Hundreds of Jobs Announced for MATRIC Site - Two Jobs Announcements Come as MATRIC Hosts Annual Meeting
Charleston Daily Mail
October 15, 2008
http://dailymail.com/Business/200810150196
by George Hohmann
Daily Mail Business Editor
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center today announced a partnership that is expected to create more than 150 jobs in South Charleston.
Separately, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito announced $2 million in federal funding for a new MATRIC project expected to create dozens of jobs.The announcements came as MATRIC prepared to host its annual meeting and reception this evening at the Clay Center.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., was scheduled to be at the reception to announce that MATRIC is partnering with Butler International Inc., a technology services firm, to create an engineering design organization - the International Design Center -- at the South Charleston Technology Park, Keith Pauley, MATRIC's chief executive officer, said today.
"Butler provides design and drafting services for major companies like Caterpillar, Sikorsky Aircraft and Mars snack foods," Pauley said. "With this partnership, we can supply the engineering and conceptual design talent and they (Butler) can supply the computer-aided drafting and design-level staff."
Pauley said the partnership will create engineering, design and drafting jobs.
MATRIC already has a wholly owned engineering firm, Mid-Atlantic Technical Engineering, also known as MATE. Pauley said the partnership with Butler "will allow us to service more clients globally and will bring that work right here to West Virginia."
Ed Kopko, chairman and chief executive officer of Butler International, said in a prepared statement, "This business relationship will extend MATRIC's research and development capabilities to Butler's customer base and enable Butler's front-end involvement in higher-level customer projects and programs by providing higher value turnkey solutions."
Butler is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. According to the company's Web site, Butler has 3,800 contract employees with 35 offices in the United States plus facilities in India and a partnership network in Russia, Canada and China.
Separately, Capito's announcement of $2 million in federal funding will establish the "Project National Shield Integration Center."
The center, which will help protect the nation against terrorist attacks, "is the beginning of something very significant," Pauley said.
Capito said funding was included in the U.S. Department of Defense Appropriations bill recently approved by Congress.
Pauley said the $2 million "is the beginning funding a direct earmark. This has been a priority for the Department of Defense budget for several years. We've found support from the Congresswoman to get this started."
The funding will create dozens of jobs in South Charleston, Pauley said. "The jobs will be computer science and data integration professionals," he said.
The center will coordinate systems security integration and support the creation of a collaborative system of command-and-control communications, said Capito, R-W.Va.
Pauley said, "If you've seen the television show, '24,' they have a homeland security operation center that's the crux of the show. It's a center where data from relevant homeland security sources, whether it be satellites or 911 call centers or other sources, are integrated in one location." This is the kind of center that will be created in South Charleston, he said.
"Our center will allow the Department of Defense to receive this integrated information and efficiently deploy their resources in homeland security emergencies such as 9-11 or Hurricane Katrina."
Capito said in a prepared statement, "MATRIC has an established record of keeping good jobs in the Kanawha Valley and this is a great opportunity for them to continue their mission of technological research. With this funding, MATRIC stands to play a key role in creating an improved systems framework for our nation's response to a national security emergency. They'll be working to integrate existing systems and streamline avenues of communication. We can be proud that this work will be taking place in West Virginia."
MATRIC was established in 2004 as a nonprofit research institute to harness the brainpower that Union Carbide Corp. brought to the Kanawha Valley over the decades.
