Falls Church Business News & Notes

40/40 List Includes Local Startup

QSR Magazine has named its top 40 for 2023 of America’s hottest startup fast casual restaurants and one is local. District Taco, headquartered in Falls Church, highlighted the story of the owner making a new start in the U.S., combining his mothers’ recipes with the American lifestyle. With his neighbor, Osiris Hoil started a food cart in Rosslyn which has grown to 14 across the metro area and Pennsylvania. They plan to expand via franchising an average of 15-20 annually over the next five years. Last year it was named by QSR Magazine as one of the best brands to work for, earning recognition for its PTO for all employees and a Pioneer Program of peer-nominated awards.

Nominations Open for Business and Community Awards

The Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce has opened the nominations for the annual awards: Small Business of the Year, Large Business of the Year, Nonprofit of the Year, Company Culture Excellence Award, and Pillar of the Community Award. Nominees must be chamber members in good standing, and anyone may submit nominations. The criteria and form are available on the Chamber website, www. fallschurchchamber.org, with a deadline of March 1. The winners will be announced at the Annual Awards Gala on Wednesday, March 29 at the State Theatre. The Bootleggers Ball carries the speakeasy theme and will offer live music, gambling, food, and a silent auction. This is a community celebration of the local businesses, and the public is invited.

GovCon 101: HUBZone

A free webinar introducing the HUBZone certification process and requirements for entry into the world of Federal contracting will be offered on February 15, 12:00 –1:00 p.m. The Federal Government has contracting goals for Women, Minorities, Service-disabled Veterans and HUBZone located businesses, and this presentation is an opportunity to take advantage of the SBA’s socio-economic small business setasides. The speaker, Lisa Wood, is the Statewide Director of the Virginia PTAC and Adjunct Professor of Management at George Mason University. RSVP to https:// clients.virginiasbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=140430003

WIT Finalists for 24th Annual Leadership Awards

Women in Technology, the organization that recognizes the vision, talent, and mentorship of professional women in the technology field of the Washington metropolitan area, announced the finalists for the 24th Annual Leadership Awards. This awards program identifies, recognizes, and celebrates female professionals who are leaders in the technology field and bring a unique vision and commitment to mentorship within their organization and community. Nisa Moore of GDIT in Falls Church, serves as a judge. The winners will be announced at the Leadership Awards Gala on Thursday, May 18, 2023.

Northrop Grumman Revenue Guidance

Northrop Grumman Corp. has set expectations for a strong 2023 as the global defense budgets rise and the huge backlog grows larger. It also is confident in the ability to deliver products that address complex security environments. Northrop ended 2022 with $36.6 billion in sales, positioned at the top end of its guidance for the year. It expects 2023 sales to be between $38 billion and $38.4 billion signifying a growth of 3.8 percent to 5 percent year over year. Other local defense contractors like Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. remain conservative in their outlook given supply chain issues, inflation, and labor shortages.

 Business News & Notes is compiled by Elise Neil Bengtson, Executive Director of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at elise@fallschurchchamber.org.

Camp Issue

School News & Notes

Order Mulch by March 15

One can order mulch by March 15, which will be delivered by March 25. Bags of mulch will be $6.00 per bag, with a free delivery if one buys 20 bags or more to a local Falls Church City address. All others available for pick up. Buy now at www.mustangfanshop.com

MHS Swim Prepares for Regionals and States

The Meridian Swim & Dive Team has been hard at work swimming in a 6A competition this season. With the ability to have closer meets, the team has been going head to head against their larger neighboring schools to prepare for Regions and States. The Boys Team is 3-0, and the Girls Team is 2-1 in Conference action this season. With last Friday night’s Senior Night meet against regional rival Manassas Park, the Mustangs brought home wins for both Teams as they head into the Region 3B Meet Today (Dive) and Saturday (Swim).

The team is sending 33 Athletes to Regional Championships: Cora Brown(10), Ally Campbell (10), Evan Dent (9), Anna Dickson (12), Kyra Gorman (11), Julia Hall (11), Matthew Janicki (11), Jonathan Katen (10), Clemintine Kim (10), Sofia Kruszynski (9), Markus Kummer (10), Hayden Kusic (9), Ben McCracken (12), Molly Moore (10), Alexis Niemi (12), Alex Perez (12), Ashok Radcliff (9), Lexi Ries (11), Carson Ruoff (12), Tiberius Schmittel (9), Mykl Skelton (9), Ryan Southern (9), Lydia Sturgill (10), Wes Sturgill (12), Mya Taheri (10), David Thode (9), Sofia Turley (9), Connor Tweddle (10), Alexa

Wagner (11), Brody Wagner (9), Alex Way (10), Simon Wing (9), Elysha York (12).

Individuals to qualify for the VHSL State Championships in February are as follows: Girls Team: Kyra Gorman, Anna Dickson, Boys Team: Matthew Janicki, Ben McCracken, Carson Ruoff, Ryan Southern, and Wesley Sturgill.

Broadway Desserts: Chorus Performs Tunes

On Friday night and Saturday afternoon, students from the combined MEHMS and MHS choruses performed a wide range of numbers from popular Broadway musicals.