A great day to be a Trojan.”

That was the sentiment shared by Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford, Troy Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr. and echoed by Nazzic Turner, vice president of CGI, who proudly sported her Trojan red jacket as they joined together for the ground breaking ceremony on Friday at Parklane Shopping Center.

With Alabama Gov. Bob Riley on hand to welcome CGI’s newest Center of Excellence and its promise of 300 new jobs to Troy, Pike County and the state, it certainly was a great day to be both a Trojan and an Alabamian.

The CGI-Troy partnership represents an important step forward in our diversified economy, as the first industry to take advantage of the state’s 21st Century Economic Incentives Act, which provides economic development incentives for high-tech facilities and emerging “green” companies.

CGI is just that: a worldwide corporation which specializes in providing software development, support and training. One of the largest information technology and business process services firms in the world, CGI employes more than 26,000 professionals in 16 countries. Now, that workforce will include 300 people in Pike County, solidifying our reach into the global economy.

The addition of CGI is, as Mayor Lunsford said, a “missing link” in Pike County’s diversified eocnomic base. With a strong foundation in skilled labor and education, thanks to industries such as Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin and the presence of Troy University, we have been missing the opportunity for many bright, young professionals to stay and work in Pike County. CGI can provide that opportunity, with its IT and computer-based workforce. And, we can only hope that this will be the beginning of the growth and development of a new economic development niche for our community.

So we echo the mayor and the chancellor: it’s a great day to be a Trojan.

And we welcome the CGI family to our Trojan one!