Northrop Grumman Looking to Build in State

MetroNews
7/31/07

Northrop Grumman's President and Chief Operating Officer is meeting this afternoon with officials at West Virginia University. Wes Bush says his company is looking for a place in North Central West Virginia to build it's new National Work Force Center.

Bush says those working at the center will provide technical support to Northrop Grumman projects going on around the country. Northrop Grumman is a global defense and technology company that has contracts with NASA, the U.S. Military and private companies. Bush has already met with folks at Fairmont State and Wheeling Jesuit.

He says they like to partner with higher education institutions to supply research and graduates to work in these types of centers.

Northrop Grumman has identified several locations along the I-79 corridor in North Central West Virginia and will choose one soon.

At first, the center will house 50 new employees with the chance for future expansion. The company will hire software engineers, network engineers, systems engineers, database administrators and other office staff.

Bush says it's part of a new business model that combats out-sourcing. Instead of sending these jobs to other countries where the cost is one-fifth of what it is in the U.S. Bush says they look for rural locations in the U.S. where the cost of doing business is cheaper. He says by moving high-tech jobs out of large cities and into rural communities like those in North Central West Virginia, Northrop Grumman will save money and keep jobs in the U.S.

This will be the third such center Northrop Grumman has opened. The others are Helena, Mont., Sioux City, S.D., and Texas.Northrop Grumman already has a presence in West Virginia. It has offices in Charleston, Martinsburg, Kearneysville and Fairmont. Those offices employ about 75 people right now.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.



Note:
More information is available on Northrop Grumman's website at http://www.northropgrumman.com/presentations/2007/073107_wb_nwfc.html.