Parsons Corporation
 | |
Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Security, Defense, Technology and Infrastructure |
| Founded | California, United States (1944 as Ralph M. Parsons Company) |
| Headquarters | 100 West Walnut Street, Pasadena, California |
Key people | Ralph M. Parsons, Founder Charles L. Harrington, CEO Brent Harvey, Group Executive, Risk Adam W. Taylor, Group Executive, Transformation and Operations George L. Ball, CFO Rich McFarland, Government Relations |
| Revenue | US$ 3.0 billion (2017)[1] |
| Website | www.parsons.com/  |
Parsons Corporation (Parsons) is a technology-focused defense, security, and infrastructure firm headquartered in Pasadena, California, founded in 1944 by engineer Ralph M. Parsons.[2][3]
Parsons provides cyber/converged security, technology-based intellectual property, and other innovative services to federal, regional, and local government agencies, as well as to private industrial customers. It has more than 16,000 employees across 24 countries and spanning four continents.
Contents
1 History
2 Founder's legacy
3 Markets
4 Signature Projects
5 Controversial Projects
5.1 Iraqi Health Care Centers
5.2 CBOSS Positive Train Control System
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
History
Parsons headquarters in Pasadena, California
Parsons was founded by Ralph M. Parsons.[4] During the Cold War, Parsons provided process engineering, facility design, construction services and operated various jet propulsion facilities—nuclear, chemical, and heavy fuels. It also delivered electronics, instrumentation, and ground checkout systems design and engineering for aircraft, missiles and rockets.[5]
With Parsons' recent acquisitions of technology firms, the company has been expanding into technology-focused fields, including smart infrastructure, cybersecurity, energy, and health research.
Founder's legacy
In 1961, Parsons founded the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. The foundation became entirely independent from the company in 1974.[6][citation needed]
Markets
Parsons focuses on the defense, security, and infrastructure markets.[7] The firm serves federal, regional, and local government agencies as well as private industrial customers.[8]
Signature Projects
Notable Parsons projects include:[9]
- MDA, Engineering and Support Services
Titan and Minuteman ICBM bases, sites and silos (together with another California-based contractor—Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall)[10]
Pershing MRBM miss-distance indicators[11]
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland
- DTRA, Syrian Chemical Weapons Elimination Program
- Salt Waste Processing Facility, Phase II, South Carolina
- Vimy Memorial Bridge, Ottawa, Canada
- Los Angeles International Airport Tom Bradley International Terminal, California
- Dubai Metro, Dubai, UAE
- Doha Expressway, Doha, Qatar
- Foothill Gold Line, California
- City of Bakersfield Wastewater Treatment Plant 3 Expansion, California
- GlassPoint Solar Miraah 1000 MW Solar Steam Plant, Amal Oil Field, Oman
- San Antonio Water System Brackish Water Desalination Program, Texas
- Covanta, H-POWER Facility Expansion, Hawaii
Ohio River Bridges Project project between Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana.[12]
- NYCT Canarsie Line (2007) and Flushing Line (2017) - CBTC (Communications-based Train Control) Signaling System Technology
Controversial Projects
Iraqi Health Care Centers
Parsons was awarded a contract for a $243 million project to build 150 health care centers in Iraq in March 2004. By March 2006, $186 million had been spent, with six centers complete and accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 135 centers only partly complete, and one reassigned to another contractor. USACE progressively terminated the contract from September 2005 to March 2006, eventually requiring Parsons to complete a total of 20 centers with the others to be completed by other contractors. The estimated cost for the completion of the other 121 centers was $36 million.[13]
Parsons and USACE disputed the degree to which the final 20 centers were completed.[14] A report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction cited problems, including "high turnover among government personnel... directions... given without agreement from the contractor... program managers' responsiveness to contractor communications, cost and time reporting, administration and quality assurance".[14]
CBOSS Positive Train Control System
Parsons was contracted in 2011 to implement a custom positive train control system for Caltrain, to be completed before the December 2015 federal PTC deadline mandated by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.[15] The project, called the Communications Based Overlay Signal System (CBOSS), failed to meet its 2015 delivery date and Caltrain terminated the contract as a result of "non-performance in 2017 after many months of delay and repeated failure by the contractor to correct performance issues."[15][16] After the cancellation of the Parsons contract, Caltrain approved a new contract for an off-the-shelf PTC system from Wabtec Corporation.[15][17]
References
^ http://www.parsons.com/about-parsons/Pages/financial-highlights.aspx Parsons Financial Highlights
^ https://www.parsons.com/about/faq/
^ Brown, Heidi. "Rebuilding". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-17..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Brown, Heidi. "Rebuilding". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
^ Thumbs up for performance. // Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 14, 1957, v. 67, no. 15, p. 84.
^ "Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Awards $1 Million Grant to Caltech for New Research Laboratory | Caltech". The California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
^ https://www.parsons.com/markets/
^ https://www.parsons.com/about/faq/
^ "Projects". www.parsons.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
^ Howard, William E. Billions for ICBM Launching Facilities // Missiles and Rockets, May 11, 1959, v. 5, no. 19, p.13-14.
^ Packard Reminds Industry of Its Duty — Defense. // Missiles and Rockets, September 5, 1960, v. 7, no. 10, p. 17.
^ Ohio River Bridges, Parsons Inc., retrieved Dec 19, 2016
^ Stuart W. Bowen, Jr. (February 15, 2007), STATEMENT OF STUART W. BOWEN, JR. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION BEFORE THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE U.S. CONTRACTING IN IRAQ (PDF), House Government Reform Committee, archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2008
^ ab http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0506/050106m1.htm
^ abc Kyra Senese, Caltain to sign Wabtec PTC contract, Railway Age
^ Caltrain PTC Program Status & Wabtec Contract Award, Caltrain
^ Caltrain Receives $18.7 Million Grant for Positive Train Control Project, Caltrain
Further reading
In-depth Company History (from Funding Universe)
Biography of founder Ralph M. Parsons (from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation website)
External links
"Crucial Iraq police academy 'a disaster'", The Seattle Times, September 28, 2006
