Fairfax County leaders want blockchain technology startups to help fill the gap left by federal workforce cuts, but the county's main grant program for early-stage founders isn't accepting new applicants.
An op-ed published Tuesday in the McLean Connection, co-authored by U.S. Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA-11) in his former capacity as Braddock District supervisor and by Supervisor Rodney Lusk, argues that blockchain ventures can create high-wage jobs for software engineers, cybersecurity experts and data scientists whose skills transfer from federal and contracting roles.
"Blockchain startups offer Fairfax a unique opportunity to pivot toward a more resilient economic future," the authors wrote. "These startups can create high-wage jobs for software engineers, cybersecurity experts, data scientists and project managers — many with skill sets transferable from federal or contracting roles."
But the county's own startup grant program can't back that vision right now. The Fairfax Founders Fund, which provides grants of up to $50,000 to early-stage startups, has paused recruiting for future cohorts until new funding becomes available, according to the county's official website. The most recent application round closed in May of last year. To date, 13 companies have received funding from the program's $1 million total investment, with $275,000 disbursed across the first two cohorts. The county takes no equity; applicants must provide a 50% match and have raised less than $1 million in startup funding.
Why the push matters locally
The op-ed lands as Fairfax County's job market absorbs federal contraction. The county's unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to 3.8% as of January, with 6,005 more residents out of work compared to the same month the prior year, according to state workforce data reported by WTOP.
Economist Keith Waters of George Mason University's Stephen S. Fuller Institute called the trend "a continuation of the contraction in the federal workforce following the federal workers who took the deferred retirement package in October."
County Executive Bryan Hill said in an April interview with WTOP that 66,000 job openings remained across Northern Virginia despite the rising unemployment. The challenge, he said, is matching displaced workers' skills to available positions.
The op-ed points to Capital One, which holds dozens of blockchain-related patents covering authentication, data security and claims management, and to MicroStrategy (which the authors refer to as "Strategy B"), a Northern Virginia firm they describe as the world's largest Bitcoin treasury company. The op-ed also states the county board has explored allowing tax payments via bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, though no vote or resolution date was cited.
Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, who represents McLean and Great Falls, met with the McLean Chamber of Commerce in June to discuss downtown economic development, though no blockchain-specific details emerged from that meeting.
McLean-area entrepreneurs interested in the Fairfax Founders Fund can contact Wendy Lemieux at the Department of Economic Initiatives (703-424-1805 or [email protected]) for updates on when new cohort applications reopen.
