Small company cashing in on an assist from a big business - Washington Business Journal:

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Douglas Carlberg, president and CEO of M2 says as those orders begijn to come inthe door, the company wantx to be ready. Part of that game plan calls for expandinhgthe company’s North Side facilities located at 5714 The company currently occupies a 25,000-square-foo facility that houses all of its operations electronics manufacturing, welding, mechanical assembly and sheet-metal services. Carlberg says future planse call for adding a separate building onthe company’s five-acre site three acres of which are currentlyu vacant. The new buildinf would be connected toM2 Global’ s current facilities with a walkway.
The anticipation of faster growt comes as the company nears the end of its participatio inthe U.S. Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé program. The program is designed to help small businesses furthef develop and refine their manufacturing and management processese in order to better serve key defense and commercial Over the past has assisted and guided M2 Global througghthe program, helping it certify its processess in the areas of prime and finish paint, fuel-tanmk coatings, conductivity, hardness testinfg and metal-chem film. Carlberg says his company hopeas to complete the certification of the last twoprocesses metal-anodizing and heat-treating — by August.
Samuel Evans, directoe of small business and non-productionh procurement for LockheedMartihn Aeronautics, says it chose to sponsor M2 Global’s participation in the progranm because of its proven performance “We’re quite selective about whom we do the prograj with because there has to be the right cultured and the commitment to the program has to be mutual,” Evans “We saw in M2 a companyu with excellent potential, the facilitiew and the equipment. It had already provenb itself with its performanceand ... had excelled in the work that we hadgiven them.
” Carlberg says he’s honored to have had his compan y selected for the program and realizezs the assist from Lockheed bolsters his company’s futurr prospects. “Right now we providd some 300 different parts forLockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter program,” Carlberg says. “Oudr goal is to increase that numberto 1,000 within the next 24 monthss as Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program rampsz up from low-rate production to full-rate Lockheed Martin holds the contract, estimatex at $298 billion for its duration, to develop and to producr the F-35 Joint Strikde Fighter.
Over the next 40 years, some 2,443 F-35sz are expected to come onlinde and serve as the backbone ofAir Force, Navy and Marines Corps fighter fleets. An additional 700 of these aircraftg are expected to be operated byallied nations. As orderds for these aircraft increase, the company expects its demand for partesto intensify. “The forecast dependxs on funding fromthe government. But if the production rate goes according to expectations, F-35 vendors (likd M2 Global) will need to prepare ahea of time to accommodate the partes that Lockheed Martin will need to keep on says Chris Geisel, F-35 program spokeswomanm for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
As a result of participatingh in thementor program, Carlberg his company has already been asked to serv as a supplier to Greenville, Texas-based aircraft modification compan y Integrated Systems. “We starteds work with L-3 in March (of this Northup Grumman is also lookingat us,” he “This program has potentially opened a lot of new doors for M2 Global also has been a small-business supplier for Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fightinvg Falcon and F-22 Raptor aircraft programxs since 2006. M2 Global Technology Ltd. is a veteran-owned engineering and contract manufacturerof satellite, TV broadcast, and radio subsystems.