Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has expanded its already strong presence in the Washington, DC area with the opening of a 24, 400-square-foot facility to support activities for the company’s 10-year, $736 million Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – Series R Ground Segment (GOES-R GS) contract. Harris is the program’s prime contractor and systems integrator.
Senior officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Maryland Governor’s office joined senior executives from Harris for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Harris Greenbelt Support Office at 7375 Executive Place.
The office will house about 100 employees of Harris and its GOES-R GS subcontractors, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., and Carr Astronautics. In addition to a development lab, the facility will include a staging area for equipment that ultimately will be installed at government facilities.
The opening continues Harris Corporation’s expansion in Maryland, which is bringing additional high-technology jobs to the area. Harris already employs more than 300 people in Maryland and about 1, 500 in the Metro DC and Virginia area to support critical national programs.
“The close proximity of our new program office to the facilities of NOAA and other federal agencies here in the Maryland-DC-Virginia area helps to develop the collaborative relationships and face-to-face communications that ensure optimum program success, ” said Ray Thorpe, vice president of GOES-R programs for Harris Government Communications Systems. “We are very pleased to be part of the vibrant Maryland business community and appreciate the warm welcome we have received here.”
