Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

GTPAC participates at National MBE Manufacturers Summit

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On Aug. 12th 2019, GTPAC Program Manager Andrew Smith spoke at the National MBE Manufacturers Summit at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center in Atlanta, GA, and introduced Christopher Hall, Deputy Director of the Office of Small Business Programs for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).  Smith also spoke briefly about the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center and the free services Procurement Technical Assistance Centers provide to businesses interested in exploring the government market.  Thanks to the Defense Logistics Agency, there are PTAC programs like GTPAC in all 50 states.

Deputy Director Hall spoke to the crowd about how to do business with DLA and educated the audience on the various DLA commands and what they typically purchase from small business manufacturers.  As Deputy Director of the DLA Office of Small Business Programs, Hall supports DLA leadership on small business issues and seeks to increase small business participation in DLA acquisitions.  The DLA Office of Small Business Programs promotes small business utilization to strengthen the industrial base, which fulfills DLA’s mission as the Nation’s Combat Logistics Support Agency.

“I was very pleased with the event, and I’m excited about the dynamic technology and innovation taking place right now in the manufacturing sector,” said Smith, “I believe these innovative manufacturers have a lot to offer the government and DoD… I hope many of them explore working with DLA to support the warfighter and to strengthen our industrial base and DoD supply chain.”

If you would like to learn how to work with DLA, you can visit the DLA Small Business website:  https://www.dla.mil/SmallBusiness/

 

MBDA Atlanta is hosting the National MBE Manufacturers Summit Aug. 11-13th

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The Atlanta MBDA Business and Advanced Manufacturing Center, operated by Georgia Tech Research Corporation, is hosting the National MBE Manufacturers Summit 2019 on Aug. 11-13th, 2019 at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, 84 5th Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308.  The event provides leading Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) manufacturers the opportunity to assemble, build connections and create new business opportunities.  Over 600 attendees from 28 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and Washington, D.C. have experienced the significant impact of participating in this national gathering of the manufacturing community.

Here are the details:

Event name:  The National MBE Manufacturers Summit 2019 (NMMS 2019) – “Creating the NEXT: Intelligent Manufacturing Reality”

Date:  August 11-13, 2019

Location:  Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, 84 5th Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308

Please note:  This is not a free event.  There is a fee associated with attending.  Tickets are available here.

The main website with event details and agenda is:  http://mbemanufacturersummit.com/

Four steps to fix the security clearance backlog

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Congress will get an update on the security clearance backlog this week, but if you can’t tune in, here’s the bottom line up front: the government has taken steps, there has been progress and the system is improving, but it’s not nearly enough.

There are still more than 600,000 government and industry employees waiting for security clearances from the federal government — highly skilled Americans who are sidelined because of bureaucratic red tape. Some have been waiting as long as 500 days just to go to work.

We in the aerospace and defense industry must frequently ask new employees to delay showing up for work, or do less important work, for months until their clearances are approved. The slow pace of background investigations impedes our industry’s ability to recruit the talented individuals we need to fulfill important roles, such as conducting space missions, managing cyber networks, and performing advanced manufacturing.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/12/four-steps-fix-security-clearance-backlog/153445

Delta officially opens new advanced manufacturing facility at Georgia Tech

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Nearly three months after opening its Global Innovation Center in Tech Square, Delta Air Lines cut the ribbon on its new Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility on 14th Street in a special ceremony on July 19, 2017.

From left, Don McConnell, Georgia Tech vice president of Industry Collaboration; Steve Cross, Georgia Tech executive vice president for Research, Gil West, Delta’s senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, David Garrison, senior vice president for Engineering, Quality, Planning and Logistics for Delta; Tad Hutcheson, senior vice president of the Delta Air Lines Foundation; and Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson cut the ribbon on the new Delta Air Lines Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility at Georgia Tech.

“We’re really excited about the partnership with Delta,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “This facility is a little different. Our students, faculty, staff and researchers will be able to develop products, and it provides Delta an opportunity to collaborate with its partners.”

Made possible by a $3 million gift from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the facility was designed to be an integrated physical and cyber manufacturing technology testbed as well as a demonstration and teaching facility. The Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) will be a flagship component of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute as a location where early-stage concepts can go from idea to reality.

“Over the last two years, inspired by insights gained from our close collaboration in manufacturing research with industry partners, faculty members from the schools of Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Interactive Computing came together to define the requirements for a learning and research facility that will provide the foundation for future innovations in digital manufacturing,” said Don McConnell, Georgia Tech’s vice president of Industry Collaboration.

Peterson said the building had been part of the Atlantic Steel plant and before it was converted to house Delta’s AMPF and Boeing’s Manufacturing Development Center, the building had served as a warehouse for Georgia Tech’s Housing department to store and repair furniture for residence halls and on-campus apartments.

“Georgia Tech is a world-class institute, and we’re really blessed to have you in our hometown,” said Gil West, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer for Delta.

Back on May 2, Delta and Georgia Tech held a ribbon cutting for an innovation center called “The Hangar” in Tech Square, which is now home to 20 such innovation centers. The AMPF establishes Georgia Tech as a national leader in advanced manufacturing.

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