LEONARDTOWN, Md. (July 17, 2019)—Coherent Technical Services, Inc. (CTSi), a locally-owned engineering and technology services company, has chosen St. Mary's County for its expansion into a 40,000 square foot facility. The new location will house CTSi's Fabrication and Prototyping Facility, which currently employs 162 people. CTSi anticipates hiring at least 35 people in the next five years to work at the new location.
"This is a big win for St. Mary's County. It is further evidence of our strong economy and the assets that continue to draw companies to our area. CTSi is a top tier company that looked at several other locations before deciding upon St. Mary's County," said Chris Kaselemis, Director of St. Mary's County Department of Economic Development.
Tom Sanders, Managing Director of CTSi, began working with the St. Mary's County Department of Economic Development when he determined that the company was quickly outgrowing its current space. "Fantastic county, work environment, workforce and support from St. Mary County specifically," said Sanders. This move will allow the company to grow its manufacturing operations for its Department of Defense, NASA, commercial and international customers.
The state-of-the-art facility will be located at St. Mary's Square Shopping Center in Lexington Park. "We are pleased to hear of CTSi's recent decision to move into St. Mary's Square and invest in the available commercial space previously occupied by the Peebles retail store. This locally-owned small business continues to expand and grow, taking on new opportunities and expanding its workforce. The building renovation and investment continues to show that Lexington Park is a tremendous place to live and work. Thanks to Tom Sanders and his entire CTSi team," said St Mary's County Commissioner Todd Morgan,
The new facility will house the CTSi's light manufacturing and prototyping activities, as well as its machine and wire shops. Workers will also be conducting testing, research and development for the company itself as well as its Department of Defense and commercial customers. In addition, CTSi will equip the space for housing vehicles for modification and integration activities and future plans include eventually making the facility fully secure.
"We view this expansion as essential to positioning our company as a viable local business competitor for the upcoming procurement for the NAWC-AD Full Rate Production Multiple Award Contract and the 4.11 Rapid Acquisition Prototyping Integration and Development Multiple Award Contract," said CTSi's Director of Operations, Carrie Willmore. "We are working hard to ensure that work resulting from procurements such as these can be executed here locally to grow our community."
Founded in 2005 in Lexington Park, MD, CTSi has occupied a facility on Three Notch Road for eight years. CTSi is one of very few local businesses to hold the AS9100 Certification.
CTSi's recent projects and contract awards have included software to measure cybersecurity in complex aircraft systems, an acoustic monitoring system to pinpoint the locations of endangered species, and navigation and communication technology that will function in GPS-denied environments. CTSi is the first company to apply and qualify for St. Mary's County's New and Expanding Business Tax Credit, which offers a generous property tax incentive for job creation.
Mr. Sanders worked with Sandy Hunt, Senior Vice President of Scheer Partners, to identify potential sites and coordinate with the center's owner on the space.