A new location for Bowhead Information Technology Service means a continued commitment to Vicksburg, executives for the technical services company said.

In November, the firm on which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District and the Corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center depends for an array of technical personnel moved inside Halls Ferry Station strip mall, behind Walgreens, from its previous location on Manor Drive.

It’s one of 13 offices nationwide for Alexandria, Va.-based UIC Technical Services, which is comprised of seven Bowhead specialty services located in eight states. UIC is wholly owned by the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp., based in Alaska.

When an office moves across town and not across the country, it’s a sign of confidence in the community.

“When we open up a new office, it demonstrates our commitment to the area,” said Kelvin Martinez, senior marketing and communications manager for UIC Technical Services, made up of seven Bowhead subsidiaries. “We wouldn’t be there if we didn’t feel like we’ll be there for a while.”

Four office staffers work in the Halls Ferry Road office. Most of Bowhead’s 200 local employees work with ERDC as part of a research and development contract that brought Bowhead to Vicksburg in 2005. The new local base should make it easier for new recruits to assist ERDC researchers with soils or aquatic plants, local program director Don Sloan said.

“We try to recruit top talent to work with ERDC,” Sloan said. “It’s a lot easier to direct them to the new location, which is right off Interstate 20.”

Bowhead’s science and technology division supports ERDC, while its information technology arm supports information technology capabilities for all Corps districts.

In the commercial realm, Bowhead contractors supported the $874 million in upgrades at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Claiborne County earlier this year.

“We had project scheduling with multiple vendors,” Sloan said. “Or, keeping track of who’s in and who’s out.”

New signs on and outside of the new office space will feature the company logo, which depicts the great Arctic whale, Sloan said.

Nationwide, Bowhead employs 1,200 in support of the federal departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice and Transportation and private sector customers.