| Diversity
in Action ASRC
Aerospace contracts for NASA, EPA, DEA & others ASRC
is an Alaska Native-owned, for-profit company. The staff of its ASRC Aerospace
subsidiary is nearly half minority, with more being sought  | | Brenda
Murphy: "We're providing an open line for all minorities" |
Because
of its tremendous business growth, ASRC Aerospace Corp, a Maryland-based subsidiary
of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp (ASRC, Barrow, AK), is focusing on recruiting,
especially for engineers and IT pros. Brenda
Murphy, director of human resources at ASRC Aerospace, says the number of employees
has shot up from sixty in early 2000 to more than 1,000 today, and the need for
people continues. ASRC
Aerospace has six main business segments: systems engineering and ops, information
management, hardware maintenance and operation, hardware electronics, software
engineering, and spaceport and range research and technology development. Most
of the work, Murphy explains, is in support of NASA and the EPA.  | | Roman
Machan, director, with engineers Tahsin Lin and Melanie Bell. |
ASRC
is an Alaska Native-owned, for-profit company. It was developed in 1971 in connection
with the Settlement Claims Act, which compensated the Inupiat Natives for land
they had lost. The 9,000 Inupiats are shareholders of the corporation, which today
has a number of subsidiaries, employs more than 6,000 people and has title to
about five million acres of land. ASRC
management was interested in doing more business in the lower forty-eight, and
diversifying the company's core competencies. The ASRC Aerospace subsidiary was
established in November 1997 with a handful of people and only a few jobs. Today
its staff is spread over twenty-six states. The
Native-owned company has no trouble attracting minority employees: in fact, minorities
make up more than 45 percent of the workforce. Nevertheless, the affirmative action
plan is reviewed annually, Murphy notes, and special attention is given to promoting
the careers of Alaska Natives. The
subsidiaries work together to place good people throughout the corporation. "You'd
be surprised what opportunities are opening up," Murphy says. "We're
providing an open line for all minorities."  | | Charles
Wright, director of IT resources at ASRC Aerospace, with staff members. |
Right
now, ASRC Aerospace is looking for people in systems engineering, hardware electronics,
embedded software, communications software, image processing and electronic services.
It has several engineering openings on NASA contracts. A
number of the company's contracts require clearances. Citizenship is not always
required, but the legal right to work in the U.S., of course, would be. The
company hires entry-level as well as experienced techies. It's also looking for
interns, Murphy says, working with the University of Maryland, trade schools and
Capitol Institute of Technology (Kensington, MD). Because
of large contracts with the EPA, DEA, USDA, and the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office, about half the workforce of ASRC Aerospace is located in the Washington,
DC metro area. Employees work at customers' facilities, often side-by-side with
folks from other contractors.
Arctic Slope Regional
Corp/Aerospace Corp
www.asrcaerospace.com
| Headquarters:
|
Greenbelt, MD | |
Employees:
|
1,075 | |
Revenues: |
$59.8 million | |
Business: |
Works with government agencies on information, research, library and document
management; mission concept development and ground station control data systems
analysis. | | |
Most
contracts are long-term, with a five-year average, and sometimes the company inherits
staff along with the contract. "Some of these employees have been with a
particular contract ten or fifteen years," Murphy says. For
example, when ASRC Aerospace got its first EPA contract, it took on 320 existing
staffers along with it. "That was one of our first and largest contracts
that started the ball rolling," Murphy says. She notes that the company works
closely with these inherited employees to help them with the transition. "Change
can be scary, so we try to allay their fears," she says. One
recent contract, awarded this spring, is with the Kennedy Space Center and involves
168 techies. Some of them are helping to investigate the recent space shuttle
accident. Murphy
notes that ASRC Aerospace is concerned about benefits for employees, especially
those that impact their work/life balance. As the company grows, it takes suggestions
from staff on how to improve benefits and perks. "I think we have a very
flexible management, and they are looking for what's up and coming," Murphy
says. To
help people stay current in their fields, ASRC Aerospace offers reimbursement
for college tuition, certifications and professional society memberships and conferences. "Some
employees didn't go to college but have all the Microsoft certifications, for
example, and they can be worth their weight in gold," Murphy says. Project
managers have their own training budgets, and their staffers can ask for special
training if they need it for the job. D/C |
.jpg)
