Business and industry in the greater Vienna regional area has never been better! Four of Fortune magazine's "Best 100 Companies to Work for in America" -MicroStrategy, Capital One, SRA International, and American Management Systems - are based in the area. A fifth, America Online, was founded in Fairfax County. The county has the largest number of jobs and the largest labor force in the Washington area.Ê Also, the county has the highest median household income ($84,000) in the United States.

Fairfax County is home to 148 foreign-owned firms, more than any other jurisdiction in the Washington area. These firms employ about 10,990 people. Twenty of Inc. magazine's 500 fastest-growing private companies are located in the area, including two companies in the top 20. Five Fairfax County-based companies are on Black Enterprise magazine's list of the 100 largest black-owned firms, and sixteen companies are on Hispanic Business magazine's list of the 500 largest Hispanic-owned firms. Still, approximately 90 percent of the companies in the area are small businesses with fewer than 100 employees and less than $1 million in annual revenue.

Major employers include AOL, Computer Sciences Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, INOVA Health Care Services, MCIWorldcom/UUNet and Kaiser Permanente. Employment rates for the area are at all-time highs, and the technology sector has driven per capita income upward more than half again the national average.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority governs both Dulles and Washington National Airports. A $1 billion Capital Development program underway at both facilities has already expanded airport capacity and will ensure the highest levels of passenger comfort and convenience into the 21st century. Combined with other significant infrastructure investments including Metrorail, highway overhauls and expanded commuter lines, the greater Vienna regional area is poised to grow well into the future.

The heart of the business community for the greater Vienna regional area is the Vienna Regional Chamber of Commerce. There, members from each of the primary business sectors - aerospace, energy/environment, biotech/biomed/bioinformatics, systems engineering, telecommunications, Internet/e-commerce, and software/hardware engineering - along with their peers, colleagues and counterparts conduct business that returns benefits and dividends to the local community.

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