The leader of a newly formed organization bringing together hundreds of Arizona defense industry contractors says 2023 will be an important year for the group’s mission to amplify those companies’ voices on the national stage.as a statewide effort to unify the players in the state and promote their interests in Congress.
“In my entire career, even outside of defense, the Arizona community has been really good about helping each other,” she said. “To grow a network here, people are very willing to connect and they’re very action-based.” Looking at the need for copper shows why the coalition is about industry as well as contracting. Smith said the AZDIC is facilitating conversations on processing copper at home, looking at environmental impacts and other concerns, and is developing a white paper for Congress to depict how Arizona can solve a key supply chain problem.
The problem with that is not just immediate lost sales for U.S. companies, Smith said, but also future sales impacts that can arise when American-made products aren’t compatible with the foreign systems. “Are we going to be able to produce what we need if we don’t have the workforce to produce it?” Smith asked.
Target 1. More wars. Target 2. Even more wars. Target 3. Never end wars.