US lawmaker links small defense firms in Maryland

By: Joe Gould

WASHINGTON — A Maryland congressman is launching a local consortium on Tuesday to link small and large aerospace and defense firms and educational institutions in the Pentagon's backyard — so the companies can solve common problems like workforce shortages.

The Pentagon has identified the aging workforce as a challenge to country's defense industry, and it's playing out in Rep. Anthony Brown's district, which is near NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a major space research laboratory, and Fort Meade, the home of U.S. Cyber Command.

“When I think about the workforce shortages, it's not just the computer science engineer in high demand at Northrop's Linthicum facility, it's the welder down at Huntington Ingalls,” said Brown, D-Md., and a House Armed Services Committee member, told Defense News. “There has to be a public-private partnership.”

After months of meeting with representatives of the defense industry, local economic development corporations, local school systems and institutions of higher education, Brown is launching the Maryland Defense and Aerospace Consortium as a means of spurring academia and industry collaborate — and to burnish the National Capitol Region's reputation as an A&D hub.

The panel, made up of representatives from the Defense Department, industry, career and technical education organizations, and local universities, is meant to start a conversation and ultimately solve national security problems.

The inaugural meeting of Maryland Defense and Aerospace Consortium, set for Tuesday on Capitol Hill, is due to host Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy.

Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/14/us-lawmaker-links-small-defense-firms-in-maryland