Firm punts Pinellas for new home in Hillsborough

TAMPA — CWU Inc., a $50 million support services firm in the defense contracting industry, is moving its headquarters from Pinellas to Hillsborough County.

The company, previously in a facility on U.S. Highway 19 in Clearwater, is moving to a new headquarters in 10,000 square feet of space at Westshore Technology Center, 5402 W. Laurel Street, Tampa. It plans to move 30 existing positions to Tampa and add up to 20 new ones by 2018, according to a statement. Founded in 2004, CWU plans to invest $2.5 million in its new headquarters facility.

CWU, a Veteran's Administration Verified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, provides professional, administrative, linguistic, and training support services to the federal government. Positions it plans to hire in Tampa include executive, program management, human resources, legal, and accounting functions, with salaries that and pay an average wage of $78,600, the release adds.

“CWU aspires to be the premier professional support services in the defense contracting industry,” says CWU Chairman and President Charles Jenkins, a retired US Army Special Forces veteran, in the statement. “Today, CWU is a $50 million critical staff augmentation company, a leading provider of professional support personnel. Forecasts project we will double our size over the next 24 months. We are excited to be moving our headquarters to Tampa.”

CWU has 400 full-time and at least 250 part-time employees. In addition to its headquarters, the company operates satellite offices in Mainz, Germany; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Bordentown, N.J; Augusta and Savannah, Ga.; and the Washington, D.C. area. The company has provided direct operational and training support services to more than 90 federal agencies for more than 125,000 military and law enforcement personnel.

The Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. helped CWU with connections to resource partners to assist with relocations for new employees recruited from outside of the area. It also helped identify training grant opportunities for the company.

“We are pleased to welcome CWU to Hillsborough County as they execute the next phase of their company's growth strategy,” says Tampa Hillsborough EDC Chairman Ken Atwater in the statement. “Tampa offers CWU access to a deep pool of multilingual talent, close proximity to MacDill Air Force Base, and easy connectivity to global locations via Tampa International Airport. We are proud that they now call our city home to their corporate headquarters and offer our continued support of their efforts now and into the future.”