Published: May 19, 2008 02:26 pm            

Benvenuto,* Finmeccanica | Here’s hoping Italian firm continues DRS growth

Will an Italian company’s apparent acquisition of DRS Technologies Inc. be good news for our region?

It’s too early to tell, but those closest to the transaction seem to think it could be.

“We don’t anticipate any changes on the local level in Johnstown other than those that naturally occur with the ebb and flow of business,” Richard Goldberg, vice president of public relations and communications with New Jersey-based DRS, told The Tribune-Democrat.

“It is a very important facility to our company. They do great work there and do a lot of work not only for our customers but for other segments of the organization.”

We hope he’s right.

DRS has 800 employees at its Laurel Technologies plant near the airport in Richland Town-ship. That represents nearly 10 percent of the global DRS work force.

That should tell you something about the scope of this merger. Finmeccanica S.p.A., an Italian defense company, has annual revenue of about $21 billion – or seven times that of DRS.

The merger still must garner the approval of several entities: DRS stockholders, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Anti-trust Authorities, The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the Defense Security Service.

If those dominoes all tumble, company officials said, the deal should close by the fourth quarter of this year.

DRS Laurel has been a great corporate partner in the Johnstown region, doubling its local employment in the past five years. We certainly hope the company enjoys many more strong years here and continues to grow under its new ownership.

“I’m confident that with the high quality of work being performed in our area, this acquisition will lead to further growth and additional opportunities,” U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, said of the transaction.

We would urge Murtha and his team, along with local business development professionals, to get neck deep in this merger very quickly.

The folks at Johnstown Area Regional Industries, Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce and other organizations know our market, understand the defense sector and realize how important DRS’s presence is in our region.

We hope they can help make this transition a smooth and prosperous one for the company and its local workers.

And we would hope they would ensure that we get no unpleasant surprises in the end.

We wish DRS and Finmeccanica good luck in their new relationship and we welcome the Italian firm to a growing Johnstown market.



* “Welcome” in Italian.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.