The moves will bring hundreds of additional high-wage jobs to Fairfax County, and Idemia has promised to add 90 new high-wage jobs to the new HQ. Why did both firms choose Reston over Montgomery County? The answers are the same as usual: lower business costs, and superior infrastructure access in Virginia.
Blackboard CEO and President Bill Ballhaus cited their new location's proximity to Dulles International Airport, which as I've been noting for years, has the variety and frequency of international flights and destinations international businesspeople require. Unlike Northern Virginia, which has implemented several infrastructure projects to speed travel, Montgomery County has refused to build the new Potomac River crossing that would provide direct and quick access to Dulles Airport. In fact, the Montgomery County Council is actively trying to further sabotage our outdated and incomplete transportation system, refusing to build the M-83 Highway and Montrose Parkway East, and promising to lower speed limits on all major commuter routes to 25 MPH - and secondary and neighborhood roads to 15 MPH.
The failure to attract Idemia's HQ was a humiliating defeat for a County Council that has claimed it would make Montgomery County a cybersecurity hub. Instead, Virginia's Secretary of Commerce Brian Ball was the one crowing about the Old Dominion bolstering its dominance in that field with the addition of Idemia. "We rely on innovative companies like Idemia to maintain Virginia’s position as a U.S. leader in this industry,” Ball said in a statement.
HalioDX will join almost 70 biotech firms, laboratories and manufacturing facilities at the VA Bio+Tech Park in Richmond. It's a sad reminder that Virginia is now not only handing our County Council their [briefcases] in every other economic sector, but are rapidly reaching parity with Montgomery's biotech sector. Thanks to past County leaders who served before our elected offices were seized by the Montgomery County cartel in 2002, we had a promising biotech niche in the region. Now, it's only a matter of time before even those firms begin to relocate to Virginia, once they have the critical mass of qualified workers and government incentives.
The canary in the Montgomery County economic development coal mine has been deceased for some time. Our Council not only doesn't know anything about how to attract high-wage jobs and corporate headquarters, but couldn't act even if they did. Their developer sugar daddies, who fund the campaigns of every Council member, don't want corporate headquarters taking up valuable land they could use to profit from luxury apartments.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam hasn't had much reason to smile in recent weeks, and I reckon he appreciates Montgomery County turning his frown upside down reliably several times a month. His two immediate predecessors were legendary for openly mocking Montgomery County officials for their pro-tax, anti-business ideology. By all indications, comedy hour is just getting started at 100 Maryland Avenue.
89 comments:
>Attempting to give a damn…
>Unable to give a damn…
>Stopping…
>Process failed!
[Damn not given]
As usual, you don't know what you're talking about. State worked well with Legget and got a lot accomplished. Some of this has to do with the fact that Nova has a long standing reputation for high tech, etc where we don't. A huge factor? They are close to two airports, we aren't close to one. I'll agree that county is totally screwed up and couldn't attract anything without Annapolis help. Amazon will never, ever come here. Why? Well, airport proximity but what we saw from NYC, wacky politics, etc.
How did you happen to hear about these three office moves, Robbie?
#Plagiarism
#You'reGoingToJail
5:59: There's no doubt the anti-business politics of our elected officials caused a similar reaction at Amazon as NYC did. Canceling the biggest infrastructure project for White Flint the same week the Amazon execs were touring White Flint(!!) certainly didn't help us, either.
I disagree that we got much accomplished with the state - we haven't attracted a single major corporate HQ in twenty years. And we would be close to Dulles, especially in the Rock Spring/I-270 areas, if the idiots had built the bridge to Dulles from either the Rockville Freeway (Montrose Road) or I-370 planned decades ago.
Having flown out of all three airports, it is currently a nightmare to reach each of them from Montgomery County.
6:21: Each company had press releases, and Gov. Northam's office released statements on two of them. You need to take Journalism 101 to learn what plagiarism actually is.
Dude, Blackboard already had that office space in Reston and they are simply consolidating. Please calm down.
I agree that HQ2 was never a real possibility. White Flint has poor airport access, at least from a corporate view, only one Metro Line, a suburban location distant from a vibrant downtown and not very much available vacant office space controlled by a single developer like Crystal City. We learned that four three items were the prime reasons Amazon chose NoVa, despite an offer of an $8.5 billion dillar tax break.
An additional bridge and a straight shot to Dulles were not proposed, but Montrose Parkway East was part of the proposed package offered to Amazon. The other three main items that Amazon wanted simply were not physically possible.
Too bad about the bio-tech losses, as that is one of our strengths. Again it looks like airport access was a major factor in those decisions as well. Not much we can realistically do to fix that. The Purple Line will add more connectivity, but three Metro Lines in NoVa will always be better.
Many of these limitations are really based on geography and massive infrastructure like like highways, bridges and heavy rail.
Complaining about some of these limitations is like saying we can’t really compete with Baltimore because we don’t have a deep water seaport, at least until global water levels rise substantially.
Idemia - 90 jobs - move announced in December 2018 in several local media.
HalioDX - 20 jobs. Not sure what "access to Dulles Airport" has to do with Richmond.
Blackboard - 175 jobs - move announced in January in several local media.
That's a total of 285 jobs. That's about the same number as WTOP staff who moved from Washington DC to Friendship Heights a few weeks ago, which you didn't bother to report.
"Each company had press releases"
How is it that you happened to read these press releases from these relatively unknown companies?
6:32: Your numbers are dead wrong. You need to read more carefully. Idemia is creating 90 NEW JOBS in addition to the existing jobs in its Boston HQ that are moving to Reston.
Blackboard has at least several hundred existing and new jobs coming to their new Reston HQ. I have no idea where you are seeing only 20 total jobs for the North American HQ of Idemia. #FakeNews
WTOP jobs are not high-wage tech and biotech jobs. Journalism is one of the lowest-paid fields. Do you really think you are fooling anyone?
6:26: Wrong! They had a couple of small offices in Virginia. Their actual global HQ was in the District, which is what is moving to Reston, as are the other two offices' jobs. Facts.
Building the Montrose Parkway or M-83 would not have affected "access to Dulles" (or even BWI) in the slightest for White Flint.
And Crystal City has a huge number of moribund vacant offices that were just waiting for an opportunity like AMZHQ2.
6:34: Unlike the County Council, I actually keep up on not only regional business, but also the latest national relocation news and strategies. Including regularly checking the announcements by competing local jurisdictions about their latest defeats of Montgomery County.
6:29: Direct and quick access to Dulles Airport from Montgomery County is indeed physically possible. Several new bridges have been proposed for decades, long before Amazon even existed. Imagine if our leaders had the foresight to actually build them!
We don't need a deep water port, but we do need direct access to Dulles, and to reduce congestion on our existing highways, and to complete our master plan highway system. It's not rocket science.
Dyer @ 6:40 AM - You would be much more persuasive if you could post actual numbers to refute the numbers that @ 6:32 AM posted.
"Journalism is one of the lowest-paid fields."
LOL
Fumbling Amazon HQ2, our elected county leaders cost us billions in revenue and 25,000 new jobs for our people. Good jobs.
6:41: Not sure why you are tying either of those project to Dulles. They both will reduce congestion on the roads they are near. M-83 will reduce I-270 congestion. You have to build the bridge to get Dulles access, and a highway extension to the bridge.
Ironically, one of the connections proposed in the past was the Rockville Freeway (Montrose Road west of I-270) leg that would have connected to a Potomac crossing. Amazon would have loved that. The issue last year was that the Council canceled the parkway east - the biggest project in the White Flint sector plan - while the execs were in town! How dumb can you be, when dealing with a company that is at heart a logistics firm, to cancel a road!
We have many moribund office parks and buildings countywide. Amazon just didn't want to be here.
"Direct and quick access to Dulles Airport from Montgomery County is indeed physically possible. Several new bridges have been proposed for decades."
That statement is misleading. There has never been more than one bridge proposed to connect western Montgomery County with western Fairfax County or eastern Loudoun County, however it has been proposed for several different locations in that corridor.
6:50: That may be today, but in the past, bridges were suggested for Arizona Avenue,, George Washington Parkway, Rockville Freeway (Montrose Road), I-370, and one oriented more to the Frederick-Loudoun corridor.
"WTOP jobs are not high-wage tech and biotech jobs"
Neither are the ones at Blackboard.
"I have no idea where you are seeing only 20 total jobs for the North American HQ of Idemia. #FakeNews"
I have no idea where you read that.
From @ 6:32 AM's post:
"Idemia - 90 jobs - move announced in December 2018 in several local media.
"HalioDX - 20 jobs."
#Derp
"Arizona Avenue" is in the District of Columbia, not Montgomery County.
There was never a separate bridge proposed for the Rockville Facility. There was only one bridge proposed for the Outer Beltway that would have served both the southern route (Rockville Facility) and the current ICC/I-370 Sam Eig Highway alignment, which would have merged into one road between Rockville/Gaithersburg and the river.
7:00: It was a mistake on my part - it should have asked where he got only 20 jobs for the North American HQ of HalioDX. That is a ridiculously fake low number. Classic Saul Alinsky moment for you.
7:06: That's not exactly true. While I would actually support building both Rockville Freeway and I-370 highway extensions to the river and have them use the same bridge, in the past each was tied to a different crossing location.
The Rockville Freeway was to cross at Riverbend Park and connect to the Fairfax County Parkway. The I-370 crossing was to be north of Riverbend Park, and oriented to Route 28 in Loudoun.
Regarding the bridge for the George Washington Memorial Parkway, that would have only connected the two sides of the parkway at Great Falls. Virginia never built their road beyond the Beltway.
7:06: Trust me, I know Arizona Avenue is in D.C. But a bridge crossing was proposed for it nonetheless.
"In the past each was tied to a different crossing location.The Rockville Freeway was to cross at Riverbend Park and connect to the Fairfax County Parkway. The I-370 crossing was to be north of Riverbend Park, and oriented to Route 28 in Loudoun."
Wrong. Bridges at those two locations were never proposed to be built concurrently.
7:18: It was a Potomac crossing, though, and the point of argument was the claim that only one additional crossing had ever been proposed in history, with only the location changing. That is incorrect, as I have proven.
7:20: I'm not "wrong," I'm listing all of the proposed crossings and locations. Just because our idiot leaders didn't build them doesn't make me "wrong." We could, and should, build all of them today.
Blackboard is a company in the decline (founders gone, had to be bailed out by private equity), but still a shame MoCo didn't get it. Did they even try?
HalioDX chose Richmond.. but not because of airport access I guess because RIC has pretty poor connections.
The second Potomac crossing is badly needed, and VA's side is basically ready. It's VA-28 and it has been built to interstate standards already. The problem is MoCo politicians are afraid of encroaching on a tiny corner of the Ag Reserve that would be necessary to connect the crossing to I-370/MD-200.
Richmond's airport calls itself "International" but it only offers "connecting flights to major hubs for international destinations". LOL
@ 7:24 AM - Loudoun County residents and the Commonwealth of Virginia are not interested in the second crossing.
"Blackboard cut a deal in August 2015 to lease about 71,000 square feet at 1111 19th St., the same building where it moved after its founding, after a public search involving sites in Clarendon and Ballston. In D.C., Blackboard stood to benefit from a tax rebate program for companies that agree to sign 50,000 square feet for at least a dozen years, valued at half the company's tenant improvement costs, or a maximum of $5 million over five years. The first full year it was eligible, the company received $586,536 through that program. Because it was eligible at the time, it will not have to pay back that sum, D.C. officials said."
-WBJ
7:32: Wrong! Virginia has spent many millions converting Route 28 to interstate standards with cloverleaf interchanges in preparation for a new bridge. Maryland hasn't had the political leadership to answer the phone when Virginia has called multiple times over the last two decades.
@7:32 Many smaller airports, like Richmond, are called "international" airports because they handle international cargo flights. They have Customs clearance facilities on-site.
"Maryland hasn't had the political leadership to answer the phone when Virginia has called multiple times over the last two decades."
There's your problem right there. No one answers the phone anymore. They should send texts or emails. I'll bet Virginia uses rotary-dial, leased-from-Ma Bell phones, too. And AOL dial-up using "pulse" dialing.
Robert, you need to read more my friend. under former commerce Secretary Mike Gill, the entire State benefited tremendously from both bringing small midsize and large companies to the state but more importantly prevented some significant ones and Marquis state of Maryland businesses from leaving.
Auto-correct is having a bit of fun this morning.
Looks like the Old Local Legacy Slightly-Failing Print Media Jeff Bezos Globalist Communist Washington Post scooped Dyer bigly on some yuuuge Nova business news.
"promising to lower speed limits on all major commuter routes to 25 MPH - and secondary and neighborhood roads to 15 MPH."
Another weird digression. Have you ever considered taking Adderall, Dyer?
8:17: I don't need to - I'm not low-energy like the County Council.
Facts are not "weird digressions."
8:05: I'm not a Virginia news outlet.
You say the silliest things sometimes when trying to slap back at commenters.
"Facts are not weird digressions."
digression = a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing.
Mixing and conflating. distractions, distortions and irrelevancies
The Council is populated by many of the folks involved in the efforts to "revive" our nightlife in Bethesda.
Given the poor results with that relatively small effort, I have no faith that these people should be involved in economic development at the Fortune 500 level.
"I'm not a Virginia news outlet."
Saith Dyer, on the same article in which he reports news on three Virginia businesses.
@ 9:21 AM - You forgot "Let's be clear..."
Reality Check:
In the event that a Second Crossing were built, somewhere between the north ends of VA 28 and the Fairfax County Parkway on the Virginia side, and in the area west of Seneca and south of Poolesville...
-The nearest point in Montgomery County, in in the area west of Seneca and south of Poolesville, would be 9-12 miles from Dulles Airport.
-The nearest point in Montgomery County, in in the area west of Seneca and south of Poolesville, would be 5-9 miles from the Internet/data hub in Sterling.
-The interchange between I-270 and the ICC would be 20 miles from Dulles Airport.
-The interchange between I-270 and the ICC would be 16 miles from the Internet/data hub in Sterling.
From Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Silver Spring, using the Second Crossing instead of the American Legion Bridge, even along the most direct route possible along the "Rockville Facility" route, would ADD 3-7 miles to the trips to both Dulles Airport and to Sterling.
-Reston is only 5 miles from Dulles Airport.
-Sterling is only 4 miles from Dulles Airport.
-Even if the Second Crossing and the Rockville Facility were built, White Flint, Gaithersburg, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring and Rockville would be no closer to Dulles Airport or to Sterling than Rosslyn.
"We would be close to Dulles, especially in the Rock Spring/I-270 areas, if the idiots had built the bridge to Dulles from either the Rockville Freeway (Montrose Road) or I-370 planned decades ago."
More of Dyer's magical thinking. Even if a road were to be built in an absolutely straight line between Rock Spring and Dulles Airport, it would still be 17 miles away.
Via the Cabin John Bridge, it is a 21 mile trip between Rock Spring and Dulles Airport.
Via I-270, the (unbuilt) Rockville Facility, and the (unbuilt) Second Crossing, the trip between Rock Spring would be 26 miles AT A MINIMUM - 5 miles LONGER than the current route via the American Legion Bridge.
@5:19 You're missing the benefit of a second Potomac crossing. It's not for people in Bethesda since they're right next to the American Legion Bridge anyway. It's for people in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Rockville, and so on. Currently, to get to Loudoun County they have to come all the way down, cross Am Legion bridge, then head back up again. Imagine how much less traffic we'd have on the Am Legion Bridge if those people could just use a 2nd Potomac crossing closer to them instead.
Hey Dyer -
Here's the Washington Post's Jennifer Barrios' report on the recent MoCo government embezzlement scandal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/fake-invoices-and-gambling-debts-how-a-county-bureaucrat-stole-67-million/2019/02/21/7c35e6a6-2641-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html
Where is YOUR report?
9:26: Oh, man, you just wiped out spectacularly. In fact, I was the first media outlet to report that Bang was bankrupt over a decade ago, and his house in MoCo was foreclosed on, MONTHS ago. Colluding or hack reporter Jennifer Barrios is just getting around to that NOW, and doesn't even mention his home foreclosure? LOL
Moreover, why did Barrios wait until after the election to report this? Is Bang the fall guy for other folks in the government or on the Council who also took some of the money? A lot of the explanations Barrios takes at face value sound like people who could have been in on the scheme. Notice her article, which I read carefully, contains no original reporting. Much like other Post articles on the embezzlement, it simply restates the IRS investigation and report.
Is Barrios afraid to go deeper? Are co-conspirators, and Bang's agreement to be the fall guy, the reason they're using a light touch on his ability to be out of jail, his possible sentence, and possible fraction of restitution? Is Barrios protecting the cartel, or just the most naive, inept reporter in America?
She can't answer emails, so I guess it's a challenge for her to do much more on a computer. Sad!
Still waiting for a full, independent FBI investigation of the embezzlement scheme, since - intriguingly - we're obviously not going to get it from the Post or the IG or Frosh.
Frosh is all over Trump, but not investigating $7 million embezzled from his own constituents? Wait a minute, whoa - that could be an equally big story. Frosh and Herring are very similar in more ways than one.
5:19: Your cartography skills are quite poor. "20 miles" between the Sam Eig interchange with I-270 and Dulles Airport? LOL
You then cite a distance from Sterling? What does that have to do with giving I-270 corridor business sites direct access to Dulles via a new Potomac crossing?
Even your conflicting claim that the new bridge would only give us equal convenience to Dulles as Virginia simply makes my point - that's the whole idea, to give us the same advantage!
But ours would be even faster - combining the toll bridge/highway to Dulles with the new Express Lanes on I-270 and I-495, the trip would be at full speed limit, which could be hiked to 65 on 270 and the new road over the Potomac. A very fast trip door to door, compared to crawling over the Legion bridge today.
Instead, the Council is fighting the future, trying to even stop Hogan's express lanes. Meanwhile, Virginia is about to complete the last leg of theirs to Fredericksburg, where the office market is not surprisingly "on fire," and the population is booming using Express Lanes and VRE to commute into DC.
We are being led by very stupid people, you have to admit. They just cost us 25000 jobs, $4 billion in lost wages, and $12 billion in collateral economic activity when they fumbled the Amazon HQ2. Heckuva job, brownie!
"Your cartography skills are quite poor. "20 miles" between the Sam Eig interchange with I-270 and Dulles Airport? LOL"
Notice how Dyer never, ever provides an actual number to challenge the facts that are posted in the comments.
Whineth Dyer:
"You then cite a distance from Sterling? What does that have to do with giving I-270 corridor business sites direct access to Dulles via a new Potomac crossing?"
The explanation is in the original comment.
"the Internet/data hub in Sterling." This was noted previously as the reason why Google is expanding their facility there.
8:15 PM - You are correct, a Second Crossing will shorten the distance between Gaithersburg and points north, to Dulles Airport and the employment centers around there and the Internet hub in Sterling.
However it will not, as Dyer claims, shorten the distance between Rock Spring and White Flint to the Dulles area, which he specifically claims will happen.
And even with the shorter distance between Gaithersburg and the Dulles area, that would still be a far greater distance away from there than Reston or even Tysons. Reston and Tysons have an inherent advantage simply because Dulles Airport and the Sterling data hub are located closer. There is no magic wormhole that can be built that will negate that basic fact.
6:03: Nope. Wrong. There are more positions advertised for Google in Reston than there are number of positions in a data center. Those jobs could have been in MoCo if we had leaders who knew what they were doing.
What they do have in Reston is direct access to Dulles, as well as lower taxes and better infrastructure.
6:15: You make it sound like there is some kind of portal to Hell in Sterling that makes it the only place a data hub can be built. More to the point, many of the new Google jobs are NOT in Sterling, but in Reston. Not near this alleged Hell Gate you speak of.
"What they do have in Reston is direct access to Dulles"
What they have in Reston is the geographical fact that Reston is only 5 miles from Dulles. Even the nearest point in Montgomery County, on the bank of Potomac just west of Seneca, is twice that distance.
-White Flint, Rockledge, Gaithersburg and downtown Bethesda are all FOUR OR MORE TIMES that distance, in a STRAIGHT LINE.
Again, there is no Magic Wormhole that can be built to overcome this basic geographic fact.
"You make it sound like there is some kind of portal to Hell in Sterling that makes it the only place a data hub can be built. More to the point, many of the new Google jobs are NOT in Sterling, but in Reston. Not near this alleged Hell Gate you speak of."
The explanation of the history and current significance of the infrastructure in Sterling was posted on the Google article.
"Google already had a Reston office. In fact they've had a presence in NoVa since at least 2005 when they hired a few engineers away from AOL and let them work remotely. MoCo will always have trouble competing for tech jobs because of decisions made in the mid 1980s when UUNet was created born out of Usenet as a tier 1 ISP. It caused AOL to MOVE from Fairfax in Tysons to Loudoun in Dulles in 1997.
"The UUNet decision has had a massive impact in the region as being close in proximity to it means faster internet speeds. Amazon, Google, the federal government and many others place their data centers nearby."
6:37: Sure, it's one advantage, but not prohibitive by any means. How does Apple manage to survive in California, and Microsoft in Washington state, away from this magic UUNet, pray tell?
6:26: Huh? Express Lanes (if our idiotic elected officials will allow Hogan to build them) would provide a direct and quick trip from Rockledge to a Rockville Facility highway/bridge to Dulles (Montrose Road corridor). Likewise, I-370 extension over the Potomac would be extremely fast for Gaithersburg and other I-270 corridor businesses, including those at Rock Spring.
No-congestion express lanes could be faster than stop=and-go traffic from Reston to Dulles.
"How does Apple manage to survive in California, and Microsoft in Washington state, away from this magic UUNet, pray tell?"
Most people are smart enough to keep their ignorance to themselves.
Dyer, on the other hand, loves to shout it from a rooftop.
6:55: I asked you a question, and I'm betting the answer will prove your ignorance, not mine. Again, Saul, how do Apple and Microsoft flourish away from the UUNet in Virginia?
Dyer @ 7:05 AM - Same way they flourish away from Dulles Airport.
7:07: I think readers notice you can't answer my question, and you've lost all credibility. So let's get back to the astronomical failures of the Montgomery County Council in every arena.
I think your readers are laughing at your ignorance regarding internet infrastructure, especially from someone who proclaims himself as an expert on Fortune 500 corporations.
7:54: They're laughing at your inability to explain the difference between internet infrastructure in Sterling, VA vs. in Silicon Valley or the Pacific Northwest, and how in the world these differences relate to Montgomery County not attracting a single major corporate HQ in two decades. We're still awaiting your answer, which you seem unable to deliver.
No, they are laughing at you because they know that you don't understand the difference.
Saith Dyer: "Your numbers are dead wrong. You need to read more carefully. Idemia is creating 90 NEW JOBS in addition to the existing jobs in its Boston HQ that are moving to Reston."
You need to read the press release again. It said "90 primarily new jobs". Meaning that "90" includes existing staff in Boston who are moving to Reston, and all the staff who will work in the new office.
The press release says that "IDEMIA will lease 18,000 square feet at One Freedom Square in Reston" - about half the size of the Barnes & Noble that used to be on Bethesda Row. That's 200 square feet for each of the 90 employees. If there were more personnel than that, it would get very cramped.
5:56: I'm sure you can schedule a tour if you're concerned about the desk spaces, but the fact is, they are getting all the Boston jobs plus 90 new ones. It's enough to make Gov. Northam moonwalk to celebrate his latest defeat of Montgomery County and Maryland.
10:53: No, they're laughing at you because YOU don't know the difference, and are therefore unable to explain why Apple, Microsoft, Google and others on the west coast don't need the Sterling VA UUNet to operate. If you could, you would have answered the question by now.
The Barrios envy continues.
Your celebration of racism continues.
Your inability to discuss, rather than spewing insults and slurs, continues.
I asked you years ago to take a week, just one week, without hurling insults, Just a week.
You deleted my post.
5:58: All lies and defamation. Why would I "envy" a reporter who is either a hack or in collusion with the MoCo cartel for financial gain or just commitment to the cause as a Fellow Traveler?
A "celebration of racism?" People are laughing at you right now. I'm the guy who found the lost cemetery and black community, and spent more man hours on both than you've spent doing anything for any community. I got the community put back in the official County history it had been erased from.
You've ignored the insults and slurs directed at me (most likely because you posted them yourself as 'Anonymous'), and then dare to criticize any attempt to defend myself, as well as 99% of whatever content I post, earning you clear troll status.
As far as racism is concerned...your cemetery argument is dwarfed my your racist reasonings and rantings.
Lest we forget that adorable back and forth you and I had many moons ago when you were bitching at me for not going to KKK rallies. Remember you disagreed with my assertion that white-supremacist movement was growing? You (Dyer) pointedly asked me: "Have you seen a KKK rally recently? They're lucky to have 10 people waving signs on the side of a road." To which I replied: "Um...no, I haven't been to a KKK rally. Ever. Never would." Good times.
So before you call me a liar and say I'm defaming you, let's read for ourselves. link
Over 2 years ago and I was still one of the Anonymous posters back then, but me and my bacon loving self is kind of easy to see.
"the Sterling VA UUNet"
Bethesdians are laughing at your ignorance, which you love to make perfectly clear.
8:36: Nobody laughing at me, just at you - you were the one who first brought up the "Sterling VA UUNet," and then were unable to explain how tech companies in other states were able to prosper without being near it.
8:08: How is it "racist" to state facts about the decline of the KKK? Again, you are firing defamatory comments in every direction, and they are ricocheting back at you. Half of the people at KKK rallies are FBI agents or informants, and that means about 6 actual people left over. You call that "growing?" LOL
That's two times in this thread you've made a false and defamatory claim I am "racist," have made racist "rants" - you could be sued successfully for defamation, as you not only know you're making false statements, but with intent and reckless disregard.
"I've also staunchly defended your right to use PST."
LOL
Let's be clear:
None of the three companies mentioned in this article are Fortune 500 companies.
The HalioDX facility is a laboratory, not a corporate headquarters, and will house 20 employees. It is in Richmond, and has nothing to do with Northern Virginia.
The IDEMIA headquarters will house 90 employees. This number includes staff moving from the current headquarters in Boston as well as new hires. The facility is 18,000 square feet - putting more than 90 employees would make for very cramped conditions there.
Blackboard is retrenching. They are closing their current headquarters in the District and consolidating existing staff in their Reston office. A total of 185 local employees will move there.
Google is expanding their existing data hub in Sterling. The new positions are being listed through their HR office in Reston.
Very few if any jobs were actually lost at the NRC building in White Flint due to the transition from one contractor to another.
No matter how many bridges and freeways are built, the area between Reston and Sterling will always have an inherent advantage over anywhere in Montgomery County, because they are next to Dulles Airport and the internet hub in Sterling.
Building the "Second Crossing" and even the "Rockville Facility" will not result in a shorter connection to the Dulles area for down-county areas such as Bethesda, White Flint, or Rock Spring, than the existing connection via the American Legion Bridge.
If Dyer has any numbers that are significantly larger than the ones posted in the second, third, fourth, and sixth paragraphs, he needs to post them.
Sears is closed. Tastee Diner, Sala Thai and Kaldi's are open.
"A total of 185 local employees will move there."
So if the employees who currently live in the District or in Montgomery County, continue to live there after Blackboard consolidates their offices in Reston, then neither Fairfax County nor Virginia will see any change in tax revenues, other than possibly sales tax.
Saith Dyer: "I'm the guy who found the lost cemetery and black community, and spent more man hours on both than you've spent doing anything for any community. I got the community put back in the official County history it had been erased from."
Do you have any testimonials from Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Rev. Segun Adebayo, or any members of the Macedonia Baptist Church or the "Descendant Community"?
Dyer replies to me:
"I'm the guy who found... and spent more man hours on both than you've spent doing anything for any community. "
SEE? You ARE stalking me.
Looks like there have been a lot of layoffs at Blackboard during the past year. They probably laid off the same number of people at the Reston office as are coming from the DC office that is closing.
@ 7:45 PM - Agreed. I've read several articles about that move, and none of them indicate that the Reston office is being expanded to accommodate the "new" staff moving from DC.
7:52: No office is being expanded - they are moving from the District, and from smaller existing offices in VA, into a new location in Reston that is listed in my report.
Even if they didn't create a single new position at Blackboard, the victory and revenue still goes to Virginia, as most of those jobs are new coming from the closing DC office.
5:09: Anyone who has read your ongoing threats, insults and attacks - and ridiculous, round-the-clock troll negative comments against me - is well aware you are the stalker. You can be prosecuted for that, and sued for defamation as noted above.
10:11: Testimonials? I'm on the record in front of 3 agencies in 2011 about the cemetery, 2 county, and one federal.
It's not a "new location". The address of their current office in Reston is Plaza America, the same "location in Reston that is listed in your report."
"Testimonials? I'm on the record in front of 3 agencies in 2011 about the cemetery, 2 county, and one federal."
"Testimonial" does not mean "a record of your testimony", dumbass.
8:15: You seem to be absurdly seeking proof of my advocacy work on behalf of the lost black community and cemetery - and it's on the record since 2011 before 3 different agencies.
8:14: Wrong! Plaza America is the new location. You're in a hole; stop digging.
The current address of Blackboard's Reston office is Plaza America.
You could easily disprove this by citing some other address where they are currently located in Reston.
...Just as you could challenge the 20 employees at the new HalioDX laboratory in Richmond, and the 90 employees at the new IDEMIA office in Reston, by providing different numbers. But you can't, because they don't exist.
Instead, you just shout "you're wrong", and stomp your feet like a child.
Why do you keep repeating easily-disprovable lies about Blackboard? Why do you keep deleting this comment — because it states a fact that runs counter to your fiction?
“The departure from the District will consolidate the company’s downtown D.C. headquarters with its existing office in Reston, Virginia.”
8:55: They have more than one office in Virginia, and both are moving to the new Blackboard HQ in Reston. The HQ itself is moving from DC to Reston.
8:51: I've already reported on these from primary sources; you keep posting fake or poorly written misinformation from media reports.
8:47: That's their new address in Reston. Game over.
You realized you'd lost the debate at some point, and just started posting false information. Classic Saul Alinsky.
"You could be sued successfully for defamation, as you not only know you're making false statements, but with intent and reckless disregard."
Another blatant lie.
But, go ahead, If anything, litigation will end with your money in my pocket.
And discovery will confirm all your unsigned comments and confirm I've been honest, I'm exactly who I said I am, and I've never threatened you.
Like I said, no worries on my part.
"Blackboard CEO and President Bill Ballhaus"
nyuk nyuk nyuk
I'm not afraid of your "threats" Mr Dyer. Why should I be? I've done nothing wrong.
Like I said earlier, now deleted, you may well have issues with someone, but that someone is not me.
I guess it's just easier for you to blame and accuse a woman.
9:34 AM
Blogger Anna said...
First of all, you are incorrect that I've ignored the insults and slurs directed at you. A lot of them, sure. Everyone does. Not all of them though. I've also staunchly defended your right to use PST. It's not the responsibility of readers to do that.
That "criticize any attempt to defend myself" Well, honey, welcome to my world.
I have been saying for years that I am me, speaking for myself, and being honest. Calling me names, deleting my defense of myself.
And again, even here, you can't help but falsely claim it again.
Earning you stalker status. There could be fifteen posts, and you pick the ONE I wrote and start your crazy-talk.
You took your hatred of me to another website to lie and defame me. A website I not only never posted on, but until this instance, never read.
So don't go crying "poor little me." It's YOUR choice to be afraid of your own shadow.
7:50 AM
You've got them scared Robert. Hit them again. Take this global!
All of you who are going bonkers against Dyer need to know the basic fact, NoVa is beating the shit out of MoCo when scoring jobs. I live in upcounty wheremost of the Class office space is getting to converted to residential or is just empty.
For all the naysayers here is a partial list of all companies that moved out or closed shop in i-270 corridor added to the list of no single large company moving in
Betchel closed at Frederick
Comsat campus vacant since 20 years in clarksClar
Orbital sciences closed in Germantown
IBM closed in Gaithersburg
Ledios-Northrop Grumman sold and moving out from Gaithersburg
Otksua pharma moved to NJ from Rockville
National Geographic closed hq in Darnestown
HGS sold out and loses hundreds of jobs
Fair oaks building empty for 5 years
Thompson Reuters sold and moved to NY
EMC moved out from Rockville
Discovery closing shop in Silver Spring
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