ITT exec optimistic about defense contracting work

Wayne Heilman, Colorado Springs Gazette
 
As a veteran of more than 20 years in the defense contracting industry, Janet Oliver has seen her share of increases and cuts in military budgets, and thus changes in the fortunes of her industry.

In October, Oliver became vice president of business development for ITT Systems, a unit of the White Plains, N.Y.-based industrial conglomerate ITT Corp. Oliver manages the unit’s efforts to win contracts from military commands that include Air Force Space Command, Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, Army Sustainment Command, Army Materiel Command and Air Force Air Combat Command as well as NASA and the State Department.

She previously was vice president of mission support services for the Federal Division of Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, a unit of The Shaw Group Inc., managing a business with more than 700 employees focusing on public works, civil engineering, minor construction and general base-operation support services. She also was executive vice president of Flour Corp.’s Del-Jen Inc. unit and was a vice president of Lockheed Martin’s PAE subsidiary.

Oliver has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arizona. She participates in joint industry-government committees and panels, working with officials in the Air Force, Army and Navy to improve procurement processes.

Question: Can you give us a quick overview of ITT Systems and its operations in Colorado Springs?

Answer:  ITT Systems is a business area within ITT Defense and Information Solutions, the government segment of ITT, and provides a wide range of services to military and civilian agencies. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, ITT Systems finished 2009 with nearly $1.5 billion in revenue and employs more than 10,000 people at more than 200 locations around the world, including about 900 employees in the Colorado Springs area. We are part of ITT Corp., which had revenues of $10.9 billion in 2009 and employs 40,000 people globally.

Q: What is your role at ITT Systems?

A: As the vice president of business development, I am responsible for bringing new business into ITT Systems Division. We are diligent in seeking customer intimacy to understand the needs of our U.S. government clients. We seek out and research their requirements, conduct analysis on the value we can bring to the customer and their mission, then deliver the winning proposals to bring in the work. A number of the programs we are looking at exceed $1 billion in value.

Q: What are some of the notable projects that ITT Systems works on for its government customers?

A: We support U.S. government customers with network operations and maintenance; communications systems; logistics and supply services; base/facility/range operations; equipment maintenance and availability; and operational support for contingencies. Our employees work in Colorado, California, Hawaii, Mississippi and several other states as well as Europe, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar.

Some of our current programs include:

• Base operations for the Kaiserslautern Military Community in Germany (the largest U.S. Army community outside of the United States).

• Security and readiness of the U.S. Army’s total communication networks in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

• NASA’s Deep Space Network (which provides a link between NASA and all of its space-exploration vehicles working beyond the moon’s orbit).

• The U.S. Command and Control Switching System that enables key U.S. government decision-makers at strategic locations to communicate securely under almost any circumstances.
• The Air Force’s Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems, which protects the airspace along the southern border of the U.S.

Q: How do you see the overall defense and government contracting market shaping up in 2010 and 2011?

A: In the 2010 budget, we saw several large weapons programs cut (such as F-22 Raptor fighter and the Army’s Future Combat Systems program). The most recent version of the 2011 budget doesn’t have nearly as many cuts to major programs, but a key factor there is the substantial amount of funding devoted to overseas contingency operations like Afghanistan. As a result, we may see an increased demand for logistics, contingency support services and force-protection technologies in the near-term.