The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies have revealed the initial slate of speakers for the inaugural Velocity Summit, set for November 17 in Wilmington, North Carolina. The announcement signals a concentrated push to bridge the gap between military requirements and actual production capacity, a persistent bottleneck in U.S. national security.
The first confirmed speakers include Lieutenant General (Ret.) Christopher O. Mohan, former Commanding General of U.S. Army Materiel Command; Bill Saffo, Mayor of Wilmington; Scott Lampe, President of Hendrick Technical Solutions; Chelsea Lloyd, Director of Supplier Quality Engineering at Archer Aviation; Brad Garris, Business Manager at Phillips Additive Solutions; Dr. Douglas Milburn, Chairman of The Protocase Companies; and Martin J. “Jimmy” Hendrix III, Executive Director of the North Carolina Military Business Center. This group spans military logistics, defense manufacturing, aerospace production, additive manufacturing, local government, and the companies working to accelerate mission-critical hardware development.
The composition of this first wave underscores the summit’s core premise: that solving the defense production challenge requires cross-sector collaboration. “This is exactly the kind of intersectional pedigree we envisioned when we began building Velocity Summit,” said Dr. Doug Milburn, Chairman of The Protocase Companies. “The challenge is bigger than any single company, military organization or level of government. We need the people who understand requirements, production, supply chains, technology and policy in the same room, focused on what it will actually take to move faster.”
Why does this matter? The United States faces increasing pressure to replenish and modernize its defense industrial base while peer competitors rapidly expand their own capabilities. Moving from requirements to manufactured capability at scale is not merely an efficiency issue; it is a strategic imperative. The speakers announced bring direct experience in exactly the areas where friction occurs: Lt. Gen. Mohan’s tenure at Army Materiel Command gives him deep insight into logistics and sustainment; Hendrick Technical Solutions applies race-derived speed and precision to defense programs; Archer Aviation is developing next-generation electric aircraft; and Phillips Additive Solutions helps manufacturers deploy industrial additive manufacturing. Their presence suggests the summit will focus on actionable pathways rather than abstract policy discussions.
North Carolina’s role is central. The Department of Defense has an estimated $79.7 billion annual economic impact in the state, where the military is the second-largest economic sector. North Carolina also boasts approximately 459,000 manufacturing jobs, more than 400 aerospace manufacturers, over 100,000 aerospace, aviation and engineering professionals, six major military installations and two deep-water ports. These assets position the state as a natural hub for advancing defense manufacturing capacity, and the summit aims to leverage that scale.
Additional speakers and distinguished attendees, including senior elected and government leaders from across North Carolina, will be announced in the coming weeks. The event’s focus on practical collaboration among industry, military, government, academia and workforce leaders will examine how to accelerate production, reduce barriers across the defense industrial base, strengthen critical supply chains and expand capacity to build and sustain ships, aircraft, munitions and other mission-critical systems. For those seeking to participate, registration and further details are available at https://www.ncmbc.us/event/velocity-summit/. The inaugural Velocity Summit represents a timely effort to turn urgency into action, and its success could ripple across the entire defense industrial base.
