On Friday, a first-of-its kind installation — a “sensitive compartmented information facility” — broke ground in St. Louis. The SCIF offers a secure place where sensitive information can be viewed and discussed without threat of outside surveillance or spying.
“When you're doing classified work, you need to be able to protect it,” said Keith Masback, the principal consultant at Plum Run LLC and former CEO of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.
The 75,000-square-foot space is embedded within the Globe Building downtown — and unlike most other SCIFs around the U.S., it’s not the property of a large government contractor or government agency. That makes it a game changer for smaller companies doing sensitive work.
Previously, “if you wanted to have a government contract, you had to demonstrate that you had access to a SCIF,” Masback explained on Friday’s St. Louis on the Air. But that was a catch-22, he said: “In order to have access to a SCIF, you had to have a government contract.”
This new facility will open the door to all kinds of tech and geospatial intelligence firms. And it's already seen great demand. In fact, it’s sold out — for now.
“There’s a waiting list of over 50 companies to get in there,” Masback said.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Emily Woodbury, Kayla Drake, Danny Wicentowski and Alex Heuer. Jane Mather-Glass is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
