No Sharks, but Loudoun’s Got Dolphins

Entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to a panel of judges at AOL Wednesday.

Several Loudoun entrepreneurs jumped into the Dolphin Tank Wednesday at AOL’s Dulles campus to get feedback about their business ideas. And while panels of judges on television tend to have a bit of a bite, like ABC’s Shark Tank, this panel acted more like a team of swim instructors. “Dolphin Tank gives entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business idea to a supportive panel of industry experts,” said Loudoun Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager Debi Roder, adding that participants received “positive, actionable feedback, along with input from the audience. It’s a much more friendly, respectful experience than Shark Tank.” Springboard Enterprises brought Dolphin Tank to Dulles in partnership with Loudoun County, AOL’s Fishbowl …

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Opinion: Keeping NOVA Nation’s Most ‘Data Center Friendly’ Location

Delegate Comstock highlights work done to keep the region, Loudoun in particular, responsive to the industry.

The Northern Virginia region clearly faces economic threats and challenges as a result of sequestration and government downsizing. The national economy continues to stagnate. If you are looking for a bright sign on our local horizon, the data center industry – which is expected to still grow by hundreds of millions over the near future – is a sector to double down on. That is why, once again this year, I worked with the Northern Virginia Technology Council and local business leaders to pass another bill to promote this important industry that is thriving in Northern Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth – and particularly in Loudoun County. Our aim is to be one of the most “Data Center Friendly” places in the country. Each day, 70 …

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Check 2013 Loudoun Assessments Online

Residents should be receiving notices in the mail about their assessment, but can also check the Web.

Loudoun County has mailed real estate tax assessments to every property owner in the county. And as of Thursday, the online assessment database was updated with the 2013 information. The assessed value, along with the tax rate set by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, determines real estate tax bills, which will be due June 5 and Dec. 5. Overall, home values real estate values were up 3.86 percent countywide. Most residential categories were up slightly, but townhomes and condominiums experienced increases of 5.5 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. Commercial values remained steady. The average home value in 2013 in Loudoun County was $442,000, Loudoun real estate division head Jim White told the Board of Supervisors earlier this month. …

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Dusty Smith

12:02 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013

It's been a while since I've had a double digit jump. There were a few about a decade ago. Someone on Ashburn Patch's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/AshburnPatch) said they had a 7 percent increase in Ashburn.   more ›

Loudoun Among Those Pushing for FBI HQ

Leesburg Today has a report about the county's desire to lure the government agency.

Metrorail and Delgaudio Dominated News in 2012

Controversies over rail decision and Sterling District supervisor were top issues of board’s first year.

Two issues dominated the first year of the current Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ lineup – the question of whether to approve extending Metrorail’s Silver Line to Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County, and charges surrounding Sterling District Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio. Metrorail The Metrorail decision was not only the Board’s most important decision of the 2012, it may have been the most significant in decades. Seen as a major economic development stimulus by the business community – and some supervisors – it was also strenuously opposed by many residents for a variety of reasons, most notably the cost of the project and means of financing it. With an all-Republican board that placed a high priority on economic development, one …

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Impact of Dulles is Widespread

Airport’s impacts extend well beyond the local economy.

Last week, I wrote about the importance of Washington Dulles International Airport to the economy of Loudoun County, the region and the state. In the 50 years since it opened, the airport has made an impact on much more than just the economy. Population In 1960, just two years before Dulles Airport opened, Loudoun’s population was 24,549. It had hovered around 20,000 since the first U.S. Census in 1790. By 1970, the population was 37,150, a 51% increase. Every decade since, the county population has increased by at least 50%, much more in some decades. The population is now estimated to be more than 328,000. Of course, some – maybe most – of that population growth would have occurred if the airport had been located in Burke instead of …

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Bob Bruhns

4:17 pm on Saturday, December 15, 2012

The $150 million from Virginia is being used by MWAA to hide the big toll increases until AFTER the approvals and AFTER the ground is broken. Then... SURPRISE!!! People need to read the news a little, although the news IS often a bit selective in its reporting.   more ›

George Barton Liked Being in Charge

Chairman of the last all-Republican Board of Supervisors died last week.

George Barton, who died Nov. 24, was one of the most influential people in Loudoun County during the 1980s and ’90s. He was a major player in the media, government and education during an era when the county was much smaller, both in population and the harder to quantify “sense of place.” He was a small-town editor at a time when Leesburg was still a small town, and Loudoun was a small county. When Barton edited the Loudoun Times-Mirror, it wasn’t unusual for community leaders walk in and complain about something they had read in the paper.  He wrote a weekly column that bore his photo and gave readers a sense of where the editor stood on issues large and small. And he was the kind of editor who would lend not just his name, but his …

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Nurse's Letters Come Full Circle

Correspondence from county health nurse completes a long journey back to Leesburg.

Last week I began the tale of a dozen letters that Miss Bess Ott sent to her teenage niece over a six-year period, beginning in 1937. Miss Ott was living in Leesburg, where she was working as the new Loudoun County Health Department’s first public health nurse. Miss Ott never imagined that the letters, which provide a glimpse into life in Leesburg and Loudoun County in the middle of the 20th century, would find their way back to Leesburg more than seven decades later. On February 23, 1941, Miss Ott wrote that her landlady’s sister, Miss Nan McIntosh, had been operated on. She was getting along quite well, but would not be able to go out for some time. Miss Ellen Metzger had been ill in bed with the flu for several days. Miss Ott stayed …

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America Recycles Day in Loudoun County

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors have declared Nov. 15 as a day to recycle.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has proclaimed Thursday, Nov. 15, as America Recycles Day in Loudoun County. In 2011, Loudoun increased its recycling rate by 1.2 percent, recycling over 97,000 tons of material. More than 78 percent of the materials were bottles, glass, paper, plastic, and cans collected through residential and business recycling programs. The Loudoun County government also participates in recycling programs. During the past year, employees recycled over 100 tons of cardboard and paper, as well as plastic, metal and glass containers. Specialists from the Loudoun County Department of Construction and Waste Management suggest the following tips for local residents who would like to recycle: More information about …

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