Charles Harrington, Parsons Chairman & CEO, Named to 2020 Wash100 for Driving Company Growth, Expanding Contract Portfolio

Executive Mosaic is honored to announce Charles Harrington, CEO and chairman of Parsons, as an inductee into the 2020 Wash100 Award for growing the company through acquisitions and contract awards and expanding work with U.S. defense customers.

This marks Harrington’s first Wash100 Award. Harrington was appointed CEO of the company in May 2008. He was named chairman of the Board of Directors later that year and president of the corporation in 2009. Since his appointment and throughout 2019, Harrington has supported the company, transformed its business strategy and driven its growth. 

In April 2019, Parsons' joint venture with PAE won a spot on the U.S. Army's 10-year, $82 billion Logistics Civil Augmentation Program V contract vehicle.

The PAE-Parsons Global Logistics Services JV is among the four contractors that can compete for military logistics support task orders under LOGCAP V, which has an initial ordering period of five years, followed by five one-year options, and covers support for geographical combatant command and Army service component commands across the full range of military operations worldwide.

Not only has Harrington led the company through major contract awards with service branches, but he has also supported company growth and awards within federal agencies. In December 2019, Parsons announced it holds a prime position on the five-year, $7.5 billion Systems, Engineering, Technology and Innovation contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency.

The SETI effort aims to transform how warfighters engage with the Department of Defense’s information technology through 2024. The program will offer an array of research and development and critical technical areas central to engineering, delivering and maintaining DoD and DISA information technology infrastructure. 

In addition to Harrington’s continued efforts to grow the company through large contracts, he has also earned newfound revenue through a key acquisition. Parsons acquired radio frequency technology maker QRC Technologies from DC Capital Partners in July 2019 for approximately $215 million in cash in a push to expand its portfolio of products in the RF and signals intelligence market.

“Bringing QRC into the Parsons family complements our existing portfolio, increases our presence in the high-growth markets of spectrum awareness and surveillance, adds critical intellectual property that complements and expands our available capabilities for the Special Operations and Intelligence Communities,” Harrington said at the time.

QRC develops platforms in RF spectrum survey, record and playback, electronic warfare and signals intelligence in support of the U.S. intelligence community, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and international clients. 

“Our expansion into military hardware will provide significant value for both our shareholders and customers across federal solutions and critical infrastructure,” Harrington added.

The transaction marked Parson’s first acquisition as a public company and aligns with its transformation strategy to acquire high-growth companies in defense and intelligence technology markets. The deal also supports the company’s plans to leverage its capabilities in artificial intelligence and data analytics to accelerate the delivery of actionable intelligence to customers.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Parsons and Charles Harrington for his 2020 Wash100 Award selection. Because of his efforts to advance Parsons’ influence in the GovCon sector through major contract awards with various service branches, acquisitions, and advancing data services, proves that Harrington is a significant figure in the industry. 

About The Wash100

The Wash100 Award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.