Byrd: High-tech defense facility to bring 70 jobs to Eastern Panhandle

October 17, 2002

FALLING WATERS, W.Va. - A West Virginia corporation is building a $7 million, 32,000-plus-square-foot facility in Berkeley County to support Department of Defense data conversion, analysis and hosting requirements, U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Wednesday.

"The decision by Information Manufacturing Corp. to expand its operations in the state with this new cutting-edge facility is a testament to the dedication and hard work of its West Virginia employees," Byrd said in a news release.

Byrd said the facility, to be built in Falling Waters, will be designed for high-tech defense and intelligence analysis and will produce approximately 70 "good-paying jobs that will contribute to the local economy."

At the facility, IMC will offer document conversion from paper and other media to electronic format, high-capacity computer data storage and the latest computer-based tools for analysis at the highest security levels, Byrd said.

IMC Chief Executive Officer Robert Hytner said the facility will employ at least 40 people who will support sensitive projects throughout the Department of Defense and other organizations.

The facility will house IMC's defense security and intelligence support services. The building will meet the highest security levels and will house a state-of-the-art data center, Hytner said in the news release.

Hytner said the money to pay for the facility was related to the $12 million contract awarded to IMC by the Department of Defense for various defense and counterintelligence efforts.

Groundbreaking for the IMC Eastern Panhandle facility is anticipated around mid-winter, with completion anticipated in about a year, he said.

Details on the location of the facility were not available Wednesday night.

IMC's partner in the venture, MZM Inc., will expand its operations to add 30 intelligence analysts at the new facility, Byrd said. MZM is a national security firm founded in 1993 and based in Washington.

The primary function of MZM's West Virginia group will be to support the Department of Defense and intelligence community science and technology analysis initiatives.

Mitchell Wade, president and founder of MZM, said in the news release the facility will help the Department of Defense achieve its goal of bringing together all of its sources of intelligence, whether human or machine, and making it readily accessible to the war-fighter and military planner.

"IMC's commitment to West Virginia showcases the abilities of our state's residents and hopefully will open doors to further investment by other high-tech companies," Byrd said in the release.

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