RSIS lights up tobacco work

RS Information Systems Inc. won a $50 million contract to provide technology support services to the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, said officials of the McLean, Va., company.

The contract is with the bureau's Office of the Chief Information Officer. RSIS has opened an office directly across from the bureau in Washington for 30 RSIS engineers and staff.

"The spectrum of information technology support we provide will include networks, servers and databases as well as software engineering and maintenance," Rodney Hunt, RSIS president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.

The bureau was created in January 2003 to enforce laws related to the production and use of alcohol and tobacco products. It also collects excise taxes for firearms and ammunition.

Privately held RSIS is the largest African American-owned company in the Washington area, according to Black Enterprise magazine. It ranks at No. 40 on the Washington Technology 2004 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors. The 2005 list will be released May 9.