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Contractor firstat Quantico site
Defense contractor to be first tenant at Quantico Corporate Center at Stafford
Date published: 7/11/2007
By PAMELA GOULD
Ever since they first heard about plans for an office park along U.S. 1 just south of the Quantico Marine Corps base, executives with MTC Services Corp. have been eager to move in.
"It's ideal," said Mark Hevel, executive vice president for the California-based defense contractor.
Known as Quantico Corporate Center at Stafford, the 85-acre office park caught the attention of MTC because it can be accessed from two points along Interstate 95, sits in a quiet location and is near the Marines and FBI, Hevel and company president David Camarata said.
It's also near sites the company expects to be occupied by some of the organizations relocating to Stafford County as a result of changes recommended by the latest Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Though MTC started in Chula Vista, Calif., and has several offices along the East Coast, including one near the Navy base at Dahlgren, its biggest operation is now in Stafford, Hevel said.
And MTC is growing rapidly.
Currently, its Stafford offices are in the former Fick distributing plant on U.S. 1 in Boswell's Corner and in shared space along Garrisonville Road.
In November, they will consolidate in two sites along U.S. 1--staying in the Fick site and becoming the first tenant at Quantico Corporate Center, occupying 35,000 square feet of the first building.
The company plans to hire 200-300 employees within the next five years--doubling its staff. Half of them are to be hired within 18 months, Hevel said.
The company is already planning for another 190,000 square feet at the center with the Silver Cos., Quantico Corporate Center's developer.
The center's first building is a 141,000-square-foot structure slated for completion by year's end. Plans call for the center to eventually include seven buildings with a total of nearly 1 million square feet of office space.
MTC started its Quantico-area operations in Prince William County in 2000 but moved a few miles south into the Fick site in Stafford two years later.
Hevel said Stafford is easier to access because most people the company interacts with live south of the base. The county also offers more room for growth and fewer restrictions on offices, he said.
MTC is the kind of business Stafford's economic development office and Board of Supervisors are targeting in their push to create a community where people can live and work.
"They provide high-paying, professional jobs that allow our citizens to work close to their homes and families, and they help to diversify our economy," board chairman Jack Cavalier said in a written statement.
The company's highly educated work force is in an industry where employees can earn six-figure salaries.
MTC's customers include the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Army. The company provides technology that supports the global war on terror. Soon MTC also will be providing services for the Department of Homeland Security.
Camarata said MTC is on the "front end" of the establishment of a high-tech corridor in Stafford, making it a little tougher to attract employees.
"People think of the Dulles corridor and Reston as high-tech centers," Hevel said.
But he and Camarata see a shift taking place and are investing with that in mind.
"Stafford is right on the edge of being known for that," Hevel said.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
| QUANTICO CORPORATE CENTER
Seven office buildings totaling nearly 1 million square feet are planned.
The first 141,000-square-foot building is slated for completion before year's end.
The 85-acre site is between U.S. 1 and Interstate 95 in Stafford County, just south of Quantico Marine Corps base. |
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Date published: 7/11/2007
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