Inside the Beltway

New Venture Fund: Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. of Arlington, Va., has created the Pegasus Venture Partners LP, a venture fund with $25 million in resources raised from institutional and individual investors. It will be managed by Gene Riechers, who left his position as chief financial officer of CyberCash, Reston, Va., last month. The fund will focus on Internet and other computer-related businesses in data communications, information technology, multimedia and electronic commerce.

Networking with Whiskey: The Virginia Scotland Partnership, a project managed by the Center for Innovative Technology to encourage partnerships between Virginia and Scottish biotech companies, held a whiskey tasting for biotech executives this week. Attending were representatives from the Virginia Biotechnology Association, the British Embassy, the Atlantic Technology Group and the Scottish Biomedical Trust of Scotland. The networking event was held in conjunction with Bioeast '97, a biotechnology trade show in Washington.

High-Tech Gurus Hailed for Education: Vice President Al Gore presented four high-tech executives with Leadership in Technology Awards last month. The recipients were Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, Robert Palmer, chief executive of Digital Equipment Corp., Bert Roberts, chief executive of MCI Communications Corp., and Gary Beach, chief executive and president of Computerworld Inc. They are founding national sponsors of Tech Corps, a national, nonprofit organization that encourages the use of technology in K-12 education.

GMU Gives Companies Commercial Push: The Entrepreneurship Center at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., started a new program last month to help small businesses reliant on defense-related contracts shift gears to the commercial marketplace. The center is helping businesses learn how to market and compete in the commercial sales world.

Two Virginia Schools Open Joint Facility: The new Virginia Tech/University of Virginia Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church has officially opened for classes this month. The 105,000-square-foot
facility, located between George Mason High School and the West Falls Church Metro station, is the first permanent home for both universities in Northern Virginia.

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