General Dynamics unit reaps USDA food safety contract

Thanks to a five-year contract worth $47 million, General Dynamics Corp. will provide the Agriculture Department with a range of information technology services.

The award specifically requires the General Dynamics Information Technology unit to provide full-service operations and maintenance support for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The contractor will provide FSIS with application and IT infrastructure support, desktop assistance and repair services nationwide. GDIT also will manage an around-the-clock help desk that will serve as a single point of contact for all users, company officials said.

GDIT will provide FSIS with the expertise necessary to sustain a stable, secure and efficient IT infrastructure that will protect critical elements of the nation’s food supply, said Marcus Collier, senior vice president of GDIT’s Civilian/Homeland Security Solutions division.

General Dynamics, of Falls Church, Va., ranks No. 4 on Washington Technology’s 2009 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.