Last month, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a resolution commemorating the 15th anniversary of the CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) Southwest Virginia IT Delivery Center in Lebanon, Virginia. This passage celebrates the long-standing partnership between IT and business consulting services firm CGI, Russell County and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Since the center dedication in 2006, CGI has worked closely with local, county and state leaders to align on targeted, positive impact through job creation, community involvement and civic engagement. The location was originally chosen for its quality of life, geographic proximity to large markets for IT services and proximity to nearly 30 colleges and universities. CGI celebrates the key contributions made by the Southwest Virginia IT Delivery Center, including a strong economic impact in the region and its support for the Commonwealth Connect Coalition, a coalition of over 80 other organizations dedicated to supporting the statewide effort of bringing universal broadband coverage to Virginia within the decade.
"At CGI, we’ve undertaken an onshoring strategy outside traditional major metropolitan areas to provide IT workers with high-paying, skilled job opportunities within their home communities,” stated Lynne Bushey, Senior Vice President, U.S. Mid Atlantic Business Unit Leader at CGI. “CGI is a global company that performs a wide range of business and IT services for commercial and government clients in the U.S. Over the past decade, we’ve worked in America’s home towns to open delivery centers for our U.S. and global clients in locations not often associated with IT sector growth, like Lebanon.”
Much of CGI's Southwest Virginia Center’s success stems from its partnership with the Russell County Industrial Development Authority, Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, and the town of Lebanon.
“Southwest Virginia’s future depends on our ability to provide economic opportunity for our residents and our youngest generations,” stated Delegate William C. Wampler III. “CGI’s continued presence in Lebanon and dedication to our region is a great example of that opportunity.”
Moreover, CGI’s goal is to holistically invest in communities, not just tech talent. CGI supports the local area through several community outreach programs, including its flagship corporate social responsibility program, STEM@CGI, which introduces students to information technology early in their educational development. In Lebanon, CGI employees have taught an interactive STEM camp course to middle school students in the Russell Country Public School System. The closeness to the community evident, and it’s reflected on the center’s turnover rate, as employee turnover is far below industry standard.
“CGI’s onshoring strategy is about building and tapping into an underutilized source of IT talent within the U.S. through public-private partnerships” added Will LaBar, CGI’s U.S. Center Lead. “These partnerships provide an innovative model to boost local economies by investing in the communities around them and forming innovative partnerships to drive educational and economic development. The loyalty of the workforce in Southwest Virginia is second to none and is reflected in the centers turnover rate being far below the industry standard.”
The 42,000-square-foot facility in the Russell Regional Business and Technology Park not only houses 375 software developers, analysts and consultants, it was the first of eight delivery centers established to offer on-shore services in the United States. Other locations include: Belton, TX; Lafayette, LA; Mobile and Troy, AL; Waterville, ME, Wausau, WI, and the newly established Knoxville, TN location.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 76,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
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