Sep 23, 2019
By Marjorie Censer
The LOGCAP V battle now being waged in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims won’t create a timing problem for Vectrus, which won two spots on the coveted program, according to its chief executive.
In an interview with Inside Defense last week, Chuck Prow said the company has been pleased with news on the program to date, including the original awards, the decision of the Government Accountability Office to reject one protest and the schedule for the pending court cases.
“The timeline that I see is not inconsistent with the time frame that we had planned for,” Prow said. “I have not seen . . . an unusual amount of delay.”
Prow said Vectrus is “using this time to prepare” for the program, including refining its “human capital model.”
Meanwhile, the company earlier this year acquired Advantor Systems, which specializes in integrated electronic security systems for the federal government. Vectrus said the company provides integrated C3 networked services to U.S. Forces Korea, among other work.
Last year, Vectrus picked up SENTEL, which focuses on logistics and supply chain management, engineering and advanced technology and intelligence mission support.
Prow said last week the company is open to additional acquisitions that would bolster its capabilities or customers. Vectrus has potential to build its work with intelligence agencies and the State Department as well as to win work for other governments through foreign military sales, he added.
Additionally, “with the LOGCAP results, we’re going to be a significant player in the [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] region for a long time,” Prow said. “That actually provides us an opportunity to expand the aperture of the potential acquisitions that we’re considering.”
Still, Prow emphasized that Vectrus will remain focused on its core specialties of managing bases, supply chains and IT networks.
“There is plenty of market opportunity in our core competency that I see no need to diversify into things that are not core to us,” he added.
Vectrus is increasingly seeking to sell its work on an “outcome” basis, which Prow said has made significant strides in recent year.
“The more that we begin to operate and consume both services and goods on an outcome or on an as-a-service basis, the more efficient we’re going to be, the more effective we’re going to be,” Prow said, noting it will help Vectrus bolster its profit margins.
He said he’s already seeing progress, adding that three years ago, Vectrus had no contracts operating on an outcome basis, and it now does.
Aug 6, 2019
By Mary Louise-Hoffman
Susan Lynch, who previously served as chief financial officer at Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Hitachi Data Systems, will formally assume the positions of senior vice president and CFO at Vectrus (NYSE: VEC) on Aug. 7.
Vectrus said Monday the 25-year finance veteran will oversee financial planning and analysis, tax, controllership and treasury functions across the company.
“Susan is a seasoned CFO with a strong track record in the government services, technology, defense and manufacturing industries,” said Chuck Prow, president and CEO of Vectrus.
“In addition to her deep financial experience, her focus on both performance and cost control will support us well on our journey to our 5-year goals of $2.5 billion in revenue and 7% EBITDA margin,” added Prow, a 2019 Wash100 winner.
Prior to Vectrus, Lynch held a similar role at production and recovery services provider Sungard AS for more than three years. She worked at HDS, now called Hitachi Vantara, from 2007 to 2017 and at Raytheon’s technical services subsidiary from 2005 to 2007.
She also served in financial management roles during her nine-year career with Honeywell International (NYSE: HON).
Jul 29, 2019
By Jenny London
Vectrus, Inc. has hired former Pacific Architects and Engineers executive Mario Coracides as senior vice president of enterprise Vectrus operations.
Coracides has extensive experience of driving continuous improvements in supply chain and operations using Lean Six Sigma processes for large, global, complex supply chains for commercial and government entities, Vectrus said.
“We are pleased that Mario has joined us to lead this foundational area of our business,” said Chuck Prow, Vectrus president and CEO. “Mario’s demonstrated track record of successfully driving performance improvement in large, complex, organizations will enhance our execution and accelerate the margin expansion aspects of our strategy.”
Prior to this role, Coracides was vice president of global supply chain management at PAE. He led a global team of procurement, sourcing, logistics and Six Sigma team members to drive performance and digitization excellence initiatives for the company.
Before PAE, Coracides was the global supply chain director aftermarket services for the oil and gas business at Dresser-Rand, an engineering and manufacturing company owned by Siemens. Additionally, he was vice president of North America supply chain for Finmeccanica S.p.A, a global aerospace manufacturer of fuselage segments.
Prior to that, he held roles at United Technologies, Honeywell International, Inc., General Electric and AmericanExpress.
Jul 29, 2019
By Will Grant
Kevin Boyle helps American servicemen and women feel a little more at home through his role as general counsel at Vectrus
Since 2002, Kevin Boyle has specialized in government services—that is, managing legal for companies whose primary customer is the United States government. “Much of what we do involves managing operations for the facilities where our war fighters live,” Boyle says. “We have some seven thousand employees, most of whom are in the same locations as those soldiers, and you can’t be successful in a position like this unless you really appreciate and value the mission that our company is performing.”
Now, as senior vice president, chief legal officer, and general counsel at Vectrus, Boyle is using his nearly twenty-five years of experience both in government services and the high-tech industry to serve in what he believes is a privileged role: aiding America’s military personnel by “making their home away from home feel a little more like home.”
Boyle has had the good fortune to work mostly for companies on a growth trajectory. “I’ve worked for a lot of companies that have successfully achieved a certain amount of success and are looking to make it to the next level,” he says. “I’ve been lucky to have worked with organizations and led legal teams that were key contributors to getting those companies to whatever their next level was, whether measured by revenue, number of employees, or reducing risk and eliminating barriers to growth.”
Along with a slew of government services positions, Boyle spent time at a series of equity-backed companies that required a deep understanding of corporate strategy, with an eye on process improvement and growth management. “Private, equity-backed companies are on a mission to grow, and I’ve been lucky to be at companies that have grown dramatically.”
Sometime after Boyle joined Vectrus, the company announced that the United States Army had named the company as one of four contractors for LOGCAP V, a historic $82 billion logistics civil augmentation deal. While Boyle isn’t at liberty to disclose specifics due to the deal’s ongoing appeals process, the deal offers a great amount of insight into just how specialized and complicated the world of government contracting can be.
For example, the government allows a protest period in which any interested party who was not selected for a government contract can have their case reviewed. “The protest process is a unique feature of doing business with the federal government,” Boyle says. “There are some companies whose reflexive action is to challenge, but it’s something I’m very selective about.” He says developing a reputation as a serial protester undermines credibility and can hurt when it matters most.
Legal is also able to help Vectrus navigate the exceedingly competitive marketplace of Department of Defense contracting. From work that the company is currently doing—and wants to continue—to generating entirely new areas of business that Vectrus hasn’t yet gotten into, legal is responsible for collaborating with the business development team to assist in pricing processes and providing the right information for bids.
Along with Boyle’s more traditional oversight of ethics and compliance, contracts, and facilities and security at Vectrus, the very nature of the company’s government collaboration requires legal to understand the company’s positioning at all times. “Employing really strong leadership at the top of my teams is key,” he says. “I do one-on-one meetings with each of my department leads every week, and it’s an opportunity for them to engage me to help drive their projects forward.”
Boyle also employs outside counsel with industry-specific expertise to fill in gaps when needed. “These aren’t firms who spend the rest of their day helping retailers,” he jokes. “The firms that I’ve selected to work with are the ones that understand what our business mission is; they have to have a grounding in the business.” The GC keeps several different firms in his orbit because the incredibly competitive nature of government bidding often places expertise-intensive firms in conflicts of interest with their various clients.
Fulfilling the mission of his organization is certainly enough to make him proud, Boyle says, but there is an added benefit of watching those on his team develop and grow. “I want to make sure that my team feels value in what they’re doing and that I’m giving them the right opportunities to be successful in their career paths,” Boyle says. “That’s really important to me.”
Jul 8, 2019
By Jane Edwards
Vectrus (NYSE: VEC) has purchased integrated electronic security systems provider Advantor Systems for $44M from McCarthy Capital and Infrasafe.
Chuck Prow, president and CEO of Vectrus and a 2019 Wash100 winner, said in a statement published Monday the acquisition builds up the company’s presence as an innovator in the emerging converged infrastructure market and expands its geographic footprint and client base.
“Bringing decades of knowledge, experience, and technology that protects some of our nation’s most critical facilities and bases, this acquisition extends our maintenance of facilities to the electronic protection and security of facilities,” he added.
Orlando, Fla.-based Advantor has over 150 employees and posted $35M in 2018 revenue. The company provides command, control and communications networked security platforms, including Advantor Suite for Networks 6.2. It has a considerable presence in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility and is one of the three firms whose offerings meet the U.S. Air Force’s Integrated Base Defense Security System requirements.
Advantor’s customers include the Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Air National Guard, the departments of State and Homeland Security, U.S. Forces Korea and Japan’s defense ministry.
Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman acted as Vectrus’ legal adviser in the transaction. Raymond James & Associates was the investment banking adviser to Advantor, McCarthy Capital and Infrasafe. Latham & Watkins LP and RSM US LLP respectively served as legal and tax advisers to the sellers.
Vectrus used its existing credit facility and cash on hand to fund the transaction, which came more than a year after the company acquired SENTEL to grow its client base in the intelligence and federal civilian markets and expand its logistics, information technology and technical service offerings for customer agencies.
