New facility delivers on Vision 2020 strategy
Firm expects to increase Clements Ferry facility headcount by more than 90 this year
Summary:
- Booz Allen opens expanded Digital Hub in Charleston, S.C., 10 months after fire at adjacent, former SPARC facility
- Firm’s more than 550 employees in Charleston and North Charleston support transformational work, including for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Navy; expects to increase headcount by more than 90 in 2017
- This latest expansion is projected to bring at least $10 million in new capital investment
- Charleston Digital Hub is a leader in Agile and DevOps at Scale, and at 75,000 square feet currently houses over 310 technologists
May 11, 2017
McLean, Va. — Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) announced the opening of a new, expanded office in Charleston, S.C. which will function as a Digital Hub to support the rapid growth of the firm’s Digital Solutions business. The state-of-the-art, 75,000 square-foot facility offers a tech-forward, open and multipurpose floor plan designed to foster collaboration on mission-critical projects and deliver new levels of innovation for clients including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Navy. This new facility complements the more than 30,000 square feet of office, lab and warehouse space the firm also holds in North Charleston primarily supporting the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic.
Booz Allen has been a leader in the Charleston community since the 1990s, and today employs more than 550 across Charleston and North Charleston and serves clients ranging from the U.S. Navy to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The firm’s professionals in the region are experts in areas as diverse as Agile and DevOps to data analytics, cloud technology and systems engineering to logistics and cyber.
At its newly expanded Charleston Digital Hub at Clements Ferry Road, the firm expects to expand from 310+ to 400+ employees by calendar year’s end to capitalize on the growing demand for its digital services. This latest expansion is projected to bring at least $10 million of new capital investment. That team supports the company’s work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefit Management System, using agile methodologies to transform the VA’s paper-intensive compensation and pension claims system to a web-based, paperless system. Today, the digital transition has decreased the backlog in claims for veterans’ benefits by 87 percent, and reduced the average wait time for a claim decision by 100 days.
Digital Solutions offers clients an interconnected set of high-demand solutions to make enterprises work faster and more efficiently. “Within Digital Solutions, we are integrating emerging technologies, a deep understanding of our clients’ missions and our 110+ year consulting heritage to drive technology modernization and support user adoption,” said Gary Labovich, executive vice president, Digital Solutions leader, Booz Allen Hamilton. “The SPARC acquisition advances our Digital growth strategy by expanding the scale of our services to support our clients’ demand for transformative technology.”
The Clements Ferry Road facility is one of five hubs within Booz Allen’s Digital Solutions Network which connects and unifies the firm’s 4,000+ Digital Solutions practitioners. To expand after its acquisition of the software services unit of SPARC in 2015, Booz Allen began construction on a new addition to the existing facility, but, in July 2016, the adjacent original building caught fire, causing extensive damage. In continuity with the construction schedule and client deliverables, the firm stayed the course, coordinating with clients to allow employees to work remotely and use temporary office space to remain fully operational.
“We are excited to demonstrate our continued commitment to the Charleston community through the opening of our new client-focused Digital Hub with the intent to grow and develop local tech talent,” said Charleston-based Elizabeth Buske, vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton. “The facility will represent an R&D space that will allow us to build, test and refine enterprise software solutions alongside our clients. Through this process of collective ingenuity, our clients will reach solutions in real time and on budget, achieving efficiencies and cost savings at scale.”
The opening of the firm’s new hub is part of the company’s continued investment in Charleston, and Vision 2020 – its plan to develop client solutions and drive transformational growth through investments in people, capabilities and markets. Booz Allen’s Digital Solutions work includes the creation of an optimized website with an automated online assistant for the Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) that successfully helps U.S. citizens—including approximately 150,000 military members deployed to more than 150 countries worldwide—vote in federal elections. For more on the impact of our work, visit: boozallen.com/insights.
In partnership with Booz Allen, Agracil, Inc. and Frampton Construction provided development and general contractor services and Mcmillan Pazdan Smith served as the primary architect of the new office space.
BAHCO-PR
