FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES | $25M-$75M | 2ND PLACE
A brainy, cohesive workforce with a sterling reputation and a talent for borrowing and adapting existing technologies has made Systems Engineering Associates Corp. of Middletown, a subcontractor of services for the military, into a growing enterprise.
Sea Corp. is the largest subcontractor working with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, said President David A. Lussier. It also works with General Dynamics Electric Boat, Lockheed Martin and Progeny Systems Corp.
One example of Sea Corp.'s flexible thinking arose last year, when it landed a contract with the federal Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program. The $1 million project required Sea Corp. to figure out how to launch a mine-neutralizing payload from an unmanned surface vessel.
The company solved the problem by borrowing technology from the auto air bag. Sea Corp. has landed about 15 SBIR jobs during 35 years in business, Lussier said.
The 400-employee company grew by 40 workers for 2015 and 2016 to handle work from two big projects. One was creating equipment for a new generation of submarine-listening tech.
“The innovation was to use software to make systems more capable” using apps rather than built-in hardware, Lussier said.
CEO (or equivalent): Brian W. Gilligan, CEO
2016 Revenue: $74,911,544
2014 Revenue: $59,676,041
Revenue Growth: 26%
