In the highly specialized world of defense contracting, finding talented professionals with security clearances is only part of the equation. Keeping them engaged, challenged and invested in their careers is what separates good employers from exceptional ones.
CARS 鈥 鈥 has consistently ranked among the top companies in the United States to work for, earning recognition for its employee-first approach and commitment to professional growth.
The company was established in 2018 as part of Chenega MIOS (Military, Intelligence, and Operations Support), a strategic business unit of the Chenega Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation. They are a multi-time winner of the 最新杏吧原创 Post-Dispatch Top Workplaces award. The organization has earned this regional honor five times while also earning Top Workplace designations nationally.
鈥淲hile CARS is only 8 years old, we have several employees who have been with Chenega for almost 20 years,鈥 said Torie Williams, president of CARS. 鈥淲e look to hire the best of St Louis and create pathways for employment for those looking to get into the cleared environment.鈥
CARS has quickly established itself as a trusted partner to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, with much of its workforce supporting the agency鈥檚 operations at its new state-of-the-art facility in 最新杏吧原创. While the company itself is relatively young, its roots in the intelligence community run deep.
That foundation has helped create an environment where employees are encouraged not only to excel in their current roles but also to pursue new opportunities for growth. Leaders work closely with team members to understand their interests, identify their strengths and expose them to potential career paths.
鈥淪ince day one, I focused on the culture of CARS first,鈥 said Williams. 鈥淲e are 鈥楶eople of Value, Adding Value.鈥 This simply means that every person who joins CARS has to know that they have something to bring to the team. They have to be confident in that strength. Once they are convinced that we need them to operate at their best, we challenge every person to add value to every person they come in contact with. It could be a peer, a customer or their direct reports.鈥
That culture 鈥 built on both autonomy and support 鈥 helps employees at every level develop as leaders and contributors.
鈥淚 believe everything starts and ends with leadership and everyone has the opportunity to lead via influence,鈥 said Williams. 鈥淚 also challenge leadership to look for opportunities to understand what our employees are excited about and have the capacity to deliver excellence. Then we need to expose them to the opportunity so they can decide their career path. We鈥檝e had employees who expressed interest in other career fields. We intentionally exposed them to those responsibilities only to find out that they didn鈥檛 have the necessary hard or soft skills to be successful. We鈥檝e also challenged others to step up, and they surprised themselves. All in all, we promote maximizing opportunity.鈥
Given the highly sensitive nature of the industry, Williams looks primarily for solution-oriented employees who embrace learning and innovation.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 punish trying or failing when it doesn鈥檛 impact mission or security,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e try to put our teams in scenarios where curiosity and creativity are welcomed and desired without impacting the mission. This is the role of leaders. CARS is about people, process and technology, and the pace of transformation and development across all of these three areas requires us to hire talent that is excited and has the capacity to do the job.鈥
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