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According to the Michigan Defense Center, it takes an average of 12-18 months for a small business to obtain their first government contract. Etech, an injection molding and welding company in Port Huron, Michigan, had no time to wait, and instead partnered with True North to beat the average and obtain four government contracts totaling $111,625 in four months.

When asked about their success, owner Jerry Eschenburg points to his office team of Carrie Doan and Jessica Eschenburg. “They have done the training, worked with Eleanor [Holland, senior contract specialist at True North], and do all the bidding.”

ETech partnered with True North after seeing that there were opportunities for work with the government that they were not accessing, and realized they needed help doing it. Carrie and Jessica worked with Eleanor to establish ETech as a potential contractor, walking them through getting critical registrations, drafting a capabilities statement, and training them in the complex world of government contracting. “The hardest part of all of this is understanding the terminology the government uses,” says Carrie. “It’s a whole new language, and Eleanor has been so great in sitting down with us not just once but twice to help us walk through all of it.”

True North’s help did not end after getting their first award. According to Jessica, “even after you get the award, there are small things such as explaining to us how items needed to be packaged to fit government standards, or the inspection process. They’ve helped us every step of the way.”

Thanks to these contracts and others, ETech is looking to hire more workers as they look to expand. They continue to work with True North in identifying the right opportunities for them, and are excited for the future.

To learn more about ETech Plastics, please visit their website at etechplastics.com.

True North Logistics has relocated to 300 S. Riverside Avenue in beautiful St. Clair, Michigan. We are located on the St. Clair River in the newly renovated Anchor Pointe office building. Please come by and see us!

Anchor Pointe currently has two suites open for lease. If you are interested in an office with water views, key card security system entrance, and all utilities included please call 810-326-4252 to schedule a tour.

We were excited to get a call from the Bay County Chamber in Panama City Beach, Florida. We were asked to participate in a seminar on Government Contracting since the Chamber was focusing on this for the month of September. Eleanor Holland and Gina McKillop traveled to Florida and the seminar was a great success. Eleanor taught about opportunities and winning strategies to grow business contracts from the Military, Federal, State and local agencies.

We were pleased to meet many small businesses that attended and enjoyed working with the Bay County Chamber and their awesome staff as well. We look forward to future visits.

We were pleased to be asked by the Blue Water Chamber of Commerce to speak at their October Lunch and Learn. Small Business participants learned how to do business with all levels of government. The training included: doing business with local municipalities, state purchasing and doing business with several federal agencies such as Defense Logistics Agency, TACOM LCMC, USMC, Navy and GSA.

We had a great time working with the small businesses who attended!

Special thanks to Eleanor for the great presentation and Gina for organizing the lunch event ~ Rosanne

True North has reached a milestone! All of the current True North clients have been awarded multiple government contracts and are diligently working to complete them while pursuing additional opportunities. In fact, one manufacturing client received a government contract on the very first bid that they submitted. This shows that hard work and dedication really pays off!”

Rosanne Oliver, Chief Operating Officer

Lake Orion, MI – January 18, 2011 Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems (ADVS) has recently decided to withdraw as a competitor for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) Program. The GCV Program is the Army’s initiative to develop an armored vehicle that will improve survivability and increase fighting capability beyond that of the current arsenal. Under the current program, the contracting efforts have been divided into three stages. The first stage will not require producing a prototype demonstration vehicle and, in fact, the Army will wait a total of seven years to field a weapon system.

After reviewing the Army’s continuing GCV strategy, ADVS has decided to withdraw from the competition. According to ADVS’ CEO, James LeBlanc, Sr., “This drawn-out Army process does not fit with ADVS’ rapid development and fielding capabilities.” For the initial development stage, the Army is willing to spend up to $450 million per contract awarded; which could total up to $1.35 billion. ADVS has shown with similar combat armored vehicles for foreign military use and with other major weapon system contracts that they can design, develop, integrate, prototype and field such an advanced system in one to two years. ADVS focuses on survivable vehicles that meet customer requirements to rigid specifications at a reasonable development cost, to be fielded rapidly and to protect the soldiers today and in the future. Just recently, ADVS delivered the first production of the ADVS 6x6x6 Desert Chameleon armored personnel carriers to the Kuwait Ministry of Interior (KMOI). ADVS began discussions with the KMOI in 2007 to design a security vehicle that is able to meet their specific mobility, survivability, and performance requirements and customer budget. ADVS designed, manufactured, tested, and completed the vehicles for delivery by fall 2010, a less-than three-year full development to production timeline duration.

While ADVS supports the Army’s concept, they encourage the U.S. Department of Defense to review the ADVS strategies and past performance and consider ways of developing and fielding vehicles quicker and more economically. Such a rapid process is counter to the current GCV strategy; though supportive of the philosophy of Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates.

About ADVS
ADVS specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing defense vehicles for current and future requirements of the military, homeland defense, and national security markets. ADVS and their principles have been working with the U.S. and international governments for over 40 years in the development of security and tactical vehicles. ADVS also provides program management, field service, logistics, training, manual support, and spare parts for tactical vehicles. ADVS’ innovative vehicle product features plus extensive experience contributes highly to mission efficiency and increased survivability. For more information, visit www.advs.com

Media Contact
Major General M. Lott, USMC (Ret) CEO
True North Logistics
810-966-8987

Lake Orion, MI – January 13, 2011 Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems (ADVS) announces today, the first production delivery of the ADVS 6x6x6 Desert Chameleon armored personnel carriers to the Kuwait Ministry of Interior (KMOI). ADVS began discussions with the KMOI in 2007 to design a security vehicle able to meet their specific mobility, survivability, and performance requirements. ADVS designed, manufactured, tested, and completed the vehicles for delivery by fall 2010, a less-than three year full development to production timeline duration.

The ADVS 6x6x6 Desert Chameleon vehicle specs include a removable “V” hull design with adaptable armor modules to increase blast dispersion and survivability, a 600-horsepower Caterpillar engine power-pack, a fully independent active suspension system and a speed sensitive all-wheel steering system. These advanced wheeled vehicles offer the most innovative design and safety features, surpassing current U.S. Army military vehicles in terms of maneuverability, capability, performance, comfort and survivability.

James LeBlanc Sr., founder and CEO of ADVS, stated, “The engineering, design and workmanship of these ten-person vehicles will provide the capability desired by the Kuwaiti government to effectively complete missions in challenging environments on desert sand and extreme temperature conditions and to safely maneuver in heavily populated areas.” Under this program, SupplyCore, a leader in supply chain management and distribution of tactical vehicle spare parts, assisted in the procurement and supply chain management of production and aftermarket parts for the ADVS 6X6X6 Desert Chameleon. In addition, True North Logistics, a Michigan based logistics firm, assisted with the distribution and management of vehicle parts during vehicle production.

About ADVS
ADVS specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing defense vehicles for current and future requirements of the military, homeland defense, and national security markets. ADVS and their principles have been working with the U.S. and international governments for over 40 years in the development of security and tactical vehicles. ADVS also provides program management, field service, logistics, training, manual support, and spare parts for tactical vehicles. ADVS’ innovative vehicle product features plus extensive experience contributes highly to mission efficiency and increased survivability.
For more information, visit www.advs.com

About SupplyCore
SupplyCore helps the armed services and the DLA improve their supply chain performance and eliminate waste while providing superior service to the warfighter. SupplyCore has spent over twenty years streamlining and improving its technological processes and its supply chain, which translates into more efficient purchasing for the federal government.
For more information, visit www.supplycore.com

About True North Logistics
Bradley M Lott, Major General, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret) is CEO and Owner of True North Logistics, a consulting firm in Port Huron, Michigan that focuses primarily on assisting Michigan businesses in Defense and Homeland Security contracting. True North Logistics specializes in supply chain management, tactical panning and government contracting assistance.
For more information, visit www.truenorthco.com

Media Contact
Major General M. Lott, USMC (Ret)
CEO True North Logistics
810-966-8987

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