Military Shows Its Might in Fayetteville’s Business Environment
baghdad, business, environment, fayetteville, joseph w. adamczyck, military,
To former U.S. Special Operations officer and businessman Paul Zeisman‚ Fayetteville might as well be the center of the universe.
As the principal adviser for Sierra Nevada Corp.’s tactical communications division‚ Zeisman is one of the growing number of defense contractors opening offices near Fort Bragg.
“Now more than ever‚ Fayetteville is the place to be‚” says Zeisman‚ whose division recently was awarded a $29 million‚ five-year contract to provide integration‚ production‚ training and support on communications systems for the Space and Naval System Center.
Zeisman and his colleague‚ John Tuohey‚ another U.S. Special Operations retiree‚ opened Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Fayetteville office two years ago after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission approved the relocation of the headquarters of the U.S. Army Forces Command to Fort Bragg. In addition to its proximity to a variety of military commands‚ including Fort Bragg‚ Pope Air Force Base‚ Camp Lejeune and Johnson Air Force Base‚ Tuohey says the company also liked the area’s workforce.
“You have a highly skilled labor pool of retired military who want to keep their families in Fayetteville‚” Tuohey says. “These are people who have high security clearance and are apt and willing to travel to often undesirable places around the globe to teach‚ support and conduct business.”
Tuohey also applauds area org anizations willing to team up with local companies like Sierra Nevada Corp. to cultivate and promote additional defense contracting opportunities. The North Carolina Military Business Center‚ which is based in Fayetteville‚ supports the recruitment and devel opment of defense-related business and helps increase military business for local companies. The Defense and Security Technology Accelerator in Fayetteville is another plus. This business incubator helps entrepreneurs create new security and defense technology solutions to meet the military’s technology needs and business demands.
For Joe Adamczyck‚ maintaining close contact with these organizations means more opportunities for growth.
“They’re very focused on attracting businesses similar to ours and helping them succeed‚” says Adamczyck‚ project director for MPRI‚ an Alexandria‚ Va.-based company providing com munications‚ simulation and other special products for military and police organizations.
Adamczyck moved back to Fayetteville to work for MPRI after 32 months of working in Baghdad as a contractor for the Coalition Provisional Authority and Bechtel Corp. MPRI‚ which gen erated approximately half a billion dollars in revenue last year‚ opened its Fayetteville office in February 2007 near downtown.
“In addition to defense opportunities‚ we also see Fayetteville as ripe for growth in business directed toward the private sector‚ which is an area where we expect to expand‚” says Adamczyck.
Nearby on Hay Street‚ the recently opened offices of defense contractor RLM Communications Inc. also are growing by leaps and bounds.
“We have doubled our size in the past 18 months and continue to expand‚” says Louis Huddleston‚ vice president of strategic planning and business development for the company.
Huddleston is a member of the board of directors for the Cumberland County Business Council‚ which manages the area’s economic development efforts.
“Fayetteville is a very business-friendly community. For defense contractors looking to make a move here or for other businesses looking to get into the defense industry‚ being in Fayetteville is like a marriage made in heaven‚” Huddleston says.
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by Ian Curcio
