Frances Dattilo, Vice President, Invario Network Engineers

January 28 is Data Privacy Day, a global effort that generates awareness about the importance of data privacy. Data privacy protection can inspire consumer trust, meet legal and compliance requirements, and avoid costly breaches – all of which are good for business.

Olivia McKay, Operations Manager, Arlington Chamber of Commerce

Mastering breakout rooms will give your events a professional feel and allow attendees to focus on their experience. Use this checklist to make sure you are set up for success.

Jack Pittas, Co-Founder of PK Cyber Solutions Inc.

Password management tends to be one of those activities that most people choose to be lazier with. Thanks to the way that TV and movies poorly portray how most cyber breaches are conducted, people don’t realize the true importance of password discipline. But the one statistic that tells the whole story, is that a whopping 81% of data breaches are a result of password compromise (according to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report).

Sarah White, Chief Operating Officer, Cowboy Cafe, Lost Dog Cafe - South Arlington, McLean, Dunn Loring

Looking for a way to get in the holiday spirit? Most restaurants these days have something set up for you to donate money that  they can prepare and deliver to the hospital, fire house, food bank, or any other place you would like. This trend has come about due to Covid 19. Many restaurants have this set up and can even put your money together with others in the community to make these food donations. Many restaurants offer the food at a discount or even do some kind of match with the funds. 

Edward Tuorinsky, Managing Principal, DTS

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements are part of the Pentagon’s mandate to protect industrial base networks and controlled unclassified information from cyber attacks. Posed to impact every company within the Defense Department’s supply chain—not just the defense industrial base—CMMC could affect as many as 300,000 contractors, including many small businesses in our area.

Mary-Claire Burick, President, Rosslyn Business Improvement District

2020 has been a tremendously difficult year for businesses and professionals globally, but it also brought unique opportunities to reimagine the future of the workplace and experiment with new ways of safely bringing teams together for in-person collaboration.

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) & George Mason University (Mason)

“Begin with the end in mind” is a motto frequently shared with students at the beginning of their educational journey at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). This motto reflects the importance of thinking through one’s educational and career goals in order to ensure a student pursues the most appropriate degree and selects the courses necessary to prepare them for their future endeavors. Many students who attend NOVA do so with the intent of transferring to a four-year college or university. While NOVA students transfer to a number of four-year schools, over 3,000 students per year choose to attend George Mason University (Mason).

Haley Boylan, Operations Intern, Arlington Chamber of Commerce

I have been interning at the Arlington Chamber of Commerce for roughly three months. I applied through the college internship and job site called Handshake. I was first interested in the Chamber because of how perfectly it blended my interests of government and business together. 

Eric Lemmer, Esq., Attorney & Counselor at Law, Admitted in Virginia and the District of Columbia, Arlington Law Group

Given the unprecedented economic turmoil caused by COVID-19, there has been a substantial uptick in distressed asset transactions (i.e. the sale of something well below its traditional market value). We have been surprised by the number of these transactions that have lacked traditional due diligence and contingency planning. Seemingly, parties have been willing to ignore traditional risks and are increasingly motivated by fear or greed. However, distressed asset transactions typically have heightened risks associated with them, which justify additional planning from a legal perspective, not less.