Industry Information and Resources
Along with significant opportunities across the Greater Pittsburgh and West Virginia region, serving the defense industry brings the need for competencies in government contracting and cybersecurity. The AIM Higher Consortium brings together a wide range of resources in these areas along with focused technology and business improvement resources.
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AIM HIGHER DEFENSE MANUFACTURING SUMMIT
The AIM Higher Consortium, in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, held the AIM Higher Defense Manufacturing Summit in June 2022.
Learn MoreDefense Contracts (By Service)
$18.1B SPEND IN STATE
BY TYPE
Supplies & Equipment
BY SERVICE
- Allegheny $3.3 B
- Chester $2.6 B
- Delaware $1.5 B
- York $1.5 B
- Bucks $822.0 M
- Philadelphia $812.0 M
- Cambria $634.9 M
- Montgomery $607.1 M
- Frankin $561.8 M
- Cumberland $463.4 M
$1.6 B SPEND IN STATE
BY TYPE
Supplies & Equipment
BY SERVICE
Defense Statistics
- Defense contract opportunities are especially rife for those in the manufacturing and professional, scientific, and technical services sectors, which account for 95 cents of every $1 dollar spent on defense contract-related work performed in the region. Large manufacturers, like Bechtel, Fluor Corporation, and DRS Laurel Technologies are important regional drivers for manufacturing-centered DOD contract spending.
- The region has received over $3B in DoD contracts in 2016-2020
- This data does not include Tier 2/3 and further removed defense manufacturers, of which there are many in the region. That further increases the impact of defense supply chain activity within the region.
- The regional defense economy employed more than 150,000 people in 2020. It’s impact is far reaching within our region
Supplier Capabilities Database
Connecting the regional defense ecosystem of manufacturers, support organizations and key Department of Defense organizations is a key goal of the AIM Higher Consortium. Click the link below to add your organization, update your capabilities, and explore the database.
Get StartedTechnical Assistance
Overview
The AIM Higher Consortium assists small and medium manufacturing companies by diversifying and enhancing their strategic efforts. Often technical assistance can help a company make improvements or implement new processes and technologies to be better prepared to engage in the DoD supply chain.
Technical assistance projects could include changes to your operation or production, upgrades in quality systems or technology, or improvements in market penetration and product development. The AIM Higher Consortium can also help a company leverage vetted third parties to support technical assistance projects.
Product Development, Prototyping and R&D Assistance.
Evaluate new markets for your existing products, develop new product offerings, or receive technical support for prototyping and R&D efforts. This highly customizable service can provide CAD services to design and model your product and support design reviews and revisions as you and/or your customer compare against key requirements. Fully functional prototypes can often be developed through 3D printing and other traditional manufacturing techniques with advanced CNC, laser and water jet cutting, welding, machining, injection molding, and reverse engineering equipment. Support to identify manufacturers to produce your prototype is also available.
CMMC Guided Self-Assessment
As of November 2020, all in the DoD supply chain are required to be taking action to comply with the appropriate Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) level. This project provides assistance to complete a CMMC self-assessment and develop required process documentation (POAM/SSP). The project also includes 1 year of access to the self-assessment tool, FutureFeed, for the company to track their progress toward addressing cybersecurity gaps identified in the self-assessment.
Systems Integrator Selection
Technology (robotics, IoT, etc) implementation support from application selection and documentation to provider outreach and evaluation. As there are often various target applications for technology, this project includes evaluating and prioritizing multiple projects through an impact/complexity matrix. Upon final application selection, Manufacturing Requirements and Request for Proposal documents are created and submitted to a vetted network of 3rd party providers and proposals provided to you for evaluation. The project is fully customizable and can be expanded or modified to suit your specific needs.
NIST, National Laboratories and Institute Support
The MEP-Assisted Technology and Technical Resource program (MATTR) offers direct access to NIST research labs technical expertise, which can accelerate solutions to manufacturer challenges in specific technical areas. The technical expertise is incredibly deep and diverse, covering disciplines across physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. A related project can make connections for manufacturers with specific needs among the 17 National Laboratories, Manufacturing USA technology institutes, and other industry experts.
Grants are available to cover some project costs. Click here to learn more about mini-grants.
Self-Assessment
Are you well positioned to increase your DoD related business or diversifying into the defense supply chain? Get an instant feedback report after completing the self-assessment and then the Consortium will follow up for a deeper discussion to understand your needs and key objectives and match to existing and future Consortium resources. Your submission gives the Consortium a broad view of where your company is today relative to DoD and advanced technologies and the follow up discussions helps define where you want to go and how the Consortium can help you get there.
Get StartedFeatured Resources
AIM Higher Impact
