ith the largest data center market in the U.S. and many other technology companies from startups to household names based in the region, Northern Virginia is increasingly known for technology. But as economic development officials and businesses have warned, that meteoric growth is happening faster than companies can find qualified workers to fill those new jobs. There are tens of
thousands of vacant tech jobs in the region. Last August, Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Steven Moret said Virginia appears to have the biggest gap between demand and supply for qualified tech workers of any state in the country. But the past year has also seen leaders in government, business, and education get serious about training the next generation to fill those jobs. “We’ve got to think about it from the ground up,” said Sharon Virts, former Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Commission chairwom-
an, and herself a successful entrepreneur after founding and growing FCi Federal. “It can’t just be something we add on to a class. We have to merge it into our kids’ lives.” Virts is also vice chairwoman of the GO Virginia Region 7 Council, part of a statewide initiative feeding funding into ideas designed to make big changes to Virginia’s economy. Region 7 covers Northern Virginia and the almost 2.5 million people living here. And that council recently approved a $1.2 million
Although the president and Congress reached a tentative deal late last week to reopen the federal government, many Loudoun County business leaders say they could be feeling the negative effects of the 35day shutdown for months or even years from now. About a dozen Loudoun-based business owners huddled around a table at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn last Thursday to share with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) how the government’s closure has impacted their business’ bottom line. They included owners of restaurants, breweries, wineries, federal government contractors, and mom-and-pop shops like ReLove It in Purcellville. Jeff Powell, CEO of Strongbridge LLC, said he’s already seen that it’s gotten tougher to recruit IT talent. “The mindset used to be come work for the government or a contractor because it’s less risky—less pay, but less risky. Well that’s changing.” Landing talented employees may get even tougher with Amazon’s H2Q moving into the area, Kaine added. “The talent pool issue is huge.” Chris Burns, president and co-owner of Old Ox Brewery, rattled off several ways the shutdown has hurt his bottom line. Many of his regular customers haven’t been in all month, and the average check is also down. “Our business is down significantly—to the tune of 25 percent this month. We’ve never had a down January.” Plus, he can’t get federal approval for his labels, which means the new releases he had planned for January through March will have to wait. “I
TECH TALENT >> 8
SHUTDOWN >> 42
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