Beach company will add jobs after winning Army contract

VIRGINIA BEACH

ADS Inc., a company that supplies special operations gear to the military, announced Thursday that it plans to hire 10 workers after winning a contract worth at least $153.6 million to sell flame-resistant garments to the U.S. Army.

The Virginia Beach-based company, which employs 195 people locally, received an initial order of 64,000 sets of the flame-resistant garments, which cost about $2,400 each. The contract has three one-year options. ADS estimates it could provide as much as $1 billion for the company.

"Our company has worked closely with the Army and the best garment manufacturers and textile companies in the United States to create this technologically advanced protective clothing system," Luke Hillier, ADS's chief executive, said in a news release.

The garments are part of the Army's Fire Resistant Environmental Ensemble, a 17-piece set that protects soldiers from flames in a variety of combat environments, according to ADS.

ADS was recently awarded a two-year contract worth up to $487.8 million from the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia. The contract has three one-year options. ADS had planned to add 75 workers in the next two years to fulfill that contract. The 10 jobs announced Thursday will be in addition, said David Costello, a spokesman for the company.

ADS has an office on Viking Drive, a warehouse off London Bridge Road and a packaging facility on Aviator Drive.

The company recently purchased a Lynnhaven office building for $7.5 million as its new headquarters. The firm plans to move into it next year.

ADS began in 1979 as a division of Lynnhaven Dive Center, run by Hillier's father, Michael. It was spun off in 1996. Initially called Atlantic Diving Supply, the business has branched out to provide items such as body armor and night-vision aids.

Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com