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Business & Tech

2 McLean Companies Named Best for Hourly Workers, Upcoming Women's Leadership Forum

Case to give keynote speech for Capital Connection '12.

Welcome to our new weekly McLean BizBuzz column that will spotlight news from McLean's business neighbors. McLean is home to major companies — Capital One, SAIC, Hilton Hotels, among others — and their CEOs. Here's where you'll find news of what they're up to.

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Two Local Businesses Named Best Companies for Hourly Workers 2012. Capital One Financial and Hilton Worldwide, both based in McLean, have been named two of the 12 best companies in the nation for hourly workers by Working Mother Magazine. According to the magazine, those companies were selected because they "support their hourly employees with flex initiatives, good benefits, and opportunities to contribute ideas and advance into high-level salaried jobs."  To be considered for the award, companies must have at least 500 employees in the United States, and at least half of those workers must be hourly.

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Working Mother magazine selected McLean-based Capital One Financial based on the many policies that benefit its hourly workers. Some of those policies include offering 401(k) plans to those who work at least 20 hours per week, pretax dependent care and health care accounts, as well as the option to purchase discounted stock. The company also offers flexible schedules and free medical screenings.

The magazine selected Hilton Worldwide due, in part, to the discounts it offers employees, flexible schedules, compressed work weeks, and options for those who work in reservations to telecommute. Working Mother Magazine was also impressed by Hilton's in-house university, which "offers more than 2,500 courses, and $1,200 in annual tuition aid" for those employees who work at least 30 hours per week.

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The Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce Annual Women's Leadership Forum. The Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce will hold its second annual Women's Leadership Forum on May 21 at the Capital One Bank Headquarters.

The event will feature keynote speaker Caroline Adams Miller, an internationally known personal coach and author who will talk about "Goals, Choices, Regrets... New Chapter."  The forum will also feature a variety of workshops on topics such as women in business, characteristics of successful women, and networking skills. 

Call 703-356-5424 or visit www.mcleanchamber.org for tickets. The cost is $85 for chamber members and $100 for nonmembers.

Jeremy Gaines to Lead Corporate Communications at Gannett. Jeremy Gaines, former vice president of corporate communications for MSNBC, will soon join McLean-based communications giant Gannett Co. Gaines will serve as vice president of communications for Gannett effective May 21. Gaines was with MSNBC for the past 14 years where he was "instrumental in putting the cable news channel on the map," according to a Gannett news release.

Most recently he was charged with overseeing internal and external communications for the network. Previously he had served as director of strategic development, where he was tasked with "enhancing the network's business, competitive position, and public image," according to Gannett.

McLean's Steve Case to give Keynote Speech for Capital Connection '12. AOL co-founder Steve Case will join this year's Capital Connection as the event's keynote speaker. According to Capital Connection's website, it is "one of the nation's most respected industry conferences, and is designed specifically for top performing companies and innovators with high-growth potential." Capital Connection, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary, calls itself the largest venture capital event of the year.

It brings together more than 800 "seasoned executives, founders and entrepreneurs representing every stage of company development," its website states. The annual event will be held May 23 and 24 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. 

Case was a natural choice to deliver the closing keynote speech based on his reputation as an Internet pioneer, as well as his continued involvement in business and policy, accoridng to Capital Connection.

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