Stanley, Inc.

Stanley, Inc. (NYSE:SXE), acquired by CGI Group in 2010, is an information technology company based in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 1966, it operated as a small, entrepreneurial consulting company.

Stanley made its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2006, selling 6.3 million shares for $13.00/share, raising $81.9 million. A majority of stocks are owned by officers, directors and employees (the latter through an employee stock ownership plan).

The company’s largest customer is the U.S. Army. It also holds contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security. It operates facilities for the production of United States passports^[1][2] and for mailroom work and data entry for applications for U.S. visa and citizenship.

Union Matter

The company controversially reduced wages when it took over the management of two facilities in St. Albans, Vermont, and Laguna Niguel, California in December 2007 which process immigration documents.^[3] The United Electrical workers union (UE) became involved in an effort to create a union to protect low paid employees who process immigration records. As it was about to assume control, Stanley announced that it would be changing job classifications at the facilities, resulting in a pay decrease of about 12 percent which prompted Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont to call on the Labor Department to investigate what he charged was a violation of the Service Contract Act.

A July 2007 report by the Government Accountability Office on passport and visa security outlines the potential dangers of outsourcing passport functions to contractors like Stanley Inc.^[4]

Department of State Investigation

In March 2008, the U.S. Department of State, which is responsible for issuing U.S. passports, stated that two employees of a Stanley Associates subcontractor had been fired for improperly accessing the passport application file of (then) presidential candidate Barack Obama.^[5] The company published a press release^[6] on March 21, 2008. In each case, Stanley took immediate disciplinary action and employees were terminated the day the unauthorized search occurred. Stanley also stated its general policy and practice to cooperate fully with any potential Government investigation.

Additional information on the breach of passport information has yet to be disclosed to the public.^[7][8]

Corporate Mergers

On June 10, 2008, Stanley announced that it was acquiring Oberon Associates, a fellow defense contractor also based out of Virginia.^[9] In April 2007, Stanley acquired Lawton, Okla.-based Techrizon LLC, a provider of software, training, simulation and information security solutions.

On May 7, 2010, CGI Group Inc., a leading provider of information technology and business processing services, announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Stanley. The merger was finalized in August 2010.

Corporate Recognition

Washington Technology listed Stanley at the 50th position in its 2007 list of the top 100 U.S. federal government prime contractors.^[10] In the 2008 listing, Stanley rose to the 48th position.^[11] In 2009, Stanley rose to the 45th position.^[12]

Fortune Magazine included Stanley in its 2007,^[13] 2008,^[14] and 2009^[15] lists of the "100 Best Companies to Work For". The methodology that Fortune Magazine follows in determining the companies listed in the ranking includes an independent survey of a random sampling of company employees.

Stanley was ranked in the 10th position in the large companies category on the 2009 Best Places to Work in Oklahoma.^[16]

The 2009 Washington Business Journal Best Places to Work ranked Stanley in the 17th position in the large companies category.^[17]

References

CGI TO ACQUIRE STANLEY U.S. expansion consistent with strategic priorities