$21.6-Million Navy Pact Awarded

A San Diego-based consulting and engineering firm with offices in Oxnard has received a $21.6-million contract with the Navy in Port Hueneme, company representatives said.

The company, SYS, has contracted with the Port Hueneme Division of the Naval Sea Systems Command, which is responsible, among other things, for testing naval weapons systems, said Larry Moe, vice president for information services at SYS.

Under the five-year contract, SYS will provide a number of services, including improving computer system security, Moe said.

SYS has provided similar services to the Navy at Port Hueneme for the past eight years. Its last contract was for $15 million. SYS has 55 employees in Ventura County, Moe said, and hopes to increase that to 65 during the new contract period.

SYS specializes in government contracting, the result of privatization of the national defense industry in the face of spending cuts, company representatives said.

“There is a trend to outsource more of the work,” Moe said. “I think [the contract] is one more step in that effort.”

CEO Jerry Newmin said private contractors can sometimes do government work cheaper than public employees. “It’s a large victory because it’s a major portion of our business,” Newmin said of the renewed contract.