On Friday, May 3rd, 2019 MTEC was a part of the NYSTAR Defense Diversification Workshop at the IBM Learning Center in Armonk, NY. The workshop served as a day-long educational and collaborative opportunity specifically for defense focused manufacturers. With an assortment of resources handpicked for the event, attendees were able to learn about different ways of diversifying their companies’ offerings, and who could help them make the strides to get there.
In addition to MTEC, the workshop featured all of the following resources:
The workshop kicked off with a welcome from MTEC’s director of Engineering, Bob Incerto and the Council of Industry’s Executive Vice President, Harold King. Directly following the welcoming speeches was another welcome, from The Advanced Institute for Manufacturing’s (AIM; Mohawk Valley MEP Center) Cybersecurity Coordinator, Paul LaPorte. Paul introduced MTEC’s IT Specialist and Systems Administrator, Jacob Ernst. Jacob has been working with DoD manufacturers in Long Island, New York City, and the Mid-Hudson Valley, in meeting their DFARS cybersecurity requirements.
With these needs in mind, and many more DoD contractors looking for help with this requirement, Jacob walked attendees through a presentation outlining the importance of becoming cyber secure, and how it has many more levels to it than most professionals understand from the start.
For those who already fulfilled their cybersecurity needs, representatives from all of the above resources were stationed at tables ready to work through different ways the attendees could diversify their business, what steps they need to take to move forward, and how they could be there to help.
Each event resource offered a different kind of expertise for the attendees. They had ample time to speak with whomever they chose (with a bit of guidance, of course) to learn about which services would properly fit their ideas for diversification. Not only were these resources used to explain their services, but also to provide guidance, helping companies with preliminary steps to make way to their big ideas. One attendee spoke at MTEC’s booth about getting involved with 3D printing, what it might look like in terms of cost to test something like that out, and what kinds of models to start out with. Company attendees were also advised on defense industry assistance grants for cybersecurity and diversification.
Following lunch, Alyson Slack, Vice President of Business Development for Empire State Development – NYSTAR, introduced a panel of five professionals:
Colin Touhey, Ceo of Pvilion, Dan Madden, Northeast Regional Director of MD5, Molly Zimmerman Esq., Associate Director of NYS Science & Technology Law Center, Robert Botticelli, Chairman of ADDAPT, and Thomas Hendrix, Managing Partner of Decisive Point.
The panel was full of individuals who are part of organizations that have been successful in helping companies identify, navigate, and adapt their offerings for new markets. That is, in both directions, for those looking to enter the defense market and defense supply chain companies looking for commercial applications of their technologies.
They began by reviewing the following challenges they tend to see regarding DoD supply chain companies and those trying to become such:
- Limiting your company to only what they can do instead of looking to partner with others
- Companies don’t have time to explore potential partners or markets
- Innovation being led by commercial market but not connected to DoD
- Peaks and valleys of DoD spending affecting cash flow
- DoD R&D funding only gets companies to specific Technology Readiness Level
Ending with the panel with questions open to the attendees and even more time to share ideas, connect with one another, and create solutions for the future, the NYSTAR Defense Diversification Workshop was a success.
For more information on the grants mentioned in this story or simply wanting to know if we can help you, contact us here.