Westat

Westat is an employee-owned professional services corporation located in Rockville, Maryland, USA.[1] It provides research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments. The corporation conducts research studies in behavioral health & health policy, clinical trials, education, public health & epidemiology, social policy & economics and transportation.

Westat
Employee-owned
IndustryProfessional services
Founded1963
Headquarters
Rockville, Maryland
,
United States
Number of locations
13
Key people
James E. Smith (CEO and Chairman of the Board)
Scott Royal (President)
ProductsWesVar, Blaise
ServicesResearch in the fields of health, education, social policy, and transportation[1]
Revenue500.7 million USD (FY2016)[1]
Number of employees
Over 1,900[2]
Websitewww.westat.com

History

Westat Inc. began as a partnership in 1961 with co-founders Edward C. Bryant, Ph.D., a tenured full professor of statistics at the University of Wyoming, and two former students, James Daley and Donald King. In 1963, the company was incorporated. Dr. Bryant served as the company’s first President until 1978, when Joseph Hunt took over as President for the next 32 years. In 1981, Westat moved to its present location in Rockville, Maryland and today maintains staff in the U.S, China, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, South Africa and Thailand.[3]

In May 2011, James E. Smith, Ph.D., became President and CEO of the company.[4] Graham Kalton, Ph.D., stepped down as Chairman of the Board in 2019, and was replaced by Smith.

Recent acquisitions

Westat acquired education research and technical assistance specialist, Edvance Research in January 2016 and healthcare data analytics firm, JEN Associates in February 2018, both for an undisclosed amount.[5][6]

Research activities

Westat conducts studies on respondent knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors,[7][8] program evaluation,[9][10][11] physical, mental, and behavioral health,[12][13][14] academic achievement and literacy,[15][16][17] early childhood longitudinal studies,[18] child abuse and neglect,[19] medical treatments and outcomes,[20][21][22] exposure assessments,[23][24] and information management and communications solutions.[25][26] The company supports two software packages, WesVar and Blaise. The former is a variance estimation software while the latter is a survey processing system.[27]

Corporate structure

Westat is employee-owned. All employees can earn a share of ownership through the Westat Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Since the introduction of the plan in 1977, the value of employee holdings has grown.[28]

Recognition and claims

Westat was the recipient of the Policy Impact Award by the American Association for Public Opinion Research in 2011 and 2014, for work for survey work related to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the National Prison Rape Statistics Program, respectively.[29]

In September 2014, Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs discovered, during a scheduled audit of Westat, that the company systematically failed to provide equal employment opportunities to women applicants and applicants with other ethnicities for various positions between the period of October 2008 to September 2009. Under the terms of the settlement, Westat paid $1,500,000 in back wages and interest to all affected applicants, made 113 job offers to the original class members as positions become available, corrected record-keeping violations and conducted internal audits.[30][31]

This led Westat to rank #279 in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of America's Best Employers For Diversity 2019,[32] rank #228 in Best Employers for Women 2019,[33] and rank #37 in Best-in-State Employers 2019.[34] The company was also ranked #86 in the 2019 Top 100 companies by Washington Technology.[35]

References
  1. "The 2017 Honomichl Top 50 Report" (PDF).
  2. https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Documents/2017-top-50-gold-report-article.pdf
  3. Staff. "Westat: 50 Years Young". Amstat News. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  4. Smith leads Rockville’s Westat with a head for numbers and people Retrieved 2015-02-24
  5. "Westat Acquires Edvance Research". Cision. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  6. "Westat Acquires JEN Associates, Inc". Cision. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. William H. McMichael, July 8, 2010. Pentagon sends out survey on gay troops. Army Times. Retrieved 2010-08-03
  8. "The CAHPS Program". Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
  9. Ryan Grim, September 7, 2006.A White House Drug Deal Gone Bad Slate. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  10. Ryan Grim, September 7, 2006.Evaluation of the Office on National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign - Reports NIDA Website. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  11. Head Start Impact Study. Final Report. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  12. Survey Field Staff - NHANES Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  13. Study: Diabetes self-management portal yields promising results Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  14. "MEPS - Your Role in Shaping the Nation's Health". U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
  15. Mary Ann Zehr, December 10, 2009. What Kinds of Schools Are Most Likely to Teach Foreign Languages? Education Week. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  16. Jay Mathews, July 19, 2010. Better data needed to accurately rate school systems. Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  17. "Support to NAEP". National Assessment of Educational Progress.
  18. McDaniel, Darwin. "Westat Gets $94M Contract to Help Education Dept Conduct Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies". Executive Biz. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  19. "National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4), 2004-2009". Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
  20. Center Watch Clinical Trials Provider Profile Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  21. September 1, 2009. Innovative therapies for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Science Codex. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  22. November 4, 2010. Lung cancer trial results show mortality benefit with low-dose CT. National Cancer Institute. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  23. NICHD Announces Contracts to First Research Centers for Planned National Children's Study NICHD Website. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  24. "Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)". Govtribe.com.
  25. Westat, Inc. Wins $1.09 Million Federal Contract. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  26. Wham! Pow! The CDC Goes to Comic-Con. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  27. Westat USA is the distributor of the Blaise system for North, Central and South America. Blaise Contact Information. Retrieved 2010-08-03
  28. Westat Website: Benefits Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  29. "Policy Impact Award Winners". American Association for Public Opinion Research.
  30. Marshall, Ryan (12 September 2014). "Rockville company pays $1.5M in discrimination claim". Rockville Gazette. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  31. McGinnis, Laura; Trupo, Michael. "OFCCP News Release: 09/10/2014; Data mining giant Westat to pay $1.5M to settle discrimination case with US Labor Department". Department of Labor. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  32. Umoh, Ruth. "America's Best Employers For Diversity". Forbes magazine. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  33. "Westat Award Details". Forbes magazine.
  34. Valet, Vicky. "America's Best Employers By State". Forbes magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  35. "2019 Top 100". washingtontechnology.com.
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