Chambers Get on Board MWAA's Rail Proposal

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 2, 2006

Given his office location in public-transportation-challenged Tysons Corner, William D. Lecos drives his car to most of his daily appointments.

So why was the president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce standing in front of the West Falls Church Metro station Monday afternoon?

Lecos and peers from fellow Northern Virginia chambers of commerce mugged for the cameras to show their support for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority proposal to take over the project to build a Metrorail line to Dulles International Airport.

"We're showing there's unity in the business community on this," said Stuart Mendelsohn , a member of the Fairfax chamber. "This is the only hope to see rail come to Dulles. . . . At best it's 50-50 that rails gets there."

Other participants in the media event included Arlington Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sean Hosty , Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce Chairman-elect Brian Chavis and Carol Welti of the Washington Airports Task Force.

The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce has not hopped on board with the Airports Authority, but last Friday the group representing 900 businesses in western Fairfax approved a set of guidelines to examine Dulles Toll Road privatization proposals.

"Regardless of the final solution . . . we need to ensure that all tolls collected in the corridor remain in the corridor and are not used as slush funds for non-corridor projects," said Mark Looney , co-chairman of the chamber's public policy committee and a lawyer with Cooley Godward LLP.

More Woman-Owned Firms

It's good to be a woman in business in Fairfax County.

According to the Census Bureau, 29,857 woman-owned businesses were in operation in 2002 in Fairfax, an 18.5 percent increase since 1997, according to a press release from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

Aid for Budding Bankers

Aspiring bankers have a new source of financial aid: Chevy Chase Bank has entered into an agreement with Northern Virginia Community College to provide funding for scholarships and career opportunities for students attending the institution.

"Our ability to continue to grow is vitally dependent upon attracting the talent needed to excel in meeting the banking needs of our customers," said Alexander M. Boyle , vice chairman of the board for the bank.

Business Events

· Robert Ottenhoff , chief executive of GuideStar, will speak on how companies can get the biggest bang for their buck when doing philanthropy at 11 a.m. Friday at the Center for Education at Wolf Trap. Other speakers include Ralph Reid , vice president for corporate social responsibility at Sprint Nextel; Mari Snyder , senior director for community relations at Marriott International; and Gil Llanas , director of community relations and foundation for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

· A Fort Belvoir Procurement Forum is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The event is sponsored by the Northern Virginia Government Contractors Council, an arm of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.

The keynote address will be delivered by Tracey Pinson , director of small and disadvantaged business utilization for the Office of the Secretary of the Army.

Those interested in participating should contact Tony Howard at thoward@fccc.org or call 703-752-7522 to gain access to the post.

Movers and Shakers

· Morgan O'Brien , founder and former chairman of Nextel Communications, has joined the advisory board of SquareLoop, a Reston company specializing in technology related to public safety.

· Steven Horwitz has been named president and chief executive of Clareos, a Herndon software company. He was formerly president and chief executive of Q-Link Technologies.

· Michael Pierce has been elected director at large of the Virginia Association of Homecare for a one-year term. Pierce is the owner of Comfort Keepers in Fairfax, which provides services to the elderly.

Have news about business in Fairfax County? Send an e-mail tosilvermane@washpost.comor call 703-383-5103.