BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina announced that Celerian Group has finalized the acquisition of JBS International, Inc., management consulting and IT solutions firm based in North Bethesda, Maryland.
JBS is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlueCross and will continue to operate from its current headquarters in North Bethesda and offices in Burlingame, California, and Atlanta. JBS co-founders Gail Bassin and Jerri Shaw will continue as co-CEOs.
“We are delighted to have JBS join Celerian Group. Along with the other companies within Celerian Group, we believe this further strengthens our health care and IT capabilities, which will provide even greater value to our customers,” said Bruce Hughes, president of Celerian Group.
JBS works with federal and state agencies, and their stakeholders, to solve complex, mission-driven health and social challenges, such as opioid addiction and treatment, traumatic brain injury, HIV infection, immigration, education, aging, emerging trends in training medical providers, health systems reform, and public health data exchange.
This acquisition will expand Celerian Group’s relationships and mission-driven work in federal and state public health and health IT contracts. Key customers of JBS are the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Labor, the National Institute of Aging, and several other federal agencies that strategically fit with Celerian Group’s health care, public health, and information technology culture and work.
Some of the services JBS offers include technical assistance, strategic communications and creative services, web and mobile development, technology, training, research and evaluation, performance management, data analytics, and business processes.
“JBS is a change leader,” Shaw said. “We’re very excited about this next stage in the JBS life cycle. This allows us to continue to pursue our mission — with our values of determination, compassion, agility and innovation — but now as part of a larger, stronger company.”
“Our new structure offers our clients and teams maximum continuity,” Bassin said. “Being a wholly-owned subsidiary means there will be no disruption to our infrastructure or client services.”
Bassin and Shaw lead a multidisciplinary team of 315 employees across the three JBS offices.