The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies will co-present the inaugural Velocity Summit on November 17, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina. The event will bring together leaders from industry, the military, government, policy, research, workforce development, and media to address the urgent need to accelerate U.S. defense manufacturing capacity, with North Carolina stakeholders positioned to lead.
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 focus on a practical question: how can the United States turn military requirements into manufacturing capability at scale more quickly? Discussions will center 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, with North Carolina businesses playing a key leadership role in innovating around current constraints.
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.
"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."
"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.
A new episode of ProtoPod features Dr. Doug Milburn of Protocase and Jimmy Hendrix of NCMBC discussing Velocity Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQd1dHTixo.
For more information and to register for the event, visit: https://www.ncmbc.us/event/velocity-summit/.
For business leaders and technology professionals, the Velocity Summit signals a growing recognition that defense manufacturing must become more agile. The collaboration between NCMBC and Protocase highlights how regional assets can be mobilized to address national security challenges. If successful, the summit could lead to faster production timelines, stronger supply chains, and increased opportunities for companies involved in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and defense. As global threats evolve, the ability to quickly convert military requirements into manufactured capability will be critical, and North Carolina's role in this effort may serve as a model for other states.
