“The High Technology Foundation has put a lot of technology
infrastructure in this park, and we are leveraging all of it,”
he says. “We’re close to WVU and Fairmont State University,
and that is where we grab a lot of our young talent. There are
also a lot of small businesses and local foundations we work
with, and we’re able to form partnerships here in the area.”
According to Ibers, West Virginia offers Leidos a competitive
workforce at the forefront of technology, thanks in large part
to the company’s relationships with the state’s universities.
“We have abundant access to skilled labor from those
universities,” he says. “We’re doing most of our growth indig-
enously, hiring in West Virginia. There are a lot of software
engineers and a lot of talented people in the Mountain State
who love the state for a variety of reasons and don’t want to
move to the Silicon Valley or the D.C. area. The federal gov-
ernment is moving capabilities out of the D.C. area, and that
is the whole beauty of the West Virginia I-79 Corridor. For us,
it’s a perfect combination of being able to be more competitive
with really good talent and having our customers move there
as well.”
For Estep, Leidos’ investment, growth and commitment
to West Virginia is a perfect example of his vision for the
federal anchor model.
“I am extremely appreciative of Leidos for stepping up
and making the corporate commitments it has made,” says
Estep. “In that regard, it can serve as an example for other
companies. Leidos is not only chasing work that is here, but
in the case of its work in Morgantown, it actually brought
that work here. That is an important stage of the evolution
Leidos employees collaborate on the latest technologies and
capabilities to support the development of innovative solutions for
key programs, customers and opportunities. Photo by Leidos.
and maturity of what we’re trying to build. The fact that it is
happening with one of the big companies demonstrates that
we are expanding, evolving and growing in the direction we
want to go.”
Congratulations
Walker Holloway, CFP ®
on being selected for the
Young Guns Class of 2019
From your colleagues at Hazlett, Burt & Watson and
Security National Trust Company
Providing financial services since 1883
1300 Chapline Street, Wheeling, WV 26003
800-537-8985
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE