WestGate tech park job growth, facility expansion set, URS adds to original building

17,000 sq. ft. expansion marks commercial growth of WestGate tenant

CRANE, Indiana (Tuesday, May 11, 2010)

Expecting to create about 35 new high-impact jobs, URS corporation is adding 17,000 sq. ft. of laboratory, office and specialized space to its existing facility in the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park. The formal groundbreaking for the expansion was led May 12 by Joseph Erler, vice president of Readiness and Sustainment Engineering Services for URS locally.

"The WestGate has proven to be an excellent location for URS to serve the technology needs of NSWC Crane and other defense-related operations," Erler said. "As we win new and expand existing contracts, we require additional high-tech space to accommodate that growth."

URS (NYSE: URS) presently serves numerous contracts associated with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane Division), providing engineering, technical and logistics support. The 25,000 sq. ft. URS facility was the first constructed in the WestGate park, occupied in 2007 by the EG&G division of URS. URS hit a significant quality milestone in March 2010 when it achieved ISO 9001:2008 registration for its WestGate operations.

"This designation will prove beneficial to our NSWC Crane partners in our ability to provide the highest quality products and services," said Matt Crouse of URS.

"URS is a respected partner for NSWC Crane, and we are pleased to see them expand in the region," said Duane Embree, operations director for NSWC Crane.

URS presently employs 240 technology professionals in the region to serve NSWC Crane and related contracts. With the addition to the WestGate facility, that number is expected to top 275.

"The continued expansion of the WestGate tech park benefits the region as a whole," said Thomas Cooley, president and CEO of Radius Indiana, an eight-county regional partnership that includes NSWC Crane and the three counties associated with the tech park. "This helps increase the attractiveness of the region to other commercial defense companies and boosts job creation and expansion across the area."

"The fact that the original anchor building in the WestGate is already expanding and it's only a few years old underscores the commercial technology growth potential of the park," said Dale Ankrom, managing partner of the WestGate at Crane Development Company (WCDC). Construction of the new addition will be handled by Rutherford Construction Services.

About $2 million will be invested in the new facility, according to Ankrom.

Construction is expected to begin immediately and the new addition is expected to be occupied by early fall, according to Mark Rutherford, president and CEO of Rutherford Construction Services.

The May 12 groundbreaking ceremony for the URS expansion was attended by a number of state senators and representatives from the Indiana General Assembly, according to Mark Messmer, a state representative from Jasper, Indiana. Messmer is organizing a Crane Caucus of Assembly members to help the General Assembly better directly support commercial defense growth in the region.

"I am excited about the continued growth of Westgate and am happy to be bringing members of the Indiana General Assembly Crane Caucus here for this ground-breaking ceremony," said the state representative. "I want these members to see what tremendous success there has been here, and to learn more about what kind of work they are doing at NSWC Crane. We need to know how we can best support future activities here."

More than 100,000 sq.ft. of all-new laboratory, commercial, office and mixed use space has been developed in the WestGate park since 2007, and Ankrom anticipates that the park will possibly add another 100,000 sq. ft. of new construction by early 2011.

In addition to URS, the WestGate park is also home to technology operations of major defense companies like SAIC, CACI, ITT, CSC, Raydar & Associates, Novonics, NAVMAR, Stimulus Engineering and Technical Services Corporation (TSC), as well as other technology companies.

The park is also expected to benefit from growth associated with the 2012 opening of I-69 in the region. The new Interstate will pass within a few miles of the WestGate, and a new traffic ramp located near the park is expected to increase commercial logistics operations in the region, according to Kent Parisien, president of the WestGate @ Crane Authority, which oversees the park's development and operations.

More than 275 new high-technology positions have been created in the WestGate in the past few years. Total employment in the park now exceeds 400 employees.

About WestGate@Crane Technology Park
Qualified as a state Certified Technology Park (CTP) by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park represents a natural marketplace for defense contractors currently providing technical support, and research and development services to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in southern Indiana. EG&G, a division of the $2 billion URS corporation, and SAIC, the nation’s 7th largest defense contractor, in addition to ITT, CACI, CSC, Raydar & Associates, Novonics, NAVMAR, Stimulus Engineering and Technical Services Corporation (TSC), already maintain operations in the park. For more information, please visit www.westgatecrane.com. For media inquiries, please contact Michael Snyder at The MEK Group: 317-805-4870 or e-mail.