Va. county to help Palo Alto expand government contracts
The goal is to assist Silicon Valley-based technology companies that want to establish or expand their government contracting presence and operations in Washington, D.C.
Virginia’s Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) has opened an office in Palo Alto, Calif., to assist Silicon Valley-based technology companies that want to establish or expand their government contracting operations in Washington, D.C.
The Silicon Valley office joins a network of FCEDA offices in Bangalore, India; Frankfurt, Germany; London; Seoul, South Korea; and Tel Aviv, Israel.
FCEDA also announced that Leo Campbell has been named director of the Palo Alto office. He joins FCEDA from the U.S. Postal Service, where he managed the development of numerous IT-based products created primarily by technology firms in California.
“Through our new office and the appointment of Leo Campbell as director of our Silicon Valley office, we are able to provide a constant presence in the market to educate California technology companies regarding the opportunities in the federal market and other benefits of establishing a presence in Fairfax County,” said Gerald Gordon, president and chief executive officer of FCEDA, in a statement. There are 38 California-based companies with offices in Fairfax County.
“Twenty-two of the top 25 top federal contractors have a significant presence in Fairfax County or are based here,” Gordon added. He said having a presence in Palo Alto will let companies get closer to the government and win contracts.
Companies doing business in Fairfax County won almost $11.5 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2004, according to FCEDA. The proposed federal IT budget for fiscal 2007 is $63.8 billion, with the Defense Department’s portion proposed at $23.4 billion.
The FCEDA Silicon Valley office is at 625 Emerson St., Suite 214, Palo Alto, CA 94301.