The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies have announced they will co-present the inaugural Velocity Summit on November 17, 2026, in Wilmington, NC. The event will bring together leaders from industry, the military, government, policy, research, workforce development, and the media to discuss accelerating U.S. defense manufacturing capacity, with North Carolina stakeholders at the forefront.
America’s defense manufacturing challenge is fundamentally one of speed. Despite exceptional engineering talent, technology, capital, and advanced manufacturing expertise, the United States often takes years to translate military requirements into manufactured capability. Production delays, supply chain constraints, and limited surge capacity increasingly put national security at risk. The Velocity Summit will center on a practical question: how can the United States turn military requirements into manufacturing capability at scale more quickly? Discussions will focus on accelerating production, reducing barriers across the defense industrial base, strengthening supply chains, and expanding capacity to build and sustain ships, aircraft, munitions, and other critical systems.
“We have an extraordinary collection of assets in this state,” said Dr. Doug Milburn, co-founder of Protocase. “The opportunity is to connect those strengths around a common mission. That is what Velocity is intended to begin.” North Carolina is well positioned to contribute. 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 has the Southeast’s largest manufacturing workforce—approximately 459,000 jobs—more than 400 aerospace manufacturers, over 100,000 aerospace, aviation, and engineering professionals, six major military installations, two deep-water ports, leading research universities, and a statewide community college system.
“It is the speed at which we can bring those strengths together to meet urgent national security needs,” said Jimmy Hendrix, Director for Regional Programs at the North Carolina Military Business Center. “Velocity Summit is about creating the connections and alignment needed to help transform those strengths into faster, more responsive defense manufacturing capacity for the nation.”
Unlike a traditional conference, Velocity Summit is designed to advance practical solutions and durable partnerships among industry, government, academia, and the military. NCMBC and The Protocase Companies envision the inaugural event as the beginning of a broader effort to strengthen defense manufacturing and raise the visibility of North Carolina’s industrial capabilities. For more information and to register, visit https://www.ncmbc.us/event/velocity-summit/. The original release is available on www.newmediawire.com.
This summit matters because it addresses a critical national security challenge: the speed at which the U.S. can convert military requirements into manufactured capability. By convening diverse stakeholders, the Velocity Summit aims to catalyze actionable strategies that could reduce production timelines, fortify supply chains, and enhance surge capacity. For North Carolina, the event reinforces the state’s role as a defense manufacturing hub, potentially attracting investment and creating high-skilled jobs. For the broader industry, it signals a collaborative push to overcome systemic barriers, which could lead to more resilient and responsive defense industrial base. As global threats evolve, initiatives like Velocity Summit are essential to ensuring the United States maintains its strategic advantage.
