SAIC expanding operations with new facility in Hanahan

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Science Applications International Corp. is expanding its existing operations in Hanahan with a $26 million investment in a new facility at North Pointe Commerce Park.

SAIC, headquartered in Reston, Va., provides technical, engineering, intelligence and IT services to the federal government for diplomatic and military operations. The company currently has platform integration and production operations facilities at 5617 N. Rhett Ave. in North Charleston and a few miles up North Rhett at 7410 Magi Road in Hanahan.

The new facility, at 1017 North Pointe Industrial Blvd. in Hanahan, around the corner from the Magi Road location, will be its largest in the Charleston area.

Robert Carruthers, vice president of platform integration, said the impetus to open this new facility was a contract it signed with the Marines to upgrade its assault amphibious vehicles, to improve the vehicles’ survivability on the battlefield.

“We’re taking the opportunity because it just simply made sense based on the growth in this area and the amount of work we had to have a new facility and really design it from the ground up to optimize this kind of work,” Carruthers said. “Our current facilities were legacy facilities that we’ve had for many years doing this kind of work, but they weren’t originally designed for it.”

CEO Tony Moraco said in a statement, “SAIC has a long legacy of doing business in South Carolina. This investment is directly tied to the expansion of our platform integration operations and is a critical component of our long-term strategy.”

Construction on the new facility is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and SAIC expects its expansion to create 200 jobs over the next five years. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits for the project.

“We are excited that SAIC will be expanding its operation and bringing hundreds of quality jobs to the city of Hanahan,” Hanahan Mayor Minnie Newman said in a statement. “Most importantly, we are proud that Hanahan continues to be a destination for companies that provide critical support services to the United States military.”

Carruthers said SAIC currently has enough work to support three Charleston-area facilities, but the company has the ability to consolidate its operations into the new, larger facility in the future. He said, though, that the company doesn’t have to decide about consolidation now.

“Honestly, I anticipate some of those legacy buildings no matter what, just simply because of the volume of work we have,” he said.