KeyPoint rises as USIS falls

With U.S. Investigations Services role in security clearances being shunted to the side, a huge void in background investigations has opened, and with it a huge opportunity for its competitors.

KeyPoint Government Solutions announced last week that it has doubled the size of its national workforce of security-clearance investigators. The company also now claims to be the largest provider of security-clearance background investigations and screening services to the U.S. government.

That title formerly belonged to USIS, but the Office of Personnel Management canceled the company’s contract after months of controversy surrounding the company.

The last straw for OPM was a security breach of USIS networks. USIS has furloughed 2,100 employees.

With OPM’s action, USIS’s background investigation business is effectively killed off, though the company still has a sizable division doing other government security work.

Meanwhile, KeyPoint has been growing its workforce as more work has left USIS.

Without mentioning USIS’s troubles, KeyPoint CEO Eric Hess said that the company has been receiving a “tremendous amount of interest from security-clearance professionals who are seeking new, high-quality career opportunities.”

The company plans to continue to grow its workforce, Hess said.

“The critical nature of the work we do calls for a unique skills set and a predisposition to meticulousness and accuracy,” he said.

One of KeyPoint’s draws as an employer is its “commitment to growing management and leadership talent from within,” Hess said in the announcement.

According to the company’s website, there are openings for investigators, reviewers, and field managers. The website also is encouraging job seekers to stop by its locations in Fairfax, Va., Slippery Rock, Pa., and its headquarters in Loveland, Colo.

KeyPoint was known as Kroll Government Services and was acquired by Veritas Capital in 2009. The company cracked the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings of the largest government contractors for the first time this year. It is ranked No. 96.