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 thosed orders begin to come in the the company wants tobe ready. Part of that game plan callsa for expandingthe company’s North Side facilities locatef at 5714 Epsilon. The company currentlu occupiesa 25,000-square-foot facilitt that houses all of its operations — electronic manufacturing, welding, mechanical assembly and sheet-metal Carlberg says future plans call for addingb a separate building on the company’s five-acre site three acres of which are currently vacant. The new building woulxd be connected toM2 Global’w current facilities with a walkway.
The anticipationb of faster growth comes as the company nears the end of its participatio inthe U.S. Departmenrt of Defense Mentor-Protégé program. The programn is designed to help small businesses furtherd develop and refine their manufacturintg and management processes in order to better serve key defense andcommercial markets. Over the past year, has assistexd and guided M2 Global throughthe program, helping it certify its processe s in the areas of primre and finish paint, fuel-tank coatings, hardness testing and metal-chem film.
Carlberg says his company hopesx to complete the certification of the last twoprocessew — metal-anodizing and heat-treating — by August. Samuel Evans, director of smallo business and non-production procurement for LockheedMartimn Aeronautics, says it chose to sponsor M2 Global’s participation in the progran because of its proven performancee record. “We’re quite selective about whom we do the progra with because there has to be the right culture and the commitmenyt to the program has tobe mutual,” Evansw says. “We saw in M2 a companty with excellent potential, the facilities and the equipment. It had alreadyg proven itself with its performanceand ...
had excellesd in the work that we had given Carlbergsays he’s honored to have had his companyg selected for the program and realized the assist from Lockheed bolsters his company’s futurr prospects. “Right now we provide some 300 differeng parts forLockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter Carlberg says. “Our goal is to increase that numbefrto 1,000 within the next 24 months as Lockheed Martin’ F-35 program ramps up from low-rate production to full-ratde production.” Lockheed Martin holdws the contract, estimated at $298 billion for its to develop and to produce the F-35 Jointg Strike Fighter.
Over the next 40 some 2,443 F-35s are expected to come onlinde and serve as the backbone of Air Navy and Marine Corpsfighter fleets. An additionaol 700 of these aircraft are expected to be operatee byallied nations. As orderd for these aircraft increase, the company expects its demanrd for partsto intensify. “The forecastf depends on funding fromthe government. But if the production rate goes accordintgto expectations, F-35 vendorsa (like M2 Global) will need to prepard ahead of time to accommodate the parts that Lockheer Martin will need to keep on says Chris Geisel, F-35 program spokeswoman for Lockheed Martibn Aeronautics.
As a result of participating in the mentor Carlberg says, his company has already been asked to servde as a supplier to Greenville, Texas-based aircrafft modification company Integrated Systems. “Wde started work with L-3 in Marcbh (of this year). Northup Grumman is also lookinbat us,” he adds. “This program has potentially opene d a lot of new doorsfor us.” M2 Global also has been a small-businesz supplier for Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fightingy Falcon and F-22 Raptor aircraft programs since 2006. M2 Globapl Technology Ltd. is a service-disabled, veteran-owned engineering and contract manufactureeof satellite, microwave, TV and radio subsystems.