WARREN, Michigan--The U.S. Army's version of a tech center for its ground vehicles hosted an industry days event Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing together commercial technology developers for automobiles and defense products for updates on upcoming contract opportunities, focusing especially on how to approach those opportunities.
The center, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), holds the event annually, though this is its first since changing its name from the familiar, 'TARDEC.'
The collaborative forum opened with a keynote address from Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel who set a bullish tone on the state of the defense industry in the county and State of Michigan.
"The strength of Macomb County's defense industry is very much tied to our proximity to the Detroit Arsenal and the many companies that built themselves around it," said Hackel. "Overall, there are nearly 700 companies here that hold contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense that total an average of $2.2 billion per year. Our mission is to protect and grow the installations that we have here. We are proud to be known as the defense capital of the Midwest and really believe we are on a path to be known as the defense capital of the world."
"We are nothing without our industry partners," said Jeffrey Langhout, Director, GVSC. "Our engineers and scientists are fantastic in their disciplines, but we're well aware that the strength of our end products comes from the diversity, innovation and cooperation between our folks here at the center and our collaborative partners in industry."
The event features a series of technical and contracting experts from the Army automotive R&D center, including the center's Acquisition Chief, Ben McMartin.
"This is an important forum, both for GVSC and for our industry partners," said McMartin. "Industry days is the key event in our overall industry outreach and engagement strategy. Identifying GVSC's long-term procurement goals, communicating current and future contracting opportunities, and providing names and faces for industry to engage with are our objectives. It is our goal to provide the absolute lowest barrier of entry for companies to do business with GVSC, engaging with them in an open, transparent, and collaborative environment, keeping communication constant."
McMartin described how industry can work with GVSC under the Other Transaction Authorities, the U.S. Government's expedited contracting mechanism for prototype-related work.
"OTAs have been the heavy lifters for GVSC for the past five years, and I only expect that trend to continue," said McMartin. "The OTAs continue to bring the latest technology advancements from industry to the Army's ground vehicle community. This is exactly why our OTAs were established: to give industry a low-barrier entry point to provide their innovative, cutting-edge solutions to the Government without the bureaucracy."
"As an industry partner of the GVSC for over 25 years, I consider Industry Days to be one of the best ways to connect with the GVSC leadership and engineers," said Kevin Mulrenin, Director of Defense Business Development at Pratt & Miller Engineering and President of the National Advanced Mobility Consortium OTA. "Recent Industry Days have been particularly useful in spreading the word about the tremendous advantages OTAs offer in terms of a more streamlined process for the government to acquire prototypes from industry partners. The GVSC's leadership does a great job outlining the contracting and relationships mechanisms, helping industry to become familiar with how to work with the government."
The Industry Days event ended Wednesday, but for more information on how to work with the Ground Vehicle Systems Center or for content from the event, visit https://tardec.army.mil.
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