PORT ANGELES — Angeles Composite Technologies Inc. officials celebrated receiving a Department of Defense award in a Tuesday ceremony attended by about 100 community members and representatives of Lockheed Martin, the Air Force and Rep. Norm Dicks office.
The Nunn-Perry Award was given to ACTI and Lockheed Martin for their mentoring and protege partnership. Nine contractors nationwide were selected for the award.
“This is the highest award the Defense Department can give,” said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, who represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“This was an example of a mutually beneficial relationship.”
The Port Angeles-based company, which builds composite aircraft parts for such customers as Boeing, Bombardier, Lear, Bell Helicopter and Aerostructures, is also a contractor for the Air Force.
“This is a huge honor for us,” said ACTI president and CEO Michael Rauch.
“This is a result of a lot of hard work on both of our parts.”
Dicks said the federal government will purchase about 2,500 aircraft from Lockheed, for which the Port Angeles business supplies some parts.
Preferred contractor
Through the program, ACTI, the protege, achieved status as a preferred contractor for parts for Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft.
It expects to develop the same status for the F-35 Lightning II in another six to nine months, Rauch said.
“The small business learns from the primary contractor,” Dicks said, “and the supplier really gets to get in there and have their people in in-house training and ensuring the highest quality product.”
The Nunn-Perry Award is named for former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry.
It is given to prime defense contractors that have significantly improved the business infrastructure and technical capabilities of historically under-utilized businesses.
The Department of Defense Mentor-Protege program is set up to help small businesses — such as ACTI — develop as certified contractors or subcontractors.
Lockheed and ACTI are in the third year of a three-year partnership.
“In this program, we learned new processes,” Rauch said.
“We learned to adjust to the customer’s needs and changing demands.
“But most importantly, we learned how to learn.”
Lockheed has acted as the adviser to the company throughout the process.
“As a direct result of the mentor-protege agreement, this protege has gained capability that is almost exclusively held in the large-business domain,” said Gary Bailey, vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Material Management.
“ACTI provides the U.S. Department of Defense with enhanced capability to acquire, maintain and sustain sophisticated weapon systems using the latest manufacturing technology while creating a more diverse and stable supplier base.”
Through the course of the partnership, Rauch said ACTI has grown from about 50 employees to about 100, and he expects it to double again in the next three years.
Rauch opened the business in the Port of Port Angeles-owned building in 1996.
“So 12 years later, here we are,” he said.
According to Lockheed Martin, the partnership resulted in significant technology transfer, a 34 percent increase in sales, a 23 percent increase in employment and a 54 percent increase in profit.
Koniag Development Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Koniag Inc., owns the majority shares of ACTI and is a federally recognized Alaska Native Corporation, organized under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
