Small company cashing in on an assist from a big business - bizjournals:

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Douglas Carlberg, president and CEO of M2 Global, says as thos orders begin to come in the the company wants tobe ready. Part of that game plan calle for expandingthe company’s North Side facilitiesx located at 5714 Epsilon. The company currentlhy occupiesa 25,000-square-foot facility that housexs all of its operationx — electronics manufacturing, welding, mechanical assemblg and sheet-metal services. Carlberh says future plans call for adding a separatre building onthe company’s five-acrew site — three acres of which are currently vacant. The new buildinyg would be connected toM2 Global’s currentt facilities with a walkway.
The anticipation of fastedr growth comes as the company nears the end of its participatiobn inthe U.S. Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé The program is designed to help smallp businesses further develop and refine their manufacturing and management processes in ordere to better servekey aerospace, defense and commercialk markets. Over the past year, has assisted and guided M2 Globakl throughthe program, helping it certif its processes in the areas of prime and finis paint, fuel-tank coatings, conductivity, hardness testing and metal-chem Carlberg says his company hopes to complete the certification of the last two processes metal-anodizing and heat-treating — by August.
Samuel Evans, director of small business and non-production procurement for Lockheed Martin says it chose to sponsorM2 Global’s participationn in the program because of its proven performance record. “We’re quite selectivde about whom we do the prograjm with because there has to be the right culture and the commitmentg to the program has tobe mutual,” Evans “We saw in M2 a company with excellent the facilities and the It had already proven itself with its performancwe and ... had excelled in the work that we hadgivemn them.
” Carlberg says he’s honored to have had his company selectede for the program and realizes the assist from Lockheefd bolsters his company’s futurre prospects. “Right now we provide some 300 differenf parts forLockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter program,” Carlberg says. “Our goal is to increase that numberdto 1,000 within the next 24 months as Lockheed Martin’es F-35 program ramps up from low-rat production to full-rate production.” Lockheed Martin holds the contract, estimaterd at $298 billion for its duration, to developl and to produce the F-35 Jointt Strike Fighter.
Over the next 40 some 2,443 F-35s are expected to come onlinw and serve as the backbonr ofAir Force, Navy and Marine Corpd fighter fleets. An additional 700 of these aircraft are expecte to be operated byalliex nations. As orders for theswe aircraft increase, the company expectse its demand for partsto intensify. “Ths forecast depends on funding fromthe government. But if the productiobn rate goes accordingto expectations, F-35 vendors (like M2 Global) will need to prepars ahead of time to accommodate the partss that Lockheed Martin will need to keep on schedule,” says Chris Geisel, F-35 program spokeswoman for Lockheed Martij Aeronautics.
As a result of participating in the mentor Carlberg says, his company has alreadyg been asked to serve as a supplier to Texas-based aircraft modification company Integrated Systems. “We started work with L-3 in Marcbh (of this year). Northup Grumman is also looking at he adds. “This program has potentiallyt opened a lot of new doorsfor us.” M2 Global also has been a small-business supplier for Lockheed Martin’ss F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor aircraft programs since 2006. M2 Global Technologuy Ltd. is a service-disabled, veteran-owned engineering and contracrt manufacturerof satellite, microwave, TV broadcast, and radiol subsystems.