As the home of patriot-farmers like George Washington and George Mason, the greater Vienna regional area has rural roots. As recently as the 1950s it was one of the leading dairy-producing areas in the Commonwealth. Now it is a world center of commerce, trade and the technology hub of the Eastern United States.

More than 2,200 technology companies have offices here, including leaders in aerospace, e-commerce, Internet services, telecommunications and software development. It is the home of the Internet, with more than half of the world's Internet traffic crossing its borders daily.

In fact, four of the 10 United States full-access Internet service providers were founded in Fairfax County - AOL, UUNet, Cable & Wireless USA, and PSINet. And, Fairfax County is among the top five regions in the United States with the highest number of Internet host computers.Ê Other technology players who call the area home are Fairfax-based web Methods and Vienna-based BioNetrix.

The Washington area has more technology companies and technology workers than any other region in the United States, according to a 1999 study commissioned by the Greater Washington Initiative. And 30 of the 41 Virginia companies in Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 500 list are based in Fairfax County, along with 12 of the 25 largest telecommunications companies.

But we're not just on the Internet; we're helping to make it work. Fairfax County is home to 32 of the 62 firms in the Washington area identified as "major players" in the satellite communications industry. And with the addition of Intel Corporation and Amazon.com's new data centers, the area is home to more than 25 "Internet farms" - centers where computers host many Web sites.

To learn more about how the area is having an impact on the future development and direction of online and e-commerce activity, visit the Vienna Regional Chamber of Commerce at www.viennacc.org, email VRCC@viennacc.org, or call 703-281-1333 between the hours of 9am - 3pm Monday - Thursday, 9am - 12pm Friday.

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