Parsons Corporation is an American technology-focused defense, intelligence, security, and infrastructure engineering firm headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia. The company was founded in 1944.
Parsons has more than 17,000 employees across 25 countries. Carey Smith serves as Chairwoman, President, and CEO of Parsons.
History
Parsons was founded by Ralph M. Parsons in 1944. The company delivered electronics, instrumentation, ground checkout systems design, and engineering for aircraft, missiles and rockets during the Cold War.
Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, Parsons expanded its service offerings to bring capabilities in engineering, design, and construction management to a wide range of infrastructure, including water and wastewater, oil and gas, aviation, rail and transit, and other critical facilities around the world.
In 1974, Parsons opened the first part of its headquarters in Pasadena.
In 1985, Parsons finalized an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP), allocating shares in proportion to employees’ salaries. The ESOP benefits program continues today.
During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, transportation projects grew as part of the company’s portfolio, including some of the first major bridge engineering projects.
In late February 2019, Parsons announced the move of its headquarters from Pasadena, California to Centreville, Virginia.
On May 8, 2019, Parsons executed an Initial Public Offering of approximately $500 million on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PSN.
In December 2019, it was announced that Parsons and Leidos Holdings Inc. had earned spots on a $4 billion contract to support the cleanup of a former nuclear weapons site in southern Washington state.
On September 1, 2023, Parsons announced the move of its headquarters to Chantilly, VA.
Founder's legacy
In 1961, Parsons founded the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. The foundation became entirely independent from the company in 1974.
Company Timeline
1940s
Less than 2 months after Parsons was founded, they were hired to provide turnkey engineering, management, and oil well drilling services to the great divide in Colorado, United States. Parsons began work at the Point Mugu Missile facility and for missile development and testing. In 1948, the Atomic Energy Commission created the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory reactor so that it could conduct advanced nuclear experiments with civilian and military reactors. Parsons designed all facilities for test and support operations—including the largest cast-in-place concrete arch ever poured, a span of 3,000 feet.
1960s
In 1961, Parsons designed the installation plans for each of the 1,000 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were used by the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War. In 1964, Ralph M. Parsons personally managed the design of the U.S. Treasury Department Mint’s expansion. Parsons created all construction and equipment specifications, oversaw construction, and prepared operations and maintenance manuals. In 1964, Parsons created a technical and economic blueprint for the North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA), specifically in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The plan outlined concepts to build an integrated system of dams, channels, tunnels, reservoirs, hydroelectric plants, and pumping stations. The plan ultimately did not move forward due to environmental concerns and cost. In 1966, Parsons has served as general engineering consultant for the DC Washington Metro in Washington, D.C., which is a $11 billion, 103-mile rapid transit rail system connecting Washington, D.C., to its many suburbs. In 1968, Parsons designed and constructed the entire Honolulu Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii (which is now referred to as the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport), including a 12,000-foot runway on an offshore reef to minimize noise in Honolulu. The runway is still used today. In 1968, Parsons began work to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by providing plans, specifications, and standards to upgrade air traffic controls in 19 facilities. Today, Parsons provides 24/7/365 technical support services in all nine FAA regions and two specialized FAA centers. Again in 2001, Parsons was the prime contractor to implement modernization plans for the national airspace system