DRC reorganizes operations to prepare for more growth

Dynamics Research Corp. has reorganized into two operating units, one focused primarily on Washington, D.C.-based customers and the other focused on defense customers outside of Washington area.

Paul Strasser, who joined the Andover, Mass.-based company in April as senior vice president of strategic development, will lead the Washington unit, to be called the Federal Group. Robert Smith will lead the Defense Group. The changes take effect Jan. 1.

“The moves we are making are about capturing the gains we’ve made over the last couple of years, particularly the progress we’ve made in the Washington area,” said Jim Regan, DRC’s chief executive officer.

The Washington area has been an important growth area for DRC. In 2008, it acquired Kadix Systems to increase its Washington presence and to gain more inroads with the Homeland Security Department.

The Washington business is focused on growth in homeland security, health care IT, cybersecurity, intelligence and civilian agencies, especially ones focused on financial and regulatory reform, Regan said.

The focus on Washington-based customers paid off handsomely in 2010, he said. The company expects overall revenue to grow by 12 percent for the year. The company is projecting 2010 revenue to be between $271 million and $274 million.

Some of the highlights, Regan pointed out are:

• $33 million in health care projects.
• $12 million in cybersecurity work, including a new customer, the Secret Service.
• $6 million in knowledge management work.

“You add to that our recent enterprise architecture win [worth $20 million with DHS] and the NetCents 2 win,” Regan said. “We think there will be a lot of work coming through that contract in the Washington area.”

DRC needed a new organization to take advantage of the recent successes as it moves forward, he said.

Strasser will lead four divisions covering homeland security, federal civilian agencies, national security and select Department of Defense customers.

“He’ll grab these gains and move forward,” Regan said.

The new organization also will help DRC with acquisitions it makes in the future, Stasser said. “We are out looking for companies that can help us grow.”

In addition, the company is creating a new business development group under Jeanne LeFevre to focus on pursuing larger contracts, Regan said.

Strasser said that DRC wants to be ready to go after the next generation of large contract vehicles such as CIOSP 3, Eagle 2 and the application development portion of the NetCents 2.

“We are poised to move to the next level with this strong leadership team organized this way and the focus on larger jobs. This is really going to change the game for us next year,” Regan said.