Karsun kicked off its ten year anniversary celebration this year. During an event in its new Virginia headquarters, it recognized the dedicated team members responsible for the organization’s early and sustained growth. It also affirmed its commitment to team member development over the next ten years. Throughout 2019 Karsun celebrated its love for community, continuous learning, and excellence. Team Karsun embraced these culture-defining moments while preparing for the next decade to come.
Karsun Academy Transforms Government Shutdown into Growth and Learning Opportunity
The Oklahoma FAA SSD team initially planned to return from winter break to a week of Red Hat training. However, they soon faced the partial government shutdown impacting federal contractors at the beginning of 2019. Rather than grinding to a standstill, the Karsun community came together during this uncertain time. In addition to the planned Red Hat training, Karsun arranged for additional professional development courses. This continuation of the Karsun Academy program allowed team members to train on topics from solutioning to project management instead of taking paid time off.
From Hacklahoma to Southampton Karsun Connects with Students
In addition to team development through Karsun Academy, the IT recruiting team and innovation teams extended development resources to college students throughout the year. Hitting the ground running after the shutdown some Karsun Oklahoma City team members joined the University of Oklahoma for Hacklahoma 2019. At this hackathon, they mentored students and spoke on DevOps practices. Students were also given the option to connect virtually with Karsun recruiters after the event.
In the spring and fall, Jason Marceau, a Director with Karsun’s GSA DMS program, returned to the University of Southampton for a series of events with graduate analytics students. In partnership with the Centre for Operational Research, Management Science and Information Systems (CORMSIS), Karsun held a hackathon, challenging students to uncover insights behind U.S. government spend data. In October, Jason returned to reprise his popular talk on leveraging internship experience in academic and professional settings.
The Karsun Innovation Center (KIC), the organization’s in-house research and development unit, also sponsored a senior capstone at George Mason University this year. Mentored by Shanmuga Palanivelu and Badri Sriraman, these students developed a rapid prototyping tool for microservices. Karsun technical recruiters and hiring managers also attended fairs at the university in addition to holding virtual information sessions with Master of Information Technology students at Virginia Tech.
Opening Doors, Supporting Communities Abroad
Karsun Solutions sponsors several organizations supporting students and communities abroad. In the spring it was the event sponsor for the Organization to Provide EducatioN’s (OPEN) annual Rasika concert. The event raises money for the charity benefitting more than 33,000 children and 105 schools. In the fall Karsun supported Bridges to Community. This organization connects service-learning groups with communities in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Celebrating with Families at Home
Fun is a Karsun core value and just as essential to team development. The summer family picnic is one of the yearly traditions which anchor the Karsun events calendar. This year the Oklahoma team and Karsun leadership gathered at the Frontier City amusement park. Meanwhile, the Virginia team celebrated their picnic at Ticonderoga Farms. The Oklahoma team recently held a second event, a winter festival held at an indoor arcade. In addition to these family-oriented events, the employee led events committee plans monthly activities in both locations.
Learn from Experts, Work from KIC
In September, Karsun and the Innovation Center moved into the organization’s new 75,000 square foot headquarters. Utilizing its new facilities, the innovation team strengthened its practice areas including a new DevSecOps innovation center practice and hosting Work from KIC days. The team also hosts monthly innovation town halls and is the home of the DataOps NoVa community Meetup. Investing in the resources used by many employees during the shutdown at the start of the year, the Innovation Center solicits feedback through a web application and shares its roadmap in its town hall sessions.
Find a Place at One of the Fastest Growing Companies in DC
Karsun Solutions celebrated its fifth Inc. 5000 win with its annual August ice cream parties. The festivities do not stop there! Team Karsun also celebrated awards from the Virginia Chamber of Commerce (Fantastic 50) and Washington Business Journal (Fast 75), culminating with the Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech 100 in December. Both Virginia and Oklahoma teams will continue hiring throughout 2020. Sign-up for the monthly Extraordinary Life newsletter for the latest on employee celebrations, company awards, and job openings.