The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies will co-present the inaugural Velocity Summit on November 17, 2026, in Wilmington, NC. The event will bring together leaders from industry, the military, government, policy, research, workforce development, and media to address a critical national security challenge: the speed at which the United States can translate military requirements into manufactured capability.
America’s defense manufacturing challenge is fundamentally one of speed. Despite exceptional engineering talent, technology, capital, and advanced manufacturing expertise, it can take years to move from military requirements to produced systems. 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.
“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.”
North Carolina is well positioned to lead. 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.
“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 Milburn and Hendrix discussing the summit is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQd1dHTixo.
For more information and to register, visit https://www.ncmbc.us/event/velocity-summit/.
The implications of this announcement extend beyond a single event. By convening stakeholders from across sectors, the Velocity Summit seeks to catalyze a systemic shift in how the U.S. approaches defense manufacturing—moving from a sluggish, fragmented process to one that is agile, integrated, and responsive to urgent national security needs. North Carolina’s role as a hub for this effort underscores the state’s unique combination of military presence, manufacturing capacity, and research infrastructure. If successful, the summit could lead to tangible improvements in production timelines, supply chain resilience, and surge capacity, ultimately enhancing the nation’s ability to deter and respond to threats. The collaboration between NCMBC and The Protocase Companies signals a growing recognition that solving the defense manufacturing speed gap requires sustained partnership and a shared commitment to innovation.
