SATSOP - If you're a defense contractor developing top - secret weapons for the government - any government in the world - you'd want to know if someone was trying to hack into your computer files.

If you're a bank offering on - line services, your customers expect you to be able to offer them a secure Internet environment wherever they are in the world.

Those are just two examples of the kinds of services offered by QinetiQ, a new company launched in the United Kingdom that just signed a long - term lease for Building Two at the Satsop Development Park for $54,067 a month - plus taxes and fees.

The Grays Harbor Public Development Authority board unanimously approved the deal at its meeting Tuesday.

"If you absolutely, positively cannot lose it, and you need to protect it, this is the place to be," CEO Tami Garrow said of the park's connectivity capabilities. "I think that's the message that's starting to get out."

The company expects "several dozen" employees to be working for starters at the site before the end of May, many of whom they hope to hire locally, according to QinetiQ President Michael Corby, who spoke to The Daily World this morning by phone from the company's U.S. office at Worcester, Mass.

Building Two - 43,254 square feet - was originally built for Satsop anchor tenant SafeHarbor Technology Corp., the homegrown e - service company whose growth was slowed by the nationwide recession and the bursting of the dot - com bubble.

Garrow noted that even though SafeHarbor hasn't been using the building since last October, it has been paying $70,000 per month in accordance with the terms of its lease with the PDA.

The new lease with QinetiQ - pronounced "kinetic" - gets SafeHarbor out from under a costly monthly obligation "while bringing new jobs to the park and to our community," Garrow said. "Essentially, we were able to offer this company a turn - key building, right down to the chairs at the desks."

Meantime, SafeHarbor has agreed to "make up the difference" in the rent so that the PDA is still assured of the full $70,000 per month it has been receiving, Garrow said.

Moreover, if QinetiQ pulls out of the park at anytime before 2020, SafeHarbor is on the hook to resume full lease payments to the PDA, according to the agreement the board approved.

In exchange, SafeHarbor, QinetiQ and the PDA have reached an agreement that allows SafeHarbor the right to sublease any unused space in Building Two when it grows out of its current building. SafeHarbor employs about 185 people and its current building has the capacity for about 220, according to CEO Brian Sterling, who told board members he fully expects to need more space in the future.

QinetiQ President Corby said that his Washington state employees knew the search was on for a secure sight in the U.S. "and they asked us to take a look at Satsop because they thought it would match our mission."

The company's full name is Qinetiq Trusted Information Management Inc.

He and other corporate officials visited in January and February "and found it to be directly in line."

Satsop offers "great connectivity to the Internet, a very reliable power supply, a very professional looking facility, and it's in a very interesting location, and interest is something that we think is part of our message - to provide interesting and productive service to our clients," Corby said.

According to its Web site, QinetiQ was launched last July as a public/private venture of the British government. It had been part of the British government's "Defence Evaluation and Research Agency ... incorporating the bulk of the Ministry of Defence's non - nuclear research, technology and test and evaluation establishments. ..."

The agency was split into two, with QinetiQ comprising "the greater part," according to the Web site.

"QinetiQ is a wholly government - owned UK (company), and competes on the world stage to deliver innovations to customers and their communities."

As a public private partnership, "QinetiQ has greater freedom and access to capital, allowing it to exploit its technologies and capabilities into wider markets. ... " the Web site states.

Asked to explain all of that for the lay person, Corby said, "What we do is offer services in support of assuring that our clients' computer networks are being developed and are operating in the most secure manner that they can.

"The service that we will be offering is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's a managed security service. We help our clients identify if someone is trying to break into their network; our technology gives us advance warning that someone is trying to do that."

Asked if his company works for the U.S. government, Corby said, "I can't answer that." However, he did say the company's roots are in the defense industry "and a lot of our work has been done in the defense industry. Since July, we have focused commercially and have a number of financial institutions, insurers and manufacturers as clients now, as well as some government orientation projects."

Corby said the workforce in Washington state was a key factor in deciding to locate the company's western office at Satsop. "One of the other exciting aspects of your area is what seems to us to be a superb quality of life, as well as the technical skills many industries in the Northwest have been able to spawn over the years. We're very anxious to begin the hiring process."


On the Net: www.qinetiq.com

© 2002 The Daily World