By Steve Robblee
Ken Lopez grew up in Alexandria, Va., worked through
high school pumping gas at an Exxon station in the city’s historic
Old Town district, and today lives in the neighborhood among historic
townhouses and the nearby marina.
So when he decided in 1996 to start a business specializing
in creating graphics to use in legal cases, his first thought was…downtown
Washington, D.C. After all, that’s where most of the lawyers -
his potential customers - were.
But then he had another thought, why not Alexandria?
Lopez started Animators at Law in the eclectic neighborhood around Mount
Vernon Ave., but soon moved the business to Powhatan Street in Old Town.
Lopez said that Old Town attracts the creative graphic
designers he’s looking for, and offers options from lunch to auto
repair within walking distance. Plus, the commute is simpler.
“I’m just a quick Rollerblade away,” he said.
Casual observers may think Old Town’s technology
community begins and ends with Motley Fool Inc., the online financial
services company with about 150 employees. But technology startups are
popping up in all corners of Old Town, say executives at tech firms
in the area. At present there are more than 200 companies in Alexandria
designated by the city’s Economic Development Partnership as technology
firms, with more than half located in Old Town.
Many are setting up on side streets and above the
bars, restaurants, and shops that line the ground levels of the main
drags - King Street, Duke Street, and Washington Street.
While the yearly Alexandria Waterfront Festival
in June is better known, the city also sponsors an annual Technology
Achievement Week in March and gives an award to the Alexandria-based
company with the best application and use of technology. Last year’s
winner was Animators at Law.
Brian Loew, chief executive of Internet content
management company Worlweb.net on King Street, saidcity leasers are
accessible and want to be supportive of the local technology companies.
He said Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley recently stopped by to talk -
city officials regularly hold outreach meetings with companies of all
types - and the two discussed starting an organization to foster communication
among the tech companies. The quiet, residential character of the colonial
period section - where Robert E. Lee grew up and George Washington frequently
paused on trips between New York, Philadelphia, and Mount Vernon - should
foster a more collegial atmosphere. But Old Town technology workers
often acknowledge that they are too focused on their own business.
For example, Kathy Kelly, director of public relations
for marketing communications supply company liveprint.com, said she
rarely interacts with employees at GoodHOme.com, a home furnishings
e-commerce company next door.
“I know they’re all here,” Kelly
said of Old Town tech companies. “I just don’t see them everyday.”
The lace of communication among companies is one of several common themes
that emerged after interviews with several Old Town technology businesses.
Adequate parking is a luxury some companies don’t have, and office
space is always at a premium.
“It’s difficult to find large, contiguous
space,” said Worldweb’s Loew. “If you want an office
with 20 people, you’re fine. If you need 100 people, it might be
more difficult.”
Arlington, Va.-based Cyveillance Inc. left Old Town
last May after less than a year in Alexandria. The company had 13 employees
when it moved in and about 30 when it left, said Diane Perlman, Cyveillance’s
director of marketing.
The company, now with 80 workers, simply outgrew
the converted townhouse it occupied. Cyveillance, which provides a service
to help clients protect their interests on the Web, moved to the Rosslyn
section of Arlington because it offered more real estate choices while
continuing to mix office, retail, and residential space that was part
of Old Town’s appeal, Perlman said.
A secret among some Old Town’s tech community
is that companies always keep one eye out for new available space. Worldweb
is in the process of moving to larger digs at Canal Center Plaza on
Old Town’s waterfront. Lopez is planning a move to a new Old Town
site within the next six months. But the lease hasn’t been signed,
and Lopez won’t disclose the new location for fear another firm
might steal the space.
Technology executives say they’re willing to
pout up with Old Town’s inconveniences because they’ve become
attached to the atmosphere. Old Town is reminiscent of many college
towns, with narrow streets lined with small, local shops, restaurants
and bars.
Many of the firms in Old Town say the area feels
more amenable to creativity. There’s a heavy concentration of new
media, such as animation, software development, and online publishing.
“The kind of atmosphere I want is not, ‘Hey look at that toll
road, isn’t that neat!’” Lopez said.
Liveprint’s Kelly added: “it’s not hardware-oriented
like in the Dulles corridor. It’s more of a commerce-oriented feel.”
In truth, there are plenty of e-commerce sites in
Fairfax and Loudoun counties to the west. But there is also a heavy
telecommunications emphasis because of the infrastructure in those areas.
And the drive into Old Town is relatively easy, executives said, because
it’s a reverse commute from Fairfax County and Washington. That
could change, however, when construction to replace the Woodrow Wilson
bridge across the Potomac begins soon.
Worldweb’s Loew grew up in Alexandria, and
despite his affinity for the area, he just moved to Fairfax. His fiancée
wanted to live in a house with a yard, something both rate and expensive
in Alexandria.
He likes the new house, and the commute is an acceptable 20 minutes,
but he said, “I kind of miss Old Town, to be honest with you.”
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Animators at Law
National Headquarters
814 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
800.337.7697
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