OWEGO, NY, 20-OCT-04 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], in conjunction with state officials and local developers, today announced it is opening the primary support center for a major U.S. Postal Service program in the Southern Tier.

Company officials, along with Gov. George E. Pataki and several public and private leaders, announced Lockheed Martin has leased 35,000 square feet of space at the Huron Clark Street Campus in Endicott, NY, for an Integrated Service Center (ISC). The facility will be the primary support center for the Universal Computing Connectivity (UCC) program the company recently received from the Postal Service.

The decision will bring up to 100 new technology-based jobs to the area immediately, creating an opportunity for telecommunication engineering, technician and related service support employment, company officials said. A secondary support facility, which will be opened in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, will serve as the backup operation for the UCC.

“Public sector support, especially by the state of New York and State Sen. Tom Libous, were instrumental in realizing this opportunity for our region,” said Frank Meyer, president of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration – Owego.

Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin announced it was selected by the U.S. Postal Service as the prime contractor to manage the Postal Service’s UCC program. The six year contract has a potential value of $3 billion, and includes four, three-year options. An integral component of the program is a service center housing all the functions necessary to manage, operate and maintain UCC services.

“The ability to co-locate our ISC operations in New York and North Carolina was a significant development for the program,” said Judy Marks, president of Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies. “We can operate our primary managed network services center close to our business operations, plus establish the program’s backup support center in close proximity to our customer.”

“I commend Lockheed Martin for locating their primary Integrated Service Center for the company’s management of network services to the U.S. Postal Service in Endicott,” said Gov. Pataki. “This announcement will provide 100 good-paying, high-tech job opportunities for hard working families across Broome County and build upon our aggressive efforts to transform the Southern Tier’s economy into a powerful engine for high-tech development and job growth.”

“Lockheed Martin has again shown its commitment to excellence and to our community by securing this contract to create 100 new good-paying jobs,” Libous added. “Working together with Governor Pataki and great business leaders like Frank Meyer, we’re building on our record of success through smart state investments just like we’ve done at NLX, Best Buy, Maines and Raymond Corp.”

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also applauded the ISC opening.

This announcement of keeping and growing highly skilled jobs in upstate New York enables the workforce to remain competitive in today's global marketplace, said Sen. Clinton. We are pleased that Lockheed Martin has added these high-tech jobs and are supportive of their efforts.

According to Marks, the linchpin for selecting a Southern Tier ISC base was effective teamwork between the public sector led by Libous and Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Economic Development Corporation. “Their efforts were essential in bringing all the components together quickly to help us reach this outcome,” Marks said. “In order for us to properly transition services performed today under other existing contracts to UCC, it was critical for us to establish our base operations where it will be efficient for our customer and accessible for our staffs.”

Under the UCC program, the U.S. Postal Service will integrate all postal data communication networks into a single, ubiquitous network service that will provide enterprise data transport, voice, wireless, remote access, network management and managed security services to more than 37,000 locations nationwide.

The ISC facilities in New York and North Carolina will operate in a limited fashion immediately, and will steadily ramp to full operational capability within a year. ISC personnel will support network operations, a 24-hour help desk, engineering, ordering and billing, and program office functions.

Lockheed Martin currently has 100 jobs housed at the Huron Campus in Endicott. The ISC initiative means an additional 100 jobs, and ultimately the company expects to staff up to 300 personnel in Building 257 at the Huron Campus on Clark Street. An aggressive hiring campaign has been initiated. Telecommunication engineers and technicians are critical skill sets being recruited. Persons interested in a career with Lockheed Martin should visit the Careers page on the company’s Web site at www.lockheedmartin.com or call its toll-free job line for this business operation at (888) 245-7027.