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$6.8 million defense contract awarded to
Adaptive Manufacturing Solutions and Burton Industries

(10/15/09 FLINT, MICHIGAN)— Adaptive Manufacturing Solutions (AMS) and Burton Industries have won a $6.8 million defense contract to build assembly equipment for Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Read The Flint Journal articles.

The award was announced at a Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce Partners for Progress event on Thursday afternoon at Burton Industries. Located in Goodrich, Michigan, Burton Industries is one of 19 companies that operates as part of AMS, a group of companies headquartered in Michigan and the Flint area that works together to bid on large projects and to provide one-stop shopping to clients looking for various manufacturing and tooling needs.

AMS, with assistance from the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the Regional Chamber, has worked for the past several years to diversify beyond the automotive industry into new sectors, including defense, medical, alternative energy, and aerospace.

PTAC staff notified AMS about the Pine Bluff Arsenal contract opportunity, and provided training and one-on-one guidance to AMS and Burton Industries to help them learn how to become government contractors and bid on the project.

AMS has been awarded other defense contracts in the past couple of years, but the Pine Bluff Arsenal award is the largest one secured by the Burton-based collaborative to date. It also is the largest defense contract ever awarded to a PTAC client in the history of the program at the Regional Chamber.

“This is exciting news for AMS, Burton Industries, PTAC, the Regional Chamber, and the entire community,” said Tim Herman CEO of the Regional Chamber. “It highlights the power and importance of collaboration—not only among local companies, but also with the Regional Chamber and PTAC.

“Ultimately, it's this kind of effort and hard work that will diversify our local economy and bring more business and dollars to the region,” Herman said. “AMS, Burton Industries, and PTAC staff members are to be commended for their unwavering commitment to securing this contract.”

Dustin Frigy, director of PTAC at the Regional Chamber, said Laurie Moncrieff, owner of AMS and Schmald Tool & Die Inc., and Greg Johnson vice president of business development at Burton Industries, “are good case studies for doing a lot of things right—for being tenacious, dedicated, resilient, and unwavering in the face of a very difficult sector to break into.”

“This was the culmination of years of work, and I see other companies paralleling what AMS and Burton Industries are doing,” Frigy said. “It's a result we're shooting for with all the companies we work with. And Laurie is a great example of how to go about securing a large defense contract like this. For a solid five years, this has been a focus for her. It's really encouraging to see that kind of hard work come to fruition after years of involvement and pursuing the defense market.”

Burton Industries will be the lead company on the two-year contract, and will design the assembly equipment for Pine Bluff Arsenal as an AMS partner. Sterling Heights-based Indicon Corporation also will be providing electrical components and services as a partner in the project. The equipment will allow the arsenal to assemble smoke grenades. And if all goes as planned, Burton Industries will begin designing and manufacturing the assembly equipment in early 2010.

Moncrieff and Johnson say they would not be standing where they are today had it not been for the help of PTAC staff and the Regional Chamber.

“The PTAC group at the Regional Chamber has been invaluable to our success,” Johnson said. “They provided a lot of guidance to us early on, and continue to assist us as we pursue government contract work.”

For Burton Industries, the collaborative effort with AMS also was key in securing the award, he said. Also key, according to Johnson, is the support of Atlas Township Supervisor Shirley Kautman-Jones and other local officials who recently voted to provide tax breaks to support Burton Industries’ future growth.

“We’re fortunate—through our association with AMS—that we’ve been able to transition into government contract work in a relatively short period of time,” Johnson said. “What this really underscores is that by working together and pooling resources, small businesses that have traditionally been reliant on the automotive industry can diversify into other markets at a lower cost.”

The Regional Chamber also was instrumental in helping Moncrieff develop a business model for AMS two years ago, she said. The business model included the creation of the collaborative of companies, as well as the hiring of an employee dedicated solely to bidding on government contracts.

“The contracts that you want to get to take more than one company to get the work done,” Moncrieff said. “And the contracts that are of significance take a team of companies to bid on them.”

The Pine Bluff Arsenal contract hopefully will open the door to more opportunities, she said.

“I think it's going to bring a lot of opportunity in establishing our reputation with the military, and in our ability to get in on more military contracts,” Moncrieff said. “Our goal is to bring business to the area and encourage other arsenals to look to Michigan as a resource for manufacturing to support the military.”

The contract will have a positive ripple effect—it will bring more revenue into the community, and also will help AMS and Burton Industries diversify.

For Burton Industries, the contract also will allow the company to retain jobs and call some laid-off employees back to work, Johnson said. Down the road, the contract also may lead to more job creation.

“It's a big step in a positive direction,” he said. “We continue to do automotive work. But we obviously recognize the importance of trying to diversify into other areas. Hopefully by getting contracts like this, we're able to maintain our employment and also grow our business.”

For more information, contact:
Jenny Cromie
Communications and Marketing Manager, Economic Development
(810) 600-1435
jcromie@thegrcc.org