Syracuse tech firm SRC plans to hire 300 as military, overseas sales surge (New York, elsewhere)

The Post-Standard ^ | October 10, 2018 | Mark Weiner

[2ndDivisionVet]

SRC Inc., one of Central New York's fastest-growing companies, has boosted its expansion and hiring plans amid a surge in sales to U.S. military and international customers.

The Cicero-based company plans to hire more than 300 employees within the next year while opening offices in Canada and the United Kingdom, said Paul Tremont, SRC's president and chief executive officer.

About 200 of the new employees will be based in Central New York, while other new hires will fill openings in SRC regional offices in Dayton, Ohio; San Antonio; Charlottesville, Va., and Chantilly, Va., he said.

Tremont said SRC's growth has produced a pleasant problem: It's running out of space at its corporate headquarters in Cicero and SRCTec manufacturing facility in North Syracuse.

SRC has temporarily leased space in an office building at Pioneer Business Park in East Syracuse to accommodate an additional 50 employees in its growing workforce, Tremont said.

The company is exploring options that include building or renovating facilities in Central New York to keep up with the growth.

SRC increased its hiring projections for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, after initially planning to hire 200 new technicians, engineers and computer scientists. The engineering jobs start at $60,000 a year, and pay more depending on experience.

The not-for-profit research and development firm announced last year that it planned to double its workforce by hiring about 1,000 new employees over five years.

SRC now employs about 900 people at its corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant in Central New York, and about 1,300 nationwide.

The company's sales have been fueled by growth in three core areas -- its radar, counter-drone systems and electronic warfare data analysis, Tremont said.

He credited the company's decision to diversify and grow its international sales from zero in 2015 to "tens of millions" in fiscal 2018. Tremont declined to disclose specific revenue figures. He said the company's international customers include Canada and the United Kingdom.

At the same time, SRC has diversified its U.S. customer base beyond the Army and Air Force. The Marine Corps last month awarded SRC a contract worth up to $93 million for the company's lightweight counter mortar radars, a mobile system that can detect incoming fire from any direction.

In April, the Air Force awarded a contract worth $57.7 million to SRC for systems that can detect, identify and defeat enemy drones.

Tremont spoke with Syracuse.com on Tuesday in between meetings with military brass visiting the SRC Inc. exhibit at the Association of the U.S. Army meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C.

About 30,000 people and 700 exhibitors are at the annual meeting this week, including senior Army leaders and the world's largest defense contractors.

At SRC's exhibit, visitors could pick up business cards that said. "We're hiring. Digital engineers. Software engineers. Systems engineers, Test engineers. More." The cards touted the company's benefits, a 10 percent employer contribution toward retirement and 100 percent tuition support.

Tremont said the company has been able to fill its positions by recruiting locally and nationwide, often attracting new residents to Central New York who help boost the economy by buying homes and settling in the region.

"I was at a new employee social last month and I met new hires from Seattle, two from California and one from Alaska," said Tremont, a Syracuse native. "That made me feel good because it's good for the community."

[Macoozie]

300 Jobs?
So how many specialty worker visas have they applied for?

Central NY? Have a brain, move south like everyone else is doing.

Or just wait til your special tax break expires, then Comrade Cooomo will come knocking.

[metmom]

What with the tax climate here in NYS, they’ll be gone before long.

Thanks, dems.......

[Calamari]

The climate can be a shock to non-natives and those from warmer areas of the country. Winter is long. Snow is possible from early October to Mother’s Day. Syracuse routinely wins The Golden Snowball Contest.

(http://goldensnowball.com/ )

Days of below zero degrees Fahrenheit temperatures are included in winter.

The suburbs north of Liverpool (Baldwinsville, Cicero, Phoenix, Fulton, Brewerton,Central Square, Etc.) are prone to lake effect snowfall-looks like a blizzard. Being snowed in is a distinct possibility.

If you were born and raised there you don’t know any better and accept the climate as “normal”. Moving there from warmer parts of the country will be a shock.

Then there are the property taxes, state income taxes,anti- gun gun laws, salt on the roads to melt ice and rust your car.

[ViLaLuz]

In Utica, i remember one year in the 80s it showed in July.

[ViLaLuz]

In Utica, I remember one year in the 80s it snowed in July.

[Calamari]

That’s late or maybe early.

I didn’t even point out the mosquito population during the summer that make being outdoors past sundown unpleasant with out a thorough application of DEET to repel them.

As I type this out the temperature over here in Kendall County, TX is 43 degrees F. Kind of like a warm April day in Syracuse, NY.