Trust recommends $1.25M to bring contractor to town
Oklahoma City took a first step on Tuesday toward approving of a $1.25 million economic incentive to bring a federal contractor and 550 quality jobs to town.
The money is tied to plans CACI International recently announced to open a shared services center here.
CACI helps the federal government do business with other contractors and also provides information solutions and other services to support its employees as they help fulfill various national security missions involving the nation’s intelligence and defense programs.
Ken Asbury, CACI’s president and CEO, said Tuesday the firm originally evaluated 50 cities throughout the nation when considering where to locate its new operation, using nearly 20 different criteria.
In the end, finalists for the project came down to two East Coast cities and Oklahoma City.
Economic incentives for all three were about the same, and while ease of access from CACI’s Washington D.C. headquarters made the others attractive, Asbury said Oklahoma City’s quality of life won out.
“It trumped those others in every other category” CACI considered,
Asbury said, including the area’s cost of living; the quality of its primary, secondary and university educational programs; and the availability of a quality workforce (including a concentration of military veterans) the firm will be able to tap as it continues to grow.
“When the data came back, it was very clear what Oklahoma City has done to attract businesses,” he said.
Incentive details
According to a memorandum prepared for the trust by its staff, CACI would be required to create about 550 new jobs in Oklahoma City during the next five years that would have an average wage of $56,999.
It said the project’s incentive was put together in a relatively short period of time, noting that the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and Oklahoma City had been working with CACI on the package since just January.
The deal also involves a state incentive, though the memorandum doesn’t specify its exact details.
As for the project’s economic impact, trust officials estimate it will surpass $250 million during its first five years of operation (including capital investment, wages, state and local taxes).
They estimate revenues from sales and property taxes will be about $1.3 million within the first five years, and estimate it will be more than $280,000 annually after that.
The agreement still must be reviewed and approved by the Oklahoma City Council. Officials said the council will consider the deal March 27.
Consolidated operations
CACI provides information solutions and services in support of national security missions and government operations for intelligence, defense and federal civilian customers.
Its website said it has worked with more than 100 military, intelligence and civilian organizations to implement enterprise business solution systems that help those organizations process about $200 billion in federal procurements annually.
CACI also develops, integrates, sustains and operates command and control systems that include hardware, software and interfaces.
Additionally, it develops secure communications systems to support soldiers and mobile and fixed platforms, and it also provides cyber security services to communications systems and other facilities and networks.
The company already has about 300 employees not connected to the shared services center working in Oklahoma for various customers at Tinker Air Force Base, at Fort Sill and other locations.
As for Oklahoma City’s shared services center, Asbury said CACI will consolidate various information technology and human resources help desks for its employees into the office, and plans to also bring its transaction processing and data analytics work here as well.
Over time, the company also will move its information technology backup capabilities to Oklahoma City, too.
“Think of it as the place where all the care and feeding of (CACI’s) people is done, from a human resources point of view. And it’s mission-critical. It will support every facet of our business,” he said.
Ready-made home
Asbury, who graduated from Oklahoma City’s John Marshall High School in the early 1970s and obtained a degree from the University of Oklahoma after serving an enlistment in the U.S. Army, said Tuesday he hadn’t been to town since attending a reunion 25 years ago, adding that he was amazed at how it’s changed.
Also, he noted CACI Board Chairman J. Phillip London attended Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City before continuing on to obtain his degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, which led to a distinguished military service career and equally impressive career with CACI.
On Tuesday, Asbury said he was looking forward to seeing CACI’s future home at OKCWorks, a redevelopment of the former AT&T manufacturing facility that operated for 40 years on the west side of Oklahoma City.
The complex features 25 megawatts of secure, reliable power and 20 gigabytes per second of redundant connectivity for its tenants so that they can focus on their missions instead of worrying about keeping their critical systems up and running.
It offers more than 2 million square feet to potential tenants.
“We looked at several different properties here, but felt like OKCWorks’ setup worked best because CACI needs big open spaces where people can share information,” he said.
Asbury said Tuesday CACI’s initial investment in the shared services center will be between $8 million and $11 million, noting he expected its payroll to be about $34 million in year three of the center’s operations.
He reiterated that CACI and its board are excited about their plans for Oklahoma City.
“We really love the idea of this, because it is going into a suburban setting where people are really going to have a good quality of life, and the cost of living is less than living in a place like Washington D.C.,” Asbury said. “It was really important to be right.”