Business relocates to Harbour View
Published 10:04 pm Thursday, April 11, 2013
A company has relocated from Portsmouth to Suffolk after Reed Integration officially opened its engineering services headquarters in North Suffolk’s “Pentagon South” Thursday.
Reed provides technical services, like systems engineering, project management and functional analysis, to government and commercial clients, a news release states.
It specializes in project management professional training, and works with Hampton Roads universities and companies to provide certification.
Reed clients have included NASA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Virginia Port Authority and Northrop Grumman.
President and CEO Becky Reed said the company had outgrown the previous location, in Old Dominion University’s Tri-Cities Center.
“We needed more room,” she said. “Training programs is a third of our business, and we had to rent training space because we didn’t have enough.”
Floor space has tripled with the move to 7,600 square feet, she said, adding that the facility is closer to Department of Defense clients.
“Putting us here is putting us closer to where the cyber commands are going to be moving,” she said, citing a Navy decision to relocate commands to North Suffolk.
“We’re still close to the Coast Guard and ODU.”
Reed is now the latest tenant in Bridgeway Technology Center, and will benefit from personal property and business license reductions by being inside a technology zone established two years ago, city Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes said.
Reed will employ 10 professionals at the new headquarters, according to the news release, and that number is likely to grow, Hughes indicated.
“My understanding is (the larger space) offers them the opportunity to grow,” he said.
Mayor Linda T. Johnson cut the ribbon during the grand-opening event, where a large crowd joined in the celebration.
“This is the future of Suffolk that you are standing in today,” Johnson said. “I’m here to tell you (Suffolk) is a whole lot better than OK; it’s growing!
“Suffolk is fast-growing, and has some of the fastest-growing businesses, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Reed Vice President Steve Waddell thanked employees, saying “none of this would be possible” without them.
Speeches took place inside the new headquarters’ 48-seat training center, the Reed Learning Institute.
The city was not actively involved in enticing the relocation as it generally does not compete for businesses from other Hampton Roads localities, Hughes said.
The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce has named Reed Integration its 2013 Suffolk Small Business of the Year.
The company also has locations in Alexandria, Alabama and Minnesota.