Fairfax, Virginia, March 6, 2018 – CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced that it has exceeded its onshore development goal of hiring 400 professionals for its U.S. onshore delivery center in Lafayette, Louisiana, a year ahead of original projections made by company leaders and local officials when CGI selected the south Louisiana site in 2014. CGI is seeking to fill additional new positions at the location in calendar year 2018.
“While I am extremely excited about the growth of CGI's workforce in Lafayette, I am most appreciative of how engaged, active and committed CGI team members are at making Lafayette a great place to live, work and play,” said Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux.
“Our partnership with the Lafayette community has exceeded all expectations,” said Tim Hurlebaus, President, CGI Federal. “We are proud to call Lafayette a shining example of CGI’s onshore delivery model, which generates meaningful jobs across the U.S. while enabling us to provide government and commercial clients with high-quality digital transformation solutions at reduced costs.”
After reaching an initial agreement in 2014, CGI opened the $13.1 million, 50,000-square-foot U.S. onshore delivery center in May 2016 and remains an anchor tenant of the 143-acre Research Park of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL-Lafayette). The project also included a state-funded, 10-year, $4.5 million higher education initiative led by UL-Lafayette with a goal to triple the number of undergraduate degrees awarded annually by the University’s School of Computing and Informatics.
“The dynamic collaboration between UL-Lafayette and CGI has focused on creating internships, capstone projects and employment opportunities for our students,” said Dr. Joseph Savoie, President of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “We’re producing high-quality undergraduate and graduate students from across multiple disciplines who are able to find jobs right here at home, thanks to CGI and other innovative companies in our region.”
CGI has also established a research and technology innovation lab in Lafayette to advance cutting-edge, digital transformation technologies such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, future cities, big data and data visualization. The innovation lab is used by both CGI and UL-Lafayette for technology demonstrations, client innovation sessions and learning events.
“When CGI announced the decision to open a facility in Lafayette in 2014, we knew it was the nascency of a new and vibrant industry in Acadiana,” said Gregg Gothreaux, President and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. “What we didn’t know was the transformative impact those 400 jobs would have on the region as the energy sector entered a downturn. These 400 jobs have provided quality employment opportunities for graduates with local upward mobility. We look forward to CGI’s continued growth in Lafayette and working with the company and our community partners to make Lafayette a premier high-tech hub in the southeastern U.S.”
“We’re deeply integrated with UL-Lafayette’s undergraduate, graduate and research teams, exploring the impact of emerging technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence through machine learning,” added Hurlebaus. “Our members in Lafayette are also engaged across the community in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational initiatives, local sustainability projects and other events that reflect CGI’s core value of corporate social responsibility.”
CGI employees in the area have helped support Project Front Yard, partnered with the Bayou Vermilion Preservation Association, volunteered for United Way, supported middle and high school career fairs and events with partners such as GEAR UP and New Vision Leadership, and participated in smart city activities with the Lafayette Engagement and Research Network (LEaRN), the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette Consolidated Government and One Acadiana.
The Lafayette IT Center of Excellence represents one example of CGI’s partnership with communities across the U.S. CGI’s onshore delivery center program has generated more than 1,600 jobs and generated hundreds of millions dollars in local economic activity while enabling the delivery of affordable high-quality IT services to government and commercial clients nationwide. CGI’s other U.S. onshore delivery centers include those located in Alabama, Ohio, Maine, Texas, Virginia and Maine.
About CGI Federal
CGI Federal Inc. is a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Group Inc., dedicated to partnering with federal agencies to provide solutions for defense, civilian, healthcare and intelligence missions. Founded in 1976, CGI is the fifth largest independent IT and business consulting services firm in the world. With approximately 72,500 professionals worldwide, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of high-end IT and business consulting services, systems integration and IT and business process outsourcing services. CGI's client proximity model, best-fit global delivery network, and intellectual property solutions help clients accelerate results and digitally transform their organizations. With annual revenue of C$10.8 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Website: www.cgi.com.
For more information:
Investors
Lorne Gorber
Executive Vice-President, Global Communications and Investor Relations
lorne.gorber@cgi.com
+1 514-841-3355
Media
Jennifer Goodman Horowitz
Director, Communications
jennifer.horowitz@cgifederal.com
+1 703-227-4636
