WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today announced that the U.S. Geological Survey has informed her that a new agreement with contractors for technical support services has been awarded to ATA Services, Inc.  The contract may be worth as much as $75 million, and it will enhance support at the Colorado and Missouri installations of the USGS.

“I’m very pleased that the USGS mission in Rolla, Missouri, will grow as a direct result of this contract.  We have a core group of dedicated professionals who do work here that no one else in the country can replicate,” Emerson said.  “Supplementing USGS’s expertise with more jobs in the private sector helps USGS, it bolsters the local economy, and it strengthens the important relationships between USGS and the rest of the Rolla community.”

The contract contains $9.7 million for the first year, during which no contractor personnel will be added, but new hiring is a possibility for the next four years of the contract, Emerson was told.  The successive years of the contract would be worth $12.3 million, $16.5 million, $17.5 million and $19 million.

“We’ve all fought very hard to keep the important mission of the USGS alive and well.  This kind of commitment to the USGS in Rolla and in Denver shows me that all the effort was worthwhile, and USGS is going to remain a very active part of the national effort to provide state-of-the-art mapping and surveying products,” Emerson said.

She expects any contractor job additions to be appropriately split between the two USGS sites in Missouri and Colorado.