It’s been in business for several years, but it has a new name. And it also has three new business partners.

 

As of Jan. 1, of this year, OSR changed its name to Stratagen. Along with the name change, the company that started in 2010 by Bridgeport’s Gene Weaver added a trio of partners in Tom Bush, Marc Krueger and Alex Guy.

 

For Weaver, it’s part of a natural progression of the business that currently is in growth mode. But knowing why, takes a trip back in time to see how Weaver got it to this point.

 

“I had worked for five years at the FBI (CJIS facility in Clarksburg) and the contract I was working with was ending. The unit chief I was working moved to the Next Generation Identification system and he moved his entire team with him.”

 

Weaver was part of the team. It was at that time he decided to start his own team that would do subcontract work. He would do it for the same group he had once work for after getting valuable facility clearance.

 

“It’s very difficult to get facility clearance, first off,” said Weaver. “Doing that was a perfect storm because they needed me to do that job and fill one of the positions. I went to them and asked to subcontract with them. It worked out for everyone.”

 

OSR’s task, and now Stratagen’s, is to provide resources to the federal government. The goal is to protect United States citizens. That’s done with involvement with background checks to providing data resources needed in those checked and more.

 

 

While working with OSR, Weaver said it was a “lifestyle company.” The company held one contract and Weaver worked on it himself.  For a long time, that’s what Weaver’s lone focus was one.

 

“When the contract ended it would go on to the next contract as it was usually extended. A couple of years ago, instead of extending the contract the people working with me moved to another contract,” said Weaver. “I was left without a contract and nothing to do.”

 

At that point, Weaver decided to expand. The company would become a growth company instead of a lifestyle company. To do that, he had to get over a big hurdle.

 

“I had to get a GSA (General Services Administration that manages government entities and contracts) contract to bid directly as opposed to being a subcontractor,” said Weaver. “To do that, I needed support and that’s where the new partners come in.”

 

The other partners have plenty of experience, with Bush being at the top of the list as a former assistant director of CJIS. Krueger has a substantial accounting background and worked with government contracting, while Guy can handle proposal writing.

 

Answering proposals and gaining government work is a massive undertaking. The team assembled, said Weaver, has the tools to do just that.

 

The good news is that the group has a GSA contract. It was awarded Dec. 4 of 2019 and is good for five years. Stratagen can now bid on GSA projects that match past performance. Already, things are shaping up and the contract means they can bid on potentially thousands of local and national contracts.

 

“An example of what this allows is that recently we’ve been to Washington, D.C. and met with four companies. Those companies are ones we will potentially partner with and do work right here in our community,” said Weaver.

 

That could mean plenty of future work. Weaver said they are currently working on three separate contracts with CJIS that provide analytical and IT solutions as well as strategic management.

 

Weaver said the benefits of CJIS are still profound. The massive complex sitting on Bridgeport’s municipal border saw its first building completed in 1995 after the initial land was purchased in 1991.

 

“I don’t think our community would be anywhere near as affluent as we are without the FBI being here. There are good jobs, careers in Bridgeport because of it,” said Weaver. “Bridgeport was just rated by USA Today as the 16^th best community in the country and I don’t think without that building, which is responsible for more than 2,500 jobs, that would be true. It’s been a benefit to Bridgeport and this entire region.”

 

To learn more about the company, click HERE to visit their Web site.

 

Editor's Note: Pictured, from left, are Alex Guy, Tom Bush, Marc Krueger, and Gene Weaver.