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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Three businesses from Virginia and six from Maryland made Business 2.0 magazine’s list of fastest-growing tech companies for 2007.
Companies recognized this year came from a variety of industries including information technology, biotechnology, federal contracting, aerospace and energy. The list, which features 100 companies, is compiled annually; in 2006, three Virginia firms and one Maryland company were named.
The highest-ranked company in Maryland was 26th-ranked Digene of Gaithersburg, a vaccine company sold this week to Dutch firm Qiagen NV. Also on the list were Bethesda-based USEC (42), Bethesda-based CoStar Group (48), Integral Systems of Lanham (62), Lockheed Martin of Bethesda (84), and Columbia-based Micros Systems (85).
Micros Systems was the only company in Maryland to make the list again; the company designs technology solutions for the retail and hospitality industries.
Vice President of Marketing Louise Casamento said the firm’s biggest areas for growth have been in the fast food industries and independent hotel markets. Recent acquisitions, such as their purchase of the U.K. company RedSky IT in January, have helped the company penetrate existing markets, such as economy hotels, more deeply, Casamento said.
In Virginia, the list recognized ManTech International of Fairfax (45), Dulles-based Orbital Sciences (70) and Fairfax-based Argon ST (81).
“We’re delighted to have moved up in the rankings,” ManTech spokesman Mark Root said; the company ranked 64 in 2006. ManTech has excelled because it focuses on some of the fastest growing segments in the federal market, including high-end defense work and intelligence technology, Root said.
melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com
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Examiner Reader said:
Wind turbines certainly generate clean energy (preferrable), but I wish leaders would allocate some of their design engineers to study how to protect the wildlife (birds) fatalities. It seems easy enough to place a cage around the turbines, just like the smaller, domestic models that protect children from getting their fingers clipped by the fan blades. I'm sure there's a way to make this look attractive in a super-size turbine.
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Examiner Reader said:
The Dice Report. “Baltimore-Washington has the third-highest average salary for IT professionals at $81,750 a year, ahead of the national average of $74,570.” WOW and yet the jobs which I applied for are paying way below the average. Usually a company asked what salary range I'm looking for, and usually that's a sign of we can't afford you. I answered negotiable, they pursuit for a number. When I give them a number I don't hear from them. Most of the positions I come across are bombarded with responsibilities and has a failure of matching the pay.
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Terence said:
What the article failed to address is that if you have an a non-business major and have an engineering or computer science degree, it is advisable to pursue an MBA degree and as such you would tend to pursue something like an IT degree and in that case, the jump in salary is significant. If you have a business undergrad in IT and pursue an MBA, that jump is significantly less. I still do not understand why students would do both an undergrad and grad in business. Really the textbooks are almost the same, the delivery is the difference. In some cases, classes are cross-taught at both the undergrad and grad. Pursuing a masters of science in marketing, operations and IT is the appropriate route not an MBA for undegrad in business. Just IMHO
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Iconic Xer. said:
I find this story missing a critical and informative element. Sure, tech companies and institutions such as NASA may be losing *employees* to retirement. But that doesn't mean there aren't *lots* of tech professionals around. Quite the opposite. There's an abundance of them. Companies have got to change their cultures, compensation and engagement of workers to be in alignment with the preference of many tech professionals to work outside of organizations, to work for multiple companies, to be flexible, nimble and not dependent on one industry or company for survival. It's a generational thing, really, with your GenXers (27-47 in 2008) heavily leaning in this direction. Re: the lack of kids entering STEM. It has nothing to do with them not wanting to be cool. They are achievement, affluence and team-oriented. Sing their song and they'll come in droves. Sing *your* song & they won't hear you ... or even bother trying. And, mistakenly, you'll conclude they're not interested. What
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Examiner Reader said:
Possible health risk of cancer too! See international studies.
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Examiner Reader said:
You can't stop it now and usually there is a reason its done that way
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