Communication at Showcase is key to U.S. competitive edge, official says
Jun. 3—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Between coffees and continental breakfasts in conference rooms of the Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown, defense industry leaders spoke with prospective suppliers about business growth and winning government contracts.
The products, large or small, of the companies that met Thursday morning are linked to hundreds of jobs in Johnstown, as are the clean military vehicles exhibited in front of 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial for the Showcase for Commerce trade show.
At a white tablecloth luncheon Thursday in the ballroom of the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center, U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson spoke of Showcase for Commerce's continued relevance 31 years after it was started.
"The world is not a safe place right now," said Thompson, R-Centre.
He noted increased aggression from Russia with its bloody land invasion in Ukraine, and China's increased defense spending and the world's worries that it could invade Taiwan. He also mentioned potential dangers from North Korea.
"It is vital we stay at the forefront of weapons technologies," he said.
There's tremendous value in conferences such as Showcase for Commerce that move the Department of Defense toward its goals, said David Norquist, president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association.
Norquist, a former deputy defense secretary with 30 years of experience in national security and federal financial management, followed Thompson's speech, addressing members of the few hundred companies represented at the luncheon. He said the communication that happens between industry and government leaders at the showcase is crucial for increasing the government's understanding of the factory floors on which the U.S. Department of Defense depends.
"The success of the United States going forward, our ability to keep pace with the Communist Chinese government, isn't going to come from better central planning," he said. "It's going to come from the industrial base — the people in this room innovating and bringing new ideas forward that the Department of Defense and people of this country can take advantage of."
During supplier briefings held Thursday morning at the Holiday Inn in downtown Johnstown, leaders of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Inc. and JWF Industries spoke to dozens of small businesses that showed interest in partnering as suppliers on new projects.
Meanwhile, Wessel & Co. accountants held presentations for small business leaders wanting to win government contracts and meet challenges including keeping up with costly cybersecurity regulations.
Capt. Matthew Bolls, aviation operations director of the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support in Philadelphia, outlined supply chain problems from his perspective in a speech he delivered Thursday.
"We are in an era of global power competition and urgently need to prepare our war fighters," he said. "Our supply chains are untimely, costly and do not generate sufficient readiness. A higher-performing Navy needs a new way to manage our supply chains."
The showcase's morning and afternoon activities led into an opening reception Thursday evening at 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial.
Showcase for Commerce continues Friday with a press conference featuring company updates and contract awards.
