Virginia firm plans Fayette expansion
Leasing space and creating work for 15 to 30 people is just the first step toward building a Fayette County presence for a Virginia company. On Monday, S. Kent Rockwell, chairman and CEO of SenSyTech, a Newington, Va.-based firm specializing in electronic systems for the defense and intelligence communities, announced plans to lease a hangar at Connellsville Airport for a testing and assembly facility.
But that is just the opener to a longer-range program that could create more than 100 new jobs here in the next several years, Rockwell said.
SenSyTech is a 20-year-old company that was recapitalized in 1998. It has three main division: defense systems program, communications group and imaging group.
The company is a technology leader in system design, software development, hardware manufacture, and in support of threat warning systems, electronic reconnaissance systems, satellite ground receiving systems, communications equipment and multispectral scanners and digital imaging equipment to U.S. and worldwide markets.
Rockwell said his company will set up the Test Integration Center for the Navy’s Surface Ship Torpedo Defense program at the airport site. The facility will run trials and tests for components of the AN/SLQ 25-A torpedo countermeasure system. In addition, SenSyTech will manufacture electronic card drawers associated with the electronic cabinets of the SLQ 25A in this same building. This manufacturing effort is in addition to the 25A winch recently contracted with Shumar’s Welding and Fabrication in Brier Hill.
Rockwell explained the company employs about 200 people in three production centers and two job shops across the country. Work being done presently at its Farmingdale, N.J., plant is going to be brought to Fayette County.
Anticipated employment will be from 15 to 30 people initially, Rockwell said.
“This is equivalent employment,’ he added, explaining that subcontractors he will work with will create some of the jobs.
“We will work with the community to distribute these jobs,’ he said. “We are not going to come in here to compete. If someone here is skilled at making cabinets that we need, for example, we will subcontract that work to them. There are going to be professional jobs as well as some labor jobs coming out of this.
“In 2003 we will move from 30 to about 100 jobs, based on the funding for the program and what we believe will happen. In 2004, we see that rising to in excess of 100 jobs and 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of work space,’ he said.
The hangar, owned by Dr. Harry Sampey, who operates the Outerlab Research Center, Ohiopyle, and Joe Hardy, 84 Lumber owner, is expandable to 15,000 square feet, Rockwell said.
“We hope to make this the worldwide center for the 25A,’ Rockwell added.
In a way, the announcement marks a return for Rockwell who said he started at Connellsville Airport 35 years ago. Rockwell also did business here in the 1980s. Willard Rockwell, his father, owned Nemacolin Trail Hunting Preserve in Farmington, which the younger Rockwell turned into a public resort. However, in December 1986, the resort filed for creditor protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Act. In 1987, Hardy purchased the bulk of the property for $3.1 million in a public auction.
Rockwell said it will be summer before the new facility at the airport gets under way.
He also credited help from U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) in getting funding for the torpedo defense and other programs.
Murtha added $5 million to the Defense Department budget in 2002 for the program. Some of those funds will be subcontracted to other companies in the region, according to Murtha’s office, including:
??Shumar’s Welding, where Murtha recently announced creation of eight to 10 new jobs based on contracts to manufacture winches for the SSTD program.
? Pennsylvania State University’s Distributive Engineering Center, which will be located at Penn State Fayette Campus and create several jobs coordinating design and engineering among various partners on several Navy programs.
??Penn State Tool & Die in East Huntingdon Township, where Murtha recently joined in a groundbreaking for the company’s expansion.
??Concurrent Technologies Corporation in Johnstown, which will assist in the development of new materials for the next-generation winches.
“Navy ships are central to our military strength because they bring aircraft, cruise missiles and embarked marines to bear in support of our military action,” Murtha said. “One of the greatest threats faced by Navy ships is a torpedo attack. The Navy’s Surface Ship Torpedo Defense program is designed to thwart a torpedo attack to allow our ships to continue to perform their mission and to protect the lives of the sailors and marines on board. The combination of SenSyTech’s expertise and the establishment of a growing manufacturing capability in Fayette County is a win-win situation for both our area and for the United States Navy.”