New Le Moyne certificate offers education on government contracting

SYRACUSE — A new program at Le Moyne College aims to help some of the area’s defense-contract manufacturers fill a need and set students on a promising career path.

Le Moyne launched a new certificate in government systems management last fall. Local defense contractors, including SRC, Inc. and Lockheed Martin, helped develop the content.

The four-course program, targeted toward undergraduate students as well as working professionals, provides information on the legal and regulatory issues involved in doing business with the federal government. Students learn about the government procurement process, financial systems, and contracting basics.

Undergraduates in accounting, information systems, marketing, finance, and business have already started the program. The first class was oversubscribed with 26 students, says Martha Grabowski, chairwoman of the business administration department at Le Moyne and director of the information-systems program.

Two more groups began the program in the spring semester, she adds.

People trained in government systems work in areas like accounting, finance, contract administration, and more, says Phil Fazio, executive vice president, CFO, and treasurer at SRC, a nonprofit research and development company. Previously, the firm was often forced to send employees to the Washington, D.C. area for the type of training now offered at Le Moyne, he adds.

“When you get these people, you want to keep them,” Fazio says. “These people are such a hot commodity.”

Even professionals with long experience in the private sector need training when moving to a contractor like SRC. There are different accounting standards and a host of regulations that would be unfamiliar to people from other industries, Fazio says.

“The people that come out of the commercial world never had that experience,” he says.

SRC and its for-profit manufacturing subsidiary, SRCTec, together employ more than 1,100 people at 15 locations in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. The firms are headquartered in Cicero and also have an office in Rome.

Having a local option for training makes a difference for employers and workers, says Ron Ziomek, director of contracts at Lockheed’s Salina location. The company employs about 2,200 people in Salina and 2,900 at a site in Owego.

“You’re taking someone out of their workplace for several days,” Ziomek says of sending employees out of the area for training.
“That’s disruptive.”

The program at Le Moyne could help establish a pipeline of future workers educated in federal contracting, executives say. Ziomek notes that professionals with experience in government systems are concentrated in areas around the nation’s Capitol or in states like Texas and California, where there are large pockets of contractors.

“That’s where the experienced people are,” he says. “We find that we basically have to grow the talent locally.”

Even the government itself often has numerous openings for procurement employees, Ziomek says. The Le Moyne certificate can equip students for work with federal agencies as well as contractors, he adds.

Even if they ultimately choose a career path that doesn’t involve work for a contractor, the certificate will help students separate themselves from the pack, Ziomek says.