An award-winning protective services firm recently extended its contract with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for three more years — an extension that the CEO of the Albuquerque company called "unprecedented."
That's because those types of contract extensions are typically for only one or two years, Christine Zack, the CEO of Albuquerque-based Fiore Industries Inc., told Business First. Scoring well on a performance evaluation helped Fiore land that longer extension.
"You basically have to have a perfect score to get that long of a contract extension," Zack said.
Fiore provides firefighting, emergency management and other protective services for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is located near Pasadena, Calif.
Zack said that Fiore recruited a program manager and fire chief from out-of-state to lead the company's work at the California laboratory.
Hiring and recruiting talent is part of an approach that Zack thinks has helped lead to the company's success, typified by a pair of recognitions that Fiore received from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory last week.
"We place an emphasis on talent and culture, putting the right people in the right positions," Zack said. "[The award] is a testament that a small business can excel at providing services that are typically conducted by larger international companies."
Fiore started working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2020. Its contract extension with the lab comes only a few months after the company received a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration to provide armed security services at 17 sites across the Western U.S.
That FAA contract led Fiore to hire more than 100 new employees. The company employs over 400 people through offices in Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Nevada and Honolulu, Zack previously told Business First.
Fiore's other customers include the New Mexico Spaceport Authority and NASA's Ames Research Center. Currently, Fiore carries out protective services work — which includes specialty firefighting, emergency management and armed security — at over 20 sites, Zack said.
Bill Miera, a Fiore chairperson, founded the company in 1989. Zack said that the company has doubled in size since 2020 and expects to continue to have "explosive growth" going forward.
While protective services make up over 90% of Fiore's business, the company wants to expand into more tech engineering and manufacturing to complement its other work, Zack said.
