CRANE, Ind. - Growing demand for new contractor space and a potential increase in regional federal contracts are driving new plans to expand the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park. The park already features more than 100,000 sq. ft. of new construction built over the past 24 months and the park’s developer plans to break ground on a new 30,000 sq. ft. building before the end of the year, according to Gene Shaw, president of the WestGate Authority. The WestGate is now home to major national defense contractors such as SAIC, EG&G, CACI, ITT, CSC, NAVMAR, Raydar & Associates, TSC, Novonics, Stimulus Engineering and others.

As part of the expansion, park officials are finalizing plans for new improvements to the certified technology park, including building new roads, burying power lines and demolishing blighted facilities near the park. “The WestGate has achieved a certain critical mass of established professional development and this next level of improvements will increase its already-attractive status,” Shaw explained. At the same time, the WestGate is launching its first national marketing campaign, with large scale ads set to run in the national Defense News weekly beginning on Nov. 2. The ads will be supported through digital and traditional targeted marketing and PR produced by The MEK Group. MEK has served both as marketing Agency of Record and as an economic development consultant for the WestGate since its inception.

“Over the past five years the WestGate has built a strong regional brand as the ‘go-to’ preferred site for commercial defense companies serving contracts at NSWC Crane,” said Shaw. “We’ve often heard from national companies moving into the region that they are amazed at the opportunities they find here in southern Indiana, so it’s time we tell that story on a national scale.”

“The WestGate’s unique advantage for national defense companies is that tenants can be directly on the NSWC base in a few minutes if they need be,” said Dale Ankrom, managing partner of the WestGate @ Crane Development Company. “For companies who need the strategic advantage of being close to their customer, the WestGate tech park is the best option.”

With top national defense firms now operating in the park, the WestGate offers a unique “teaming advantage” for contractors who can serve under existing contracts, Shaw noted.

Accelerated construction of the proposed I-69 interstate also provides an impetus for new development, as one of the proposed exit ramps is located within a few thousand yards of the WestGate.

Highlighting those critical advantages will be represented in the upcoming national WestGate marketing campaign, according to Shaw.

Expanding park facilities is expected to help existing large and small businesses already in the tech park. NSWC Crane’s expanding reliance on the Seaport-e federal procurement model “creates potential new opportunities for companies in the WestGate and expanding our facilities will help them accommodate new growth,” Shaw explained.

According to the U.S. Department of the Defense, SeaPort-e is the Navy's electronic platform for acquiring support services in 22 functional areas including engineering, financial management, and program management. The Navy Systems Commands (NAVSEA, NAVAIR, SPAWAR, NAVFAC, and NAVSUP), the Office of Naval Research, the United States Marine Corp, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) compete their service requirements among more than 1,800 SeaPort-e IDIQ multiple award contract holders. The SeaPort-e portal provides a standardized, efficient means of soliciting offers from amongst the diverse population of large and small businesses and their approved team members.

The Seaport-e model also creates an opportunity for Indiana companies to break into the commercial defense market, according to Ron Arnold, executive director of the WestGate. “In 2008, small businesses comprised 68 percent of the awards for SeaPort-e,” he pointed out.

Since the park's inception, defense and technology companies have created approximately 275 new jobs at the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park, bringing total WestGate employment to about 500.

About WestGate@Crane Technology Park
Qualified as a state Certified Technology Park (CTP) by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park represents a natural marketplace for defense contractors currently providing technical support, and research and development services to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division in southern Indiana. EG&G, a subsidiary of the $2 billion URS corporation, and SAIC, the nation’s 7th largest defense contractor, in addition to ITT, CACI, CSC, Raydar & Associates, Novonics, NAVMAR, Stimulus Engineering and Technical Services Corporation (TSC), already maintain operations in the park. For more information, please visit www.westgatecrane.com. For media inquiries, please contact Michael Snyder at The MEK Group: 317-805-4870 or e-mail: msnyder@themekgroup.com