The company, which has branches across the nation but employs 75 here, plans to move from its present office at 7926 Jones Branch Dr. in Tysons Corner this summer. According to Sparta operations manager Doug Price, the company's lease was set to expire anyway, but the construction of several new office buildings in Tysons Corner, including the new Gannett Inc. headquarters next door, helped them make the decision to move out of the area.

"They are bringing in thousands of people, and there are no changes planned to the road system here," says Price. "Given that the cost of renewing our lease in Tysons Corner was high, moving to Centreville had several advantages. One is that we could avoid a lot of traffic and a lot of our people live west of here. Secondly, in order to grow we need to be able to hire people and we believe that by going west, we will attract new employees that would come to Centerville but would not come to Tysons Corner."

Faced with the congestion dilemma, Sparta hired the commercial real estate firm Julian J. Studley Inc. to analyze the company's employee base and commuting patterns. Based on Studley's recommendations, Sparta selected the Trinity Parkway building in Northern Virginia's high-tech corridor because it was the best fit to meet the needs of present and future employees. The new office space, owned by Clark Real Estate Advisors LLC, will allow for a 50% increase in Sparta's employee base.