CHARLEROI, PA -- Congressman John P. Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, visited Washington County today to announce three contracts recently secured by Nokomis, Inc., and to cut the ribbon for their facility expansion in downtown Charleroi.  Nokomis, a six-year old Charleroi based company, with additional offices in Pittsburgh and Toledo, OH is a Southwestern Pennsylvania born and bred company that follows a strong regional tradition of developing advanced technology for the military.

Specializing in electromagnetic effects and electromagnetic signature detection, Nokomis exploits electromagnetic waves through patent-pending technology that has the capability to detect, locate, and track both electronic devices and their users.  This technology can be used by our military or law enforcement personnel to identify electronic threats on the battlefield or in cities throughout the U.S.

“Protecting our service members from the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) has been an absolute priority of mine,” commented Murtha.  “The technology being developed by Nokomis will save lives.”

Murtha was able to secure $3.2 million in the fiscal year 2009 Defense Appropriations Bill for Nokomis to continue work on the Advanced Electromagnetic Location of Electronic Devices (AELED) technology that will detect, locate and neutralize the threat of IED trigger electronics.  In addition, Nokomis was recently awarded a $9.9 million IDIQ contract from the Defense Department to continue development of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based AELED IED system and $750,000 from the U.S. Air Force for remote-controlled IED identification. 

“With the announcement of these contracts and the current facility expansion, Nokomis will continue to provide high-tech employment opportunities in the Mon Valley,” added Murtha. 

“We were excited to have Congressman Murtha attend our Charleroi facility grand opening in August 2005 and are thrilled to have his ongoing support today.  Nokomis is extremely pleased with recent technology acceptance by our government customers and our growth and significant expansion in Charleroi. This growth translates to staffing additions at a substantial rate despite the larger economic downturn,” said Nokomis President and CEO, Walter Keller.  “Charleroi is a wonderful headquarters for Nokomis and I’m personally humbled to work day-to-day with one of the premiere technology development teams in the defense industry.  The community, location, access and local talent pool are a significant asset to the company that we’ve been able to leverage over the last several years. We appreciate Congressman Murtha’s consistent support in our efforts to design, develop and get improved technology into the hands of our men and women in uniform.”

Nokomis currently has 25 employees, with additional growth expected over the next year.  With today’s expansion opening, Nokomis now occupies a total of 50,000 sq. ft. of laboratory space in Charleroi.

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