Feature

Software development startup Cosmonic announces $8.5M in seed funding

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Cosmonic, a software startup founded by a Cherrydale resident, just announced $8.5 million in seed funding.

The company provides developers with tools and services that make it easier for them to build software applications in the cloud — like Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure — rather than building such applications in traditional data centers and then retrofitting them for the cloud.

“We are on a mission to bring back joy to the art of developing cloud-native software,” said co-founder and CEO Liam Randall in a press release.

Over the last decade, many companies have transitioned from running their software applications using in-house hardware to running them on “cloud” servers accessed via the internet. But Randall said this transition has mired software development in complexities, which has slowed down innovation.

So Cosmonic’s tools make it easier to build software applications on a “cloud-native” platform, which requires no hardware, needs 95% less coding and is more secure, he says.

Randall tells ARLnow he got the idea to found the company after he helped build this new platform while working as the vice president of innovation for Capital One in Tysons.

“Capital One was wonderful because it gave me insight into the complexities of operating thousands of applications over long periods — and we built an open-source platform called wasmCloud to help solve those,” he said.

Cosmonic logo (courtesy photo)

Relying on that experience, he said in the press release that Cosmonic’s tools will change how applications are developed, deployed and managed.

“The funding will enable us to support developers working in early-stage, rapid and interactive environments — allowing them to transform applications from napkin sketch to scale in minutes,” he said in the statement. “Future releases will offer the advantages of high reliability and lower long-term software maintenance costs.”

Randall said he founded the company in 2021, adding that the name refers to how it allows companies to operate in any cloud.

“As it transcends our current method of deploying applications into a single cloud, we wanted to convey the vastness of space — Cosmonic was designed around quickly enabling secure distributed software,” he said.

Currently, the startup employs 10 people full time and has a dozen part time employees. Randall says he intends to hire more people over the next few months as the product goes to market.

Randall has worked in the D.C. area for many years. Before working at Capital One, he founded a company, Critical Stack, which he later sold to the financial firm, which is headquartered in Tysons.

When he’s not starting companies, Randall says he can be found with his wife and three kids enjoying the Custis Trail.

Arlington home hunt highlights for Oct 28, 2022

By ARLnow.com
1/2

Hello Arlington and happy Friday!

It looks to be a cool, clear weekend ahead and a great time to visit an open house or two.

According to Homesnap, there are  548 homes currently for sale. Of those homes for sale, 328 are condos, 185 are detached homes and 35 are townhomes. The median list price is $699,00 and the median sales price is $570,000, with an average days on market of 62.

Here’s a look at some of the open houses taking place this weekend:

  • 1930 N. Woodrow Street, Waverly Hills*
    4 BR, 4 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Walkable neighborhood; Glebe, Dorothy Hamm, Yorktown schools nearby
    Listed: $899,000
    Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Betsy Twigg)
  • 2222 N. Vermont Street
    7 BR, 7.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Covered porch, 10 foot ceilings, wine cellar
    Listed: $2,388,000
    Open: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (Aznita Neri – Samson Properties)
  • 4903 14th Street N.
    3 BR, 2.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Screened front porch, solar panels, one car garage
    Listed: $1,075,000
    Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Natalie Roy – KW Metro Center)
  • 2001 N. Brandywine Street
    4 BR, 3.5 BA townhome
    Noteworthy: Two fireplaces, brick patio, wet bar
    Listed: $964,900
    Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Gabriel Deukmaji – KW Metro Center)
  • 1600 N. Oak Street #521 
    2 BR, 2 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Renovated, enclosed balcony, hardwood floors
    Listed: $709,000
    Open: Saturday, 12-2 p.m. (Lisa Young – RE/MAX Distinctive Real Estate)

See all Arlington open house listings here.

Here are some other options to consider if you’re in the market to rent or buy:

  • 801 S Veitch Street
    5 BR, 4.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Finished walk-out basement, new wood floors and ceilings
    Listed: $5,800/mo
    Open: Saturday, 12-3 p.m. (Mohammed Hoque – Samson Properties)
  • 1830 Columbia Pike #106
    2 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Corner unit, balcony, remodeled kitchen
    Listed: $314,900
    Open: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (Steven Lew – Compass)
  • 1121 Arlington Boulevard #928
    1 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Assigned parking space and storage, hardwood floors
    Listed: $168,000
    Open: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (Yue He – Century 21 New Millenium)

Want your listing to appear here or as the Listing of the Day? You can now submit sponsored listings.

* Denotes sponsored listing

4903 14th Street N. image via Google Maps

South Arlington engineer reinvents his career, starting a company that cuts and sells gems

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

South Arlington resident Ricardo Buitrago brings an engineer’s eye to the delicate work of cutting and setting gemstones.

Trained as a mechanical engineer in Colombia, Buitrago worked with solar panels, and later glass and cars. He left all that behind and immigrated to Boston, without any knowledge of English.

Like many immigrants, he took hard jobs to learn the language and make ends meet. After 10 years, he moved to Arlington, where he has built a life with his wife and daughter over the last decade, and earned his master’s from George Washington University in systems engineering and computer science.

But Buitrago’s real love has always been energy production, and his white whale, a perpetual motion machine. These passions have taken him far from mechanical engineering and into the brilliant and — in his words — spiritual realm of gems. His deep fascination with their colors and the energy they produced compelled him to learn how to hew their rough exteriors; today, he sells jewelry made from gems he cut and fit into settings through a business called GalaxyGems.

“It was kind of a hobby at the beginning,” he said. “I was trying to make something beautiful for my daughter and wife. Later, as the pieces were getting more beautiful, we thought, ‘Maybe we can sell them as jewelry.'”

Ricardo Buitrago hand-cutting gemstones (courtesy photo)

He got his start watching videos and reading books and taught himself how to cut gemstones. He bought a cheap mechanism that he tinkered with until it could be used to make precise cuts into gems, saving himself between $6,000 and $9,000 on machinery. Everything for the company he and his wife did in-house, including videos for the website.

Like engineering, cutting gemstones gives him the satisfaction of turning a vision for a product into a real thing to enjoy.

“Every stone is a different product,” he said. “It gives us so much pleasure to start with something rough and make it something marvelous… It takes a lot of effort [to create] something that is so brilliant and perfect, in some way.”

In the near future, Buitrago says he’ll start designing his own settings and experiencing with alternatives to sterling silver settings and chains, such as wood or plastic.

“The idea is to make the whole product very original… something that is a trademark — to make a difference in the market,” he said.

What brings him the most pleasure, however, is when people move beyond the beauty of the stone, and talk to him about their power and properties.

“It’s rare to find someone like that,” he said.

Although GalaxyGems is a full-time job, Buitrago still finds some spare moments to tinker with designs for a gem-powered perpetual motion machine.

“People don’t understand how energy comes from stone and how that can translate to energy that helps us move things, but I think there is a path,” he said.

Zero-waste delivery startup expanding reach in Arlington after $38M in new funding

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

A startup that bills itself as a “modern-day milkman” is deepening its reach in Arlington after securing $38 million in new funding.

The Rounds delivers home essentials, like cleaning supplies, and goods from local companies such as D.C.-based Compass Coffee and Seylou Bakery, in reusable or sustainable packaging. On the same day of each week, members swap their empty containers for replenished products.

After launching in Philadelphia in 2019, The Rounds expanded into D.C., Virginia and Miami over the last year. Today, it serves about 10,000 members, according to a blog post announcing the funding.

The Rounds will be expanding its reach first via pick-up at two locations in Arlington: Compass Coffee in Rosslyn (1201 Wilson Blvd) and Movement Crystal City (1235 S. Clark Street). Pick-up is also available from Alexandria’s Sportrock Climbing Centers (5308 Eisenhower Ave).

“Pickup locations are usually what we start out with in new zip codes where we’re still building up a Member base and setting up our refillment centers in that location, so we usually lean on them as we’re getting set up and then transition to at-door delivery when we can support it,” says Nikhita Prasanna, the chief of staff at The Rounds.

The Rounds is now offering a pick-up option for Arlington residents living in the 22202, 22211, 22213, 22214, 22203, 22204, 22205 and 22206 zip codes, Prasanna says. For now, it’s only delivering to residents in the 22201, 22207 and 22203 zip codes.

As for why The Rounds has chosen climbing gyms, she says that is because a lot of its target audience climbs recreationally.

“When we started doing events at climbing gyms, we noticed that people were super excited about The Rounds and regularly came to the climbing gym as part of their weekly routine,” she tells ARLnow. “So, we worked with our climbing gym partners to set up pickup spots so that when Members come to do their climbing, they can also get refilled. We’re not limited to climbing gyms as the only pick-up spots, but we’ve found that the climbing community tends to be mission-aligned and excited about our service.”

The chief of staff said her team hopes to begin at-door deliveries in these eight Arlington zip codes next year.

That effort could get a boost from an upcoming zoning change. Arlington County may soon allow micro-fulfillment centers as an alternative use for vacant office units, as a way to bring down its 20.8% office vacancy rate and meet an increasing delivery demand.

While Prasanna couldn’t speak to the work the operations team may be doing on this locally, she said that is likely “something we’re exploring to allow us to better serve Arlington residents.”

Meanwhile, The Rounds is looking for more apartment buildings with which to partner.

“We already work with a number building partners in Arlington, and we’re looking to expand partnerships,” she said. “If any reader is excited about our concept and lives in a building they think would be willing to partner, we would love any leads. We’re actively working on building partnerships right now.”

The startup is also planning to use the funding to improve the technology it uses to predict when customers need refills, or its “Psychic Home Manager.”

“We’re able to use technology to build a predictive engine that allows us to anticipate what you need before you run out,” said co-founder Alex Torrey in a statement.

Additionally, The Rounds announced that it is partnering with a tech startup started by General Motors, called BrightDrop, to test out delivery via electric vehicles.

The funding — led by private equity company Redpoint Ventures and venture capital company Andreesen Horowitz — follows a $4 million round of seed funding, per the blog post.

The Rounds co-founders, Alex Torrey and Byungwoo Ko

Arlington home hunt highlights for Oct 14, 2022

By ARLnow.com
1/2

Happy Friday, Arlington!

We have a new round of open houses to explore this weekend, whether you’re looking to buy or rent.

Currently, there are 548 homes for sale. Of those homes, 328 are condos, 185 are detached homes and 35 are townhomes. In the last 4 weeks there have been 164 new listings and 197 sales according to Homesnap.

Here’s a look at some of the open houses taking place this weekend:

  • 1833 N. Columbus Street, (Highview Park)*
    6 BR, 6.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Brand new single-family home in Highview Park!
    Listed: $1,899,900
    Open: Saturday, 12-2 p.m. (Alex Ordonez and Nxt Shell LLC)
  • 5001 34th Street N.
    7 BR, 7.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Gas fireplace, deck, two car garage
    Listed: $2,375,000
    Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Tam Nguyen – KW Metro Center)
  • 1503 S. Stafford Street
    4 BR, 3.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Freshly painted, white oak hardwood floors, deck
    Listed: $1,150,000
    Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m. (Tori McKinney – KW Metro Center)
  • 2300 S. Rolfe Street
    4 BR, 3.5 BA townhome
    Noteworthy: All brick, 3 levels, private stone patio
    Listed: $975,000
    Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Patrick Flynn – Keller Williams Realty)
  • 1411 Key Boulevard #308
    1 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: In-unit washer/dryer, double vanities, den
    Listed: $625,000
    Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Patty Couto – Compass)

See all Arlington open house listings here.

Here are some other options to consider if you’re in the market to rent or buy:

  • 4035 8th Street S.
    4 BR, 3 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Three finished levels, side patio, hardwood floors
    Listed: $4,500/mo
    Open: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (Mass Farzan – Samson Properties)
  • 3601 13th Street N.
    5 BR, 3 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Remodeled kitchen, private deck, updated bathrooms
    Listed: $4,300/mo
    Open: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (Rosa Mascaro – RE/MAX Gateway)
  • 1830 Columbia Pike #307
    1 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Private balcony, new carpet, vinyl floors
    Listed: $245,000
    Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m. (Angelique Andrae – Human Places, LLC)

Want your listing to appear here or as the Listing of the Day? You can now submit sponsored listings.

* Denotes sponsored listing

2300 S. Rolfe Street image via Google Maps

Crystal City-based lender finds new ways to invest in underserved communities

By Matt Blitz

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated 12:40 p.m. on 10/11/22) If you own a local restaurant, grocery co-op or healthcare clinic in an underinvested neighborhood, there’s a good chance that Arlington-based Capital Impact Partners can help find money to assist your business.

Capital Impact Partners (CIP), which has been in Crystal City for 40 years, is a Community Development Financial Institution aimed at helping lower-income and racially diverse communities secure loans as well as capital and financial assistance.

And this summer, CIP joined forces with lender CDC Small Business Finance and lending software company Ventures Lending Technologies to help clients more effectively. They are together known as Momentus Capital. The new group is already heating up the region’s economy, according to the Washington Business Journal, which named it as an honoree of its 2022 Inno on Fire Awards program.

“Small business owners, developers, and other local leaders are the engines of job creation and economic activity in communities across the country. When these leaders have the opportunity to succeed, their communities, their residents — and our country — thrive,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Momentus Capital, in a statement. “We need bold thinking and a holistic approach to unleash solutions for underestimated communities. Momentus Capital was created to meet that challenge.”

Carr, who led CIP, and Kurt Chilcott, at the time the leader of CDC Small Business Finance and now the chair of both organizations’ boards, began developing the idea for Momentus in 2019. Under the new umbrella organization, the companies will still operate as one, although they will be maintained as separate legal entities, providing but their clients will now have access to more resources and products.

A small food business that Capital Impact Partners helped fund as part of Nourish DC (courtesy of Capital Impact Partners)

For instance, Momentus is developing new lending and investing products aimed at helping people who have historically been denied access to funding. It provides borrowers with training, mentorship and networking opportunities and also provides technical support to community-based organizations and lenders.

This is the kind of work that CIP has been doing since its founding in 1982. Now a national organization, with offices in Oakland, Detroit, Austin and New York, the company got its start in Crystal City, where its headquarters remain at 1400 Crystal Drive.

“We are always thinking about racial equity, the racial wealth gap, what was our role in that as lenders, and how can we create more access to capital in a more holistic way, deep in communities,” says Alison Powers, director of economic opportunities at Capital Impact Partners. “I like to think we’ve been one of the leaders when it comes to thinking about those questions.”

That might mean helping to secure a loan for a family-owned pharmacy in Green Valley or pinpointing a grant that might assist with staffing at a small, immigrant-owned restaurant on Columbia Pike.

Powers said this work reverses exclusionary systems in the U.S., such as redlining, which prevented communities of color and low-income families from getting home loans because their neighborhoods were deemed too risky for investment.

“How we think about credit and risk and underwriting has really been influenced by the history of the U.S. and who is perceived as being good candidates for access to certain financial products,” she says.

(more…)

For the Arlington Little League A’s, baseball is a game of growth

By Matt Blitz
The Arlington Little League A’s team photo (photo courtesy of Dan Uscinski)

They say baseball is a game of inches. Okay, maybe that’s football. But for one Arlington Little League team, this can be taken somewhat literally.

The Athletics (A’s, for short) are a team made up of players and coaches who have been together for as long as six years, very much a rarity in a league where players often find themselves with new teammates every season.

This means they’ve seen each other grow up, in literal inches, from five-year-old tee-ballers to 11-year-old grand slam hitters.

“I have loved to see the team grow and I feel like we’ve bonded and made a lot of good memories and friends together on this team,” 11-year-old Alex Ng told ARLnow, who’s been on the team since he was six. “Players have come and gone, but the heart of the team is really nice to be around.” 

At this level of Little League (the “majors”) teams are drafted, with the most skilled players often going first as is the case in the professional leagues. But A’s coach Dan Uscinski, or “Coach Dan,” has decided that their draft strategy is different: Pick the kids who’ve played together on their team before.

“It’s not like this is a blockbuster squad that I’ve manipulated the system to keep them together,” he said. “I thought it was important for these kids to just keep the team dynamic together as long as possible.” 

The kids come from schools across the county, including Fleet Elementary and Thomas Jefferson Middle. This fall, they are playing their games at newly-renovated Jennie Dean Park.

Most seasons the team loses just as many times as they win, but that’s kind of the point. The players are learning how to win — and lose — together while growing and developing as a team. And making long-lasting friendships along the way.

“We built a pretty fun environment for the kids as a team. Kids go out, play for each other, and they built friendships out of it because baseball is ultimately supposed to be fun,” Uscinski said. “I’ve formed friendships that’ll last a lifetime too.”

Maya Kaufman has been on Coach Dan’s team since 2017 when she was six. She said that because the team has been together so long, they all know what each other is good at and what they need to work on.

“Because I’m so close with all these people, we give each other feedback and can tell each other what we need to do [better]… we pump each other up, but help each other know that you could have done this better,” Kaufman said. “If I was on another team, that might not happen.”

One of her favorite things is that over the years they’ve been able to come up with “funkier chants” than other teams.

“A lot of other teams have generic chants,” she said.

Jason Kaufman is an assistant coach on the team (and Maya’s dad). He says that’s probably the best part of it all, the kids are having fun and learning what it means to be responsible to one another.

“They don’t always work hard, but they are always having fun,” he said. “And they are certainly accountable to each other.” 

And, this past spring, something special happened. Getting over a slow start, the team finished with a winning record and got into the playoffs. Then, they rattled off a bunch of upset wins to get into the championship game.

“Then, we got our butts kicked,” Uscinski laughed.

(more…)

Voice tech conference returns to Crystal City for second year

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) A conference highlighting innovations in how people talk to their technology is returning to Crystal City next Monday.

VOICE22 will feature speakers from national and international companies and has backing from big-name tech companies, including Amazon, Google and Salesforce.

The conference is “the world’s largest voice-tech trade event and conference” said Pete Erickson, who founded the Ballston-based startup Modev, which is hosting the event.

“This market is being made before our eyes as people, machines and algorithms are increasingly working in tandem, making Conversational AI a must-have for most consumer-facing organizations,” said Erickson.

Scheduled speakers represent JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Instacart, Nat Geo, Intuit, Capital One and NPR. The conference will feature panels on customer service, retail, entertainment and publishing, transportation, healthcare, and financial technology.

“Modev is bringing the top brands in the world together to accelerate Conversational AI with our clients, and VOICE22 is the perfect showcase for high-profile key decision-makers, partners and influencers to shape this global market,” Erickson said.

Erickson founded Modev, a Ballston-based startup that also produces the VOICE Global event, presented by Google Assistant, and the award-winning VOICE Talks internet talk show.

North of 600 attendees are expected to attend, but Modev is shooting for 1,000. Attendees represent companies around the world, but a few in attendance hail are regional, including McLean-based Witlingo and Centreville-based XAPP.AI.

The local startup’s conference, now in its fifth year, was held in Arlington for the first time in 2021. The 2018 and 2019 conferences were both held in Newark, New Jersey and together attracted some 7,000 attendees. The conference was held virtually in 2020 due to the pandemic.

This was the first major tech event to relocate to the area since Amazon announced it would build its second headquarters in Pentagon City in 2018, Arlington Economic Development previously said.

VOICE22 kicks off on Monday, Oct. 10 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City (2799 Richmond Hwy) and will run through Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Promotional graphic for the VOICE22 conference in Crystal City (courtesy photo)

Arlington home hunt highlights (Sep 30, 2022)

By ARLnow.com
3800 Fairfax Drive Unit 1304

TGIF Arlington! We have a rainy weekend ahead as we say hello to October and a new round of open houses.

According to Homesnap, there are 563 homes for sale. Of those homes for sale, 334 are condos, 185 are detached homes and 44 are townhomes.

Here’s a look at some of the open houses taking place this weekend:

  • 3800 Fairfax Drive, Unit 1304, Virginia Square*
    3 BR, 2 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Direct views of the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol and National Cathedral
    Listed: $815,000
    Open: Sunday, October 2, 1-4 p.m. (Liz Lord)
  • 2607 S. June Street
    6 BR, 4 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Brick parking pad, screened porch, freshly painted
    Listed: $1,495,000
    Open:     Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Tonya Finlay – KW Metro Center)
  • 701 25th Street S.
    3 BR, 2.5 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Two levels, rear entrance to deck and garden
    Listed: $899,000
    Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m. (Nicky McDonnell – Compass)
  • 2023 N. Smythe Street
    2 BR, 1 BA semi-detached
    Noteworthy: Brick duplex, two-tiered patio
    Listed: $680,000
    Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m. (Keri Shull – Optime Realty)
  • 1021 N. Garfield Street #B38
    2 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Hardwood floors, oversized windows, center island kitchen
    Listed: $589,000
    Open: Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (James Gregory – Washington Fine Properties, LLC)

See all Arlington open house listings here.

Here are some other options to consider if you’re in the market to rent or buy:

  • 2025 N. Cameron Street
    4 BR, 2 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Freshly painted, new carpet, deck
    Listed: $3,600/mo
    Open: Saturday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Kristin Francis – KW Metro Center)
  • 26 S. Old Glebe Road #105B
    1 BR, 1 BA condo
    Noteworthy: Updated kitchen, renovated bathroom, one parking space
    Listed: $1,685/mo
    Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Michael Reiley – RE/MAX Allegiance)
  • 1718 N. Wayne Street
    7 BR, 6 BA single-family detached
    Noteworthy: Back deck, detached garage, finished basement
    Listed: $2,949,999
    Open: Sunday, 12-2 p.m. (James Baer – RE/MAX Distinctive Real Estate)

Want your listing to appear here or as the Listing of the Day? You can now submit sponsored listings.

* Denotes sponsored listing

Arlington native Alexandra Turshen is the boss in the new Netflix series Partner Track

By Matt Blitz
Alexandra Turshen in Netflix’s “Partner Track” (photo courtesy of Netflix)

Within the first five minutes of Netflix’s new series Partner Track, Arlington native and Yorktown High School graduate Alexandra Turshen already has her “boss” moment by telling the new paralegal to get his feet off the desk.

“I would be lying if I said that I didn’t always want to play a fierce Manhattan lawyer,” Turshen told ARLnow, laughing. “The role of Rachel is so aligned with who I am. She’s a boss.”

But before 36-year-old Turshen was starring as “Rachel,” the best friend in a romantic comedy about lawyers climbing the ladder, she was a boss in the Yorktown marching band.

“Your girl was playing cymbals with the best of them,” Turshen said. “We were absolutely the coolest kids in town. I can say with absolute certainty that the best time I had in high school was being part of the symphonic band and marching band.”

From slamming cymbals at Yorktown to being a fictional high-powered attorney on a Netflix show, it’s been a bit of a journey for the hometown actor.

Turshen grew up in the Rock Spring neighborhood of North Arlington, within walking distance of Yorktown High.

Performing arts has always been, quite literally, in her blood. Her mom, who still lives in Arlington, was a music teacher for nearly 50 years working mostly in D.C. and Fairfax County. Her dad was an Arlington attorney. The two met doing community theater at the Hexagon, a long-running political satire musical theater in D.C.

“My family has always this real appreciation and foundation in music and performance,” Turshen said.

And Turshen followed in her family’s musical footsteps, playing the string bass in Yorktown’s symphonic band and cymbals in the marching band.

“The whole band would walk uniformly out to the field to the beat of the drums with the cymbals right in front. It was such a great feeling,” she said.

But Turshen dreamed of dancing. So, she joined a program while at YHS where she left school early for lessons at the Washington Ballet Company. She would wear “leotards and tights” under her clothes at school all day and leave right after band class to make her way downtown. While she loved dancing, her body didn’t.

“As it turns out, my body just kinda gave out. I got injured… the tendons and ligaments started tearing in my feet and they just really couldn’t take the 9 to 5 job as a ballerina,” Turshen said.

So, she went to college in Massachusetts and studied international human rights. But she missed performing, so shortly after graduating she moved to New York to become an actor.

Arlington native Alexandra Turshen (photo courtesy of Netflix)

It wasn’t easy, though. There were times when she wanted to give up, but early on she got advice that “perseverance, persistence, and patience” is how one makes in the industry.

For Turshen, that’s held true. She has had plenty of roles over the years, but it’s taken time to build her career.

“It’s so heartbreaking. It’s so brutal. You get so close sometimes and then it just doesn’t go your way and then it can really get you down. After five years, after ten years, or 12 years, it wears on you,” she lamented. “You really have to have a strong sense of purpose, and you have to believe in yourself when others don’t. And that takes practice, especially as the years turn into decades.”

(more…)

Federated Wireless to relocate to Crystal City, bring new 5G capability to the area

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated 11/06/22 at 11:40 p.m.) Ballston-based Federated Wireless is moving its corporate headquarters to Crystal City — and it is bringing 5G connectivity with it.

The move marks the next step developer JBG Smith is taking to turn the area into the world’s first large-scale “Smart City,” with futuristic experiences such as self-driving cars and virtual reality powered by a speedy wireless network.

Federated Wireless, currently located at 4075 Wilson Blvd, will occupy approximately 36,000 square feet of office space at 2121 Crystal Drive, per a press release from property owner and developer JBG Smith.

This building is home to aerospace company Lockheed Martin and a park, as well as a forthcoming restaurant called “Surreal.”

As part of the move, the wireless services company will design, deploy and manage 5G Private Wireless networks for commercial tenants and residents living and working in JBG Smith’s offices and apartments in Pentagon City, Crystal City and Potomac Yard (known collectively as National Landing).

The area is saturated with companies that need what private 5G provides: high-speed data and few communication delays. National Landing’s roster includes Amazon’s second headquarters, Boeing’s recently relocated global headquarters, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and numerous tech, defense and cybersecurity companies.

“We will be developing a showcase to demonstrate the power and cutting-edge capability that Private Wireless can bring defense contractors, government, retail clients, residential tenants, smart cities, and other customers and citizens in the area,” Federated Wireless Chief Commercial Officer Chris Swan said in a statement.

That could draw more innovative companies to the area, too.

JBG Smith has said its “smart city” would be replete with Internet-connected devices supporting futuristic experiences such as self-driving vehicles, immersive and augmented reality, building automation and environmental sustainability.

2121 Crystal Drive (via Google Maps)

The company already had expansive real estate holdings, from existing office space and apartments to developable land, to realize this goal — but it needed the technology to do so.

Over the last two years, it has assembled the radio frequencies and fiber networks needed to support the vision.

In 2020, JBG purchased seven blocks of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission. In 2021, it announced partnerships with AT&T and Arlington County to bring about ubiquitous indoor and outdoor public 5G in 2021.

And now, Federated Wireless is providing a third piece to the puzzle.

“Cloud, Edge, and [Internet of Things] combined with 5G Private Wireless represent a once in a generation opportunity to transform buildings, cities, and citizens’ experience. The game-changer here is that the 5G Private Wireless network we’re building with JBG Smith is the catalyst that will bring that reality to life in National Landing,” Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi said in a statement.

“Our partnership with JBG Smith is all about enabling shared spectrum solutions to power the next generation of connected businesses, cities and people,” he added.

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