In response to growing concerns over the pace of U.S. defense manufacturing, the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies have announced the inaugural Velocity Summit, scheduled for 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 confront what organizers describe as a national security challenge measured in time.
America's defense manufacturing dilemma is fundamentally one of speed. Despite possessing 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 center on a practical question: how can the United States turn military requirements into manufacturing capability at scale more quickly? Discussions will focus 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, all with an eye toward North Carolina businesses playing a key leadership role in innovating around current constraints.
North Carolina is well positioned to contribute. According to the source content, 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, the 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 featuring Dr. Doug Milburn of Protocase and Jimmy Hendrix of NCMBC discussing the Velocity Summit is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQd1dHTixo. For more information and to register for the event, visit https://www.ncmbc.us/event/velocity-summit/.
The implications of this announcement extend beyond a single event. By convening diverse stakeholders, the Velocity Summit seeks to catalyze a systemic shift in how the U.S. approaches defense manufacturing—moving from a reactive, sluggish process to one that is agile and responsive to emerging threats. North Carolina's robust industrial and military ecosystem makes it a natural hub for such an initiative, but the summit's success could set a precedent for other regions. Ultimately, the effort underscores a growing recognition that maintaining military superiority requires not only advanced technology but also the ability to produce it rapidly and at scale.
