NVTC Saluted Sen. John Warner with Chairman's Award and David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group Keynoted at Tech Celebration: NVTC's Annual Banquet
(HERNDON, VA, Nov. 20, 2007) - The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) last night honored Sen. John Warner with its prestigious Chairman's Award for his more than 60 years of service to the nation and the Commonwealth of Virginia at Tech Celebration: NVTC's Annual Banquet. David Rubenstein, Co-founder and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, presented the keynote address, "The Increasingly Public Role of Private Equity." The three members of Northern Virginia's U.S. congressional delegation—Congressmen Tom Davis, Jim Moran and Frank Wolf—accepted the Chairman's Award on behalf of Sen. Warner who could not attend due to illness.Upon accepting the Chairman's Award for Sen. Warner, the Congressmen emphasized Senator Warner's integrity and independence and his leadership of a united bipartisan delegation that worked for the good of Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth without regard to political party. Davis stated that, after 29 years in the Senate, John Warner "has become the "Senator's Senator," Congressman Moran said that Sen. Warner is a "consummate gentleman and a true leader" and Congressman Wolf commented that the Senator is known for his "honesty, integrity, patriotism and bipartisanship."
During his very engaging and witty keynote, Rubenstein commented that, in terms of private equity, the "single greatest growth area [in the United States] will be the Washington Metropolitan Area," particularly in the technology and aerospace and defense sectors. The region will continue to experience solid growth and "buyout firms from around the world will pay attention," he said. "Technology buyouts were not something done frequently years ago," Rubenstein said, but he predicts that, going forward, these types of buyouts will happen increasingly, and, in particular, the Washington Metro region because it is the "great global center for technology change."
Rubenstein also predicted that, beginning in 2008, the private equity market will enter a new stage in which it will be more public—as private equity is becoming increasingly monitored by Congress, regulators, the media, labor unions, environmental groups and other interested parties. Private equity firms must retool themselves to be more sensitive and do a better job of explaining what they do in terms of the jobs they create, plants they build and charitable contributions they make. During this new phase, the private equity market also will become more globally competitive, Rubenstein said. Private equity capital is currently the United States' single greatest export, according to Rubenstein. In the future, U.S. private equity firms will face increased competition of a global nature. To remain competitive, firms like Carlyle will invest in areas around the world that promise the greatest growth—Asia, particularly China, and the Middle East.
Special guests at Tech Celebration included Congressman Tom Davis, Jim Moran and Frank Wolf; Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Gerry Connolly; Peter Jobse, President of the Center for Innovative Technology; Lem Stewart, CIO of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Lisa Hicks-Thomas, Deputy Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia; State Senators Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, Toddy Puller and Patsy Ticer; Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Adam Ebbin, Al Eisenberg, Bob Hull, David Marsden, Joe May, Ken Plum, Jim Scott, Mark Sickles and Vivian Watts; Alan Merten, President of George Mason University; Jim Bundschuh, President of Marymount University; and Don Lehman, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The George Washington University.
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