A Northern Virginia technology company plans to establish a 57,000-square-foot research-and-development facility in Montgomery County to accommodate its growing workforce.
BlueHalo LLC expects the new site at 20521 Seneca Meadows in Germantown will open by the end of the year. It's getting financial support from the state: The Maryland Department of Commerce is working to approve a $1 million conditional loan as well as a $50,000 grant to help support the effort and Montgomery County is offering a $100,000 conditional grant to back the expansion.
BlueHalo specializes in developing tailored products for the defense sector, spanning domains like autonomous land and ground systems, electronic warfare and cybersecurity.
It announced the expansion Monday, roughly three months after it said it is acquiring cyber IT firm Eqlipse Technologies of Annapolis Junction, Maryland, in a deal that will increase its workforce to 2,400 employees nationwide and boost annual revenue to nearly $1 billion. Both BlueHalo and Eqlipse are portfolio companies of Bethesda private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners LLC.
BlueHalo Chief Operating Officer Trip Ferguson said the company needs the additional space to accommodate its growth and that the support it received from state and county officials "made Maryland an easy choice" for the expansion.
"We’re excited to grow our Maryland operations with expanded R&D and manufacturing capabilities," he said in a statement.
Maryland is providing the $1 million conditional loan at a 3% fixed per annum rate through its Advantage Maryland economic development program. Terms require BlueHalo to employ a total of 260 employees at the new facility and an additional 120 employees at its other Maryland sites for a total of 340 new employees, bringing its total statewide employment to 600 full-time permanent employees by Dec. 31, 2029, and to then maintain that level of employment for the remaining term of the loan.
BlueHalo was formed via the combination of one of Arlington Capital's portfolio companies, Huntsville, Alabama’sAegis Technologies, with the acquisitions of Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Applied Technology Associates and Dayton, Ohio’s Brilligent Solutions. Its headquarters is in Arlington's Ballston neighborhood and it also has offices in Chantilly, Reston, Herndon and Leesburg.
Apart from Virginia and Maryland, it also has operations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas.
