Reston Citizen

I reported over on my other blog about the Washington DC entrepreneurial community about a company based in Reston that is bringing a few jobs into the area.  WorthPoint is a new web site (started around this time last year) to help answer peoples questions about certain collectables they may have.  If you are looking for a new job in the Reston area and have some entrepreneurial spirit in your blood, check out their jobs page.  The seem to be looking for people with a fair amount of experience already.

Sprint has confirmed it plans to layoff about 4000 people, as The Reston Citizen reported last week. The Wall Street Journal, who originally ran the story also claimed the Reston corporate headquarters would be moved to it’s operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas, but the company has remained silent on it’s intentions there.

Steve Fuller, an economist at George Mason University says this about the potential damage (or lack thereof) that would affect Reston and Fairfax County. Here’s what the Reston Times reports he said:

“Fairfax County has a 2.1 percent unemployment rate, we have a shortage of highly-qualified workers,” he said. Most former Sprint Nextel employees “would probably find a pretty good job if they wanted to,” he added.

As for the county’s reputation, Fuller said it’s economy is so strong that it would easily withstand the change. Fuller’s annual economic forecast for the county has a projected increase of 13,000 jobs, and its unemployment rate remains well below the national average of 5 percent.

The Reston headquarters of Sprint employees about 4500 people, which has lead to speculation about headquarters move. Sprint’s new CEO, has proposed large changes for turning the company around, including closing over 4,000 retail locations.

A sign marks an entrance to Sprint’s, Reston, Virginia headquarters.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Sprint is going to lay off thousands, and possibly move it’s headquarters back to Overland Park, Kansas. This follows a string of business relocations from the Dulles Technology Corridor in 2007 including PRA leaving for North Carolina, and AOL moving to New York.

The tip comes from an anonymous source. As usual a Sprint spokesman said, “We don’t comment on rumors.”

The 59,000 strong company would pink slip about 5,000 people. As customers have run from low quality service, and non interoperability between Sprint and Nextel’s network, corporate income has taken a serious decline. Sprint leadership has taken drastic measure to shore up revenues including an announcement in early 2007 about job layoffs. In todays trading Sprint’s share price fell 3 cents to $12.33.

Sprint currently maintains operational headquarters in Overland Park. Almost 13,000 work in the Kansas location, while a little less than 5000 work in the Washington, DC area. Reston only became Sprint’s headquarters after its 2005 takeover of Nextel.

Reston Hospital, who has long prided itself on superior service has received a Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The prestigious award is based on multiple criteria including:

· The hospital’s role in the community

· The level of engagement of nurses in hospital leadership activities

· The level of engagement of nurses in research activities and professional advancement

· The hospital’s quality of care and dedication to constant improvement

“Becoming a Magnet hospital has been a vision of the nursing department for years. Today we achieved that vision, which wasn’t only mine, but that of the hundreds of nurses who I work with everyday at Reston Hospital,” said Cindy Glover Chief Nursing Officer at Reston Hospital.

“This achievement goes beyond nursing at Reston Hospital Center. It has been an effort of every department and every staff member on our campus,” said Bill Adams, CEO at the hospital.

Magnet hospital designation serves as a benchmark for measuring a hospitals care. While in the short term it alerts patrons to good service, in the long term the best talent in nursing sees the award and comes to work for the hospital.

A Bloom store is seen in Accokeek, Maryland.

Fears of Tall Oaks becoming another life style center have Tall Oaks residents sending post cards to former Food Lion grocer, Bloom. Catherine Hudgins, who lives walking distance from the center has been working with Tall Oaks to find a tenant to replace Giant. Here’s what the Reston Times had to say:

While Hudgins works with the landowner and leasing agent to find both short- and long-term solutions, Bentana Woods cluster president Tara Coonin is opening up a more traditional line of communication to find a solution with a postcard campaign.

To date, Coonin said she has handed out nearly 1,500 postcards addressed to the Bloom Grocery Store Real Estate Department, urging the chain to open a location in Tall Oaks. Residents simply have to sign the card and stick a stamp on it.

Rumor has it that Bloom scheduled a meeting to see the space abandoned by Giant, but no one has confirmed this. Believing that Bloom was eying the space, Tara Coonin thought sending 1500 postcards would show just how much residents wanted a new local grocer.

After Giant left, over fifty percent of the Tall Oaks space was empty. This prompted some to believe Atlantic Realty Company, who owns the center, plans to develop it into condos. The Tall Oaks center is off of Wiehle Avenue and only a few minutes from the future metro stop.

In this weekly column on the state of Reston’s local economy we explore what’s happening in the business scene.

Comcast has named Reston as a possible location for new 100 megabit per second cable, which would be more than 12 times faster than their current speed. This new system would compete with Verizion’s FIOS service. Comcast is also investigating new technologies that would bridge the divide between real television and the Internet.

Sprint Nextel rejected a $5 billion investment deal. Sprint won’t comment on any specifics, but the Wall Street Journal has reported that South Korea based SK Telecom and Providence Equity Partners would invest the money in exchange to put one of their men in charge as CEO. In early October Sprint’s CEO Gary Forsee resigned.

The chairman of Sallie Mae will be taking on a new roll of executive chairman. Lord Sanders has been leading his company through a difficult time with a rival investor group trying to take over Sallie Mae. This move helps SLM to better fend off moves the investment group.

In more Sprint news, the CEO says he sees “Steady growth in 2008.” Sprint has been loosing customers in droves due to increased competition from AT&T and the low voice quality of it’s services. To bring in new customers, and prevent old ones from leaving Sprint Nextel plans on improving marketing and customer loyalty program.

The executive of Tysons Corner Center is moving to the Reston Town Center. Kathy Hannon has cited “Quality of life” as reason for leaving Tysons. She is concerned the wave of construction that Tysons Corner is expected, in particular the 3.5 million square feet expansion at Tysons Corner Center.

The early 2008 completion of the South of Market project will bring several new dining options to the town center.

Boston Properties, which owns several buildings at the Town Center has confirmed they have signed three leases, and a fourth is almost completed. The Reston Times say the tenants are Mon Ami Gabi, Passion Food LLC and Great American Restaurants.

The newer western end of the Town Center has seen several new restaurants move in including Il Fornaio and IceBerry, a California yogurt “parlor.” There is also a rumored White Chocolate Grill which would occupy the space abandoned by Ruby Tuesday. The new restaurants have been selected to minimize cannibalization of the already crowed restaurant market.

The new menus will include a customizable burger restaurant, a seafood restaurant, and a French steakhouse.
The Reston Town Center has had a nearly continual retail occupancy of 100%, and according to John Asadoorian, manager of retail leasing, “Interest in the space was high.” The South of Market project, a brick and glass office building with ground level retail will open it’s doors sometime in early 2008. As the Town Center faces build-out this will probably be one of the last office projects.

In this weekly column on the state of Reston’s local economy we explore what’s happening in the business scene.

ComScore, a firm that provides statistics and information about how people use the web has canceled another public stock offering. The company has cited unfavorable market conditions. When the ComScore first announced it would be underwriting it’s stock, the price dipped by fourteen points, and has kept falling.

The Congressional Bank has decided to use only wind energy for it’s electrical needs. The change affects all it’s branches and offices. Congressional Bank has a branch in Reston. This is the first such energy conversion of it’s kind in the DC area.

Enterra Solutions will open a new office in Iraq. The company provides business development solutions to emerging economies. The office will be located in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and will serve the needs of the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan government, and the DoD. The Erbil based office will also serve as a hub for future expansion.

SAIC will be demonstrating it’s products in Florida’s Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference later this year. The simulation begins with an embedded reporter covering a story on a routine mission, when the unit stops to inspect a possible IED. Then insurgents fire a rocket on the group. The goal of the war games simulation is to show how SAIC solutions troops and people in 21st century war zones.

Rolls-Royce will be moving it headquarters from Chantilly, back to Reston in 2008. This move is part of it’s expansion in the Richmond, DC, and Baltimore area, and will include construction of jet engine manufacturing plant in Prince Georges County.

The Giant grocery store will be shutting it’s doors in less than a week. The general manager Tams Bauer has confirmed the closure. A simple sign alerts customers the pharmacy will close on November 16th, and that records will be transfered to the South Lakes Safeway.The majority of space in the shopping center will soon be empty. The Giant also brought in many customers, and without many citizens fear the center will be mostly empty. The Reston Connection reports some are wondering if property manager, Atlantic Realty Company, is hoping to the turn the center into a mixed use complex containing condos, and street level retail:

Some residents raised concerns of a hidden agenda on the property owner’s — Boston based Colony Realty Partners — part. Vacant space does not serve anyone — owners, residents or merchants — but some of the space has been vacant for years. It does not make sense “unless the owner is deliberately shutting this down,” said Mike Corrigan. He added that with the planned arrival of Metro to Wiehle Avenue, the center, located off of Wiehle, is a prime piece of land for redevelopment.

Others believe a store like Bloom (formerly known as Food Lion) would take up the empty space. The property owner says they have contacted over 30 people about leasing the space, but have no firm commitments.

The booming Dulles Corridor, two strips of land running next to the Dulles Toll Road is showing signs of slowing. The technology corridor was a hot spot in 90s and earls 2000s as DotCom companies exploded in the area. Then came 9/11, with the technology downturn. But then government security contracting exploded, filling vacant office space.

Then the Democrats took control of Congress, and start trying to balance the budget, which is a good thing, but for the area is temporarily bad. Here’s what the WaPo had to say:

With federal contracting slowing from its recent boom, and as the national and regional economies soften, the current wave of construction projects is likely to leave empty buildings. Few new office projects are expected to get started in the near future, as developers focus on finding tenants. The process is likely to take at least two years, given historical trends, according to developers and brokers.

“There is going to be a lot of competition for tenants out there, and I am not going to paint a pretty picture,” George F. McKenzie, chief executive of the Rockville-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, told analysts during a conference call last month. “Activity has not been as good as one would have expected over the last 12 months.”

Despite an overall negative tone the technology corridor is still vibrant. Buildings are still being constructed, and Reston Heights project has already leased 90% of it’s office space. The metro will also increase the amount of jobs, and bring in new condos and apartments.