Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. acquired the Tech 2020 building in Oak Ridge late last week. The purchase of the building will allow the company’s corporate headquarters to remain in Oak Ridge, retaining more than 100 jobs in the community, a press release said.
The Tech 2020 building was placed on the market following the January 2016 announcement that the organization would be winding down operations. Tech 2020 was a nonprofit organization that had focused on technology-based entrepreneurial support and access to capital. The organization contributed to the success of several area start-ups.
“We are pleased that Navarro has found a new home in the Tech 2020 building,” said Phil Andrews, chief financial officer of Oak Ridge Associated Universities and chair of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. “It’s a win for the community to be able to keep the company and employees in Oak Ridge. The fact that the company has purchased a building, rather than leasing or renting one, shows the kind of commitment Navarro has to the city.â€
The purchase will give “new life to the building,” said Parker Hardy, president and chief executive officer of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
“It seems fitting that this building, which housed an organization that helped so many entrepreneurs get their start, will now be home to a very successful business founded by a local entrepreneur,” Hardy said.
Navarro is a full service environmental remediation, waste management, and nuclear services company that is a prime contractor for large “turn-key” projects of up to $250 million for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Defense, National Regulatory Commission, and their prime contractors, the press release said.
“We are so pleased to be able to purchase this iconic property in Oak Ridge as we continue to grow in East Tennessee and across the country,” said Susana Navarro-Valenti, president and CEO of Navarro. “It is important to us that our local workforce continue to be a part of the Oak Ridge community, and the purchase of the Tech 2020 building will allow us to make that happen.â€
With revenues of more than $120 million, Navarro is a woman-owned, small disadvantaged business established in 1993 and headquartered in Oak Ridge. The company has 21 offices supporting more than 90 sites and projects nationwide, including Alaska and Puerto Rico, and at all the major DOE and NNSA sites including Los Alamos, New Mexico; Richland, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Tonopah, Nevada.
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