A new name, president for Wam!Net

Wam!Net Government Services Inc., a provider of design, management and engineering services for government agencies, has changed its name to Netco Government Services Inc. and appointed a new president, the company said today.

The Herndon, Va., company changed its name as a condition of the sale of its commercial assets to Savvis Communications Corp. July 30, 2003. Savvis is a St. Louis provider of Internet access, data transport and related network services. The sale included the rights to the Wam!Net name.

Netco Government Services was selected as the new name to reflect the networking services it now provides solely to the federal sector.

The company partners with systems integrators such as EDS Corp., Computer Sciences Corp. and Titan Corp. on performance-based contracts and service-level agreements for complex information technology projects. Netco's federal clients include the Defense and Education departments, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the National Security Agency.

Netco also appointed John Heller as president to replace Mike Barbee, who is leaving the company to spend more time with his family. Heller has worked for the company for three years in various senior management positions, most recently as vice president of finance.

As president of Netco, Heller said he will work to maintain the company's financial performance and broaden its base of federal clients and contract partners. He said he expects the company's revenue to increase 40 percent to 50 percent this year as it did last year, although he declined to state the company's revenue for 2003.

Netco is pursuing 20 different federal projects as a subcontractor, which range in value from roughly $5 million to $50 million with around two-thirds outside the Defense Department, Heller said. He declined to give specific details about the subcontracts.

Netco is a privately owned company with 630 employees, 550 of who have security clearances, Heller said.