No. 13: Harris keeps growing strong

When you're 113 years old and still goingstrong, it could be because of the company youkeep ? and the companies you possess.In June 2007, Harris Corp., which wasfounded in 1895, acquired Multimax Inc., asupplier of network-centric information technologyand communications services. With the$400 million Multimax buy, Harris substantiallyboosted its IT offerings by adding morethan 1,000 employees and creating a new businessunit, Harris Information TechnologyServices.The company ranks No. 13 on this year's Top100 list with $1.9 billion in 2007 prime contractingrevenue."The biggest trend in acquisitions is targetedcapabilities," said Jeremy Wensinger, grouppresident of Harris GovernmentCommunications Systems. "People are goingafter gaps in their portfolios.The niche companies ? wecall them tuck-ins ? candeliver whole new solutionsto the customer."Harris' new group continuesto work primarily atcustomer locations, supportinga portfolio of mission-critical network infrastructureprograms thatserve more than 800,000 users at some 3,800locations in United States and overseas. A largeportion of the workforce is technically certified,and about 85 percent have security clearances.Multimax customers that transferred toHarris include the Navy, Marine Corps, AirForce, Army, Federal Aviation Administrationand Homeland Security, State and VeteransAffairs departments. The acquisition establishesHarris as a critical player on major awards,such as the Navy Marine Corps Intranet program,where it is a subcontractor to EDS Corp.Multimax also broughtlarge task-order contracts,such as the NetworkCentric Solutions contractby the Air Force and theEnterprise AcquisitionGateway for Leading Edge Solutions contractat the Homeland Security Department."From the day we acquired them, they hit theground running and contributed," Wensingersaid. "Our IT service has basically doubled."Other areas of Harris concentration includeradio-frequency and broadcast communications;defense-related services, equipment andintegrated systems; and intelligence, surveillanceand reconnaissance technologies. Thecompany counts nearly7,000 engineers and scientistsamong its 16,000employees."We have been bullish onHarris and still are, basedon the fundamentals," saidDavid Weissman, seniortelecommunications analystat Zacks InvestmentResearch Inc. in Chicago.In March, the National Security Agencyawarded Harris a five-year, $41.6 million contractto build top-secret wireless networks forfederal agencies and other approved customers.The technology is designed to be interoperablewith other military platforms, such as theArmy's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, Command Post Platform and JointNetwork Node programs.Weissman said he credits Harris with a savvybalance between public- and private-sectorbusiness so risk is minimized. Overall, the companyhad $4.2 billion in2007 revenue. About 80percent of Harris' businessis in the UnitedStates. Of that, 46 percentis government-relatedand 54 percent is commercial. Annualgrowth during the past five years has been inthe double digits, averaging between 17 percentand 19 percent. Weissman projects 20 percentgrowth for the remainder of 2008."Harris is exploiting their relationships withgovernment clients, on both the defense andcivilian sides," Weissman said. "They also havesignificant relationships with major defensecontractors like General Dynamics, LockheedMartin and Northrop Grumman. That adds alevel of security for their recurring revenuestreams."One of the company's concerns is keepingthe pipeline full of younger technologists.Wensinger said Harris is aggressively supportingcollege-level courses in fields such as cybersecurityand information assurance at schoolssuch as the Florida Institute of Technology andthe University of Central Florida."For us to maintain our technology edge, wehave to support higher graduating numbers ofengineers," he said. "Then we have to attractthem to the aerospace and defense industries.You need to build relationships with kids earlyon. The sooner and the more they know aboutyou, the more excited they'll get about the workthey will be doing."