Rep. John Murtha, Northrop Grumman Announce Johnstown Expansion Plans
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Company brings healthcare business to area
JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Nov. 2, 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa) announced today plans for the consolidation of operations in Johnstown and the opening of a new office in the city to expand the company's support of the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal agencies and the commercial healthcare industry.
"The expansion of Northrop Grumman, bringing their worldwide defense expertise to the Johnstown Technology Park along with the potential for more than 50 new jobs in our local economy, adds further proof that Western Pennsylvania has arrived as a hub for international business and the nation's security and defense work," Murtha said. "Northrop Grumman also has a reputation for involvement in the communities where they have offices, and I look forward to their commitment."
"We are grateful to the Johnstown community, the city and state leadership, representative Murtha, and the people of Pennsylvania, all of whom have welcomed Northrop Grumman and made Johnstown a great place to do business," said Jerry Agee, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector. "Support from the community and leadership is fundamental to Northrop Grumman's expansion in Johnstown, and we are proud to be considered an integral part of the Johnstown community."
The Northrop Grumman offices will be housed in a building under development by Conemaugh Enterprises, Inc. and will be part of the new Johnstown Technology Park located adjacent to the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. Occupancy is scheduled for spring 2008.
Northrop Grumman employees from the company's Mission Systems and its Information Technology businesses will occupy approximately 30,000 square feet of the new three story building. As part of the company's expansion in Johnstown, it will open an office that will concentrate on a healthcare information technology initiative (IT), a new company focus in Johnstown. As part of the consolidation within the city, Northrop Grumman will relocate employees from its existing advanced collaboration facility at the Johnstown Commerce Center to the new site when the building opens.
The new healthcare IT initiative will include launching a software research and development project in Johnstown. This project will ultimately result in the creation of a development lab for electronic health record and health information exchange, in collaboration with a commercial health system client.
Steve Perkins, vice president of Washington Operations for Northrop Grumman's Information Technology sector, said the city of Johnstown and the state of Pennsylvania have been supportive of the company's vision and goals. He added that the company is excited about bringing a new line of work to Johnstown and increasing employment in the region over the next two years.
"This has been the goal with the tech park from its beginning: to create new, family-sustaining jobs in the area, not just shuffle existing jobs," says Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the Conemaugh Health System. "And, we couldn't be happier about working with Northrop Grumman. Their advance team loved it here and we look forward to introducing Johnstown and the surrounding area to more newcomers."
The state-of-the-art facility will focus on the development of advanced collaboration technology and software-based tools that enable people in their offices or on the battlefield to share information, coordinate efforts and solve problems. In addition to collaboration tools, the facility will be equipped with advanced communications, simulation, modeling and visualization systems and will be linked with other Northrop Grumman operations, laboratories and networks in support of various programs including the healthcare IT initiative and the Kinetic Energy Intercept (KEI) program, a mobile missile-defense system that, when deployed, will be able to destroy a hostile missile during its boost, ascent or early midcourse phase of flight.
Northrop Grumman has established close collaborative relationships with area universities and businesses that also provide support to KEI, and the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2)-Blue Force Tracking program, which provides joint coalition forces with a clear, continuous view of the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition to these programs, Northrop Grumman's Johnstown team supports the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Network Video Services II (DVS-II) program, providing advanced video teleconferencing to the Defense Department missions and operations worldwide; and the Distributed Mission Training (DMT) program, in which the company provides technical and management support to a networked, real-time training system incorporating advanced 3-D images and intelligence data that allows pilots at multiple locations to practice missions together.
Northrop Grumman also works closely with Kuchera Defense Systems in Winber, Pa., a subcontractor on KEI. Kuchera is also performing research and development for hardware variants of the FBCB2. Other Kuchera contract awards include manufacturing key components of a helicopter radar-warning system, transmitters for Navy shipboard radar, and automatic test equipment for the Army's Integrated Family of Test Equipment Electro-Optics Test Facility.
In southwestern Pa., Northrop Grumman Mission Systems also works with A.C. Coy Company (Canonsburg), Relex Software corp. (Greenburg), Concurrent Technologies Corp. (Johnstown), and DRS Technologies Inc. (Johnstown).
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With more than 120,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
CONTACT: Marynoele Benson
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
(703) 741-7723
marynoele.benson@ngc.com
