Archive for the ‘Industry’ Category
A7 Defense & Aerospace’s tactical products are now Available Through TASCO Australia
Thursday, July 18th, 2019PRIME Ammunition and RUAG End Litigation
Wednesday, July 17th, 2019
Las Vegas, NV, July 16, 2019 – Effective immediately, Citizens Ammunition, LLC DBA PRIME and RUAG Ammotec have agreed to conclude the litigation between the companies. Terms of the settlement will not be released. According to PRIME Ammunition’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy, “RUAG contacted us and asked us to conclude the litigation. We reached a mutually agreeable settlement and are taking their offer to restore the business relationship under careful consideration.”
Holosun Technologies, Inc Names Gordon Myers as Director of Sales
Monday, July 15th, 2019CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIF. – July 15, 2019 – Holosun Technologies, Inc., an innovative designer and manufacturer of sport optics products and accessories, announced today that Gordon Myers has joined the company as Director of Sales.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of Gordon Myers to our corporate leadership team as Director of Sales,” said Victor Sun, President of Holosun. “Gordon’s extensive sales and leadership experience in manufacturing companies, including within the sport optics space, fits well with Holosun’s current and future plans. We are confident his addition will allow us to strengthen our overall position within the industry.”
Myers’ most recent experience had him building and leading the Nightforce Optics Sales and Marketing teams, with similar previous experience at Creative Tent International and Smiths Power, as well as other organizations.
As Director of Sales, Myers will be charged with developing Holosun’s sales strategies and leading the company’s sales teams. “I am excited to be bringing my background and experience to such an innovative organization,” Myers said. “Holosun products offer an amazing value proposition: Excellent quality, innovative features and a great price. I’m looking forward to working with the team to create new strategies to drive success for the company, as well as for all those organizations who work to sell and promote the Holosun brand.”
Myers has an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, as well as two bachelor’s degrees from Washington State University.
Former SEK Solutions Executives Sentenced For Defrauding US Government
Monday, July 15th, 2019Last Friday, Khalil Naim, former executive of SEK Solutions was sentenced for his role in defrauding the US Government. In addition to one month of incarceration beginning August 30th, he will pay $479,641.23 in restitution. Last year, he pleaded guilty aiding and abetting a false statement his wife Edna Naim made to capture a contract as a so-called 8(a) business, a small, disadvantaged business. By law, Edna Naim was required to run that business in order to be eligible for the set aside contract. In reality, Khalil Naim and another man named Ron Villanueva ran it.
Former State Representative Ron Villanueva was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison and over $524,000 in restitution after pleading guilty earlier this year to charges stemming from assisting two forms defraud the US government. Specifically, Villanueva had served as Vice-President and then President of SEK Solutions as well as a board member of Karda Systems.
Additionally, Samuel Caragan of Karda Systems, who was found guilty of making a false official statement in a scheme with Villanueva, was sentenced to four years of probation, including six months of home detention and must pay over $240,000 in restitution.
TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc Receives Cogswell Award for Security Excellence
Sunday, July 14th, 2019Hebron, OH, Thursday, July 4, 2019 – TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. was recently awarded the Cogswell Award along with 50 other companies working in the defense sector. More than 13,000 companies were evaluated in accordance with the principles laid out in the Industrial Security Program, which measures a company’s capability and resolution to maintain and further extremely high information security requirements and ultimately keeping future programs and platforms for the US armed forces uncompromised. Only cleared Defense Contractors which show a sustained degree of excellence and innovation in their overall security program are eligible for the award, and less than 0.4% of all cleared Defense Contractors ever receive the Cogswell Award.
The award is highly influential and underlines TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc.’s capability to hold, maintain, and utilize US Government technical information with extreme discretion. A key future requirement in a globalized defense industry is to maintain critical information uncompromised, and it is expected to become a critical pillar in the armed forces’ procurement processes. The increased attention to information security is aimed at securing the technological advantage of the US Warfighter in any confrontation, which is the reason that critical information should remain uncompromised.
The high level of security has been achieved through an aggressive internal training program and systematic and recurrent awareness enhancing activities. The efforts have been targeted to ensure that ITAR and other confidential information is treated with the highest level of attention. The process to increase the information security level is an ongoing effort to keep the practices of TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. exceeding the highest standards.
The Cogswell Award selection process is rigorous. A DSS Industrial Security Representative may only nominate facilities that have at a minimum two consecutive superior industrial security review ratings and which show a sustained degree of excellence and innovation in their overall security program management, implementation and oversight. DSS makes the final selections.
The award was established in 1966 in honor of the late Air Force Col. James S. Cogswell, the first chief of industrial security within the Department of Defense. Cogswell was responsible for developing the basic principles of the Industrial Security Program, which includes an emphasis on the partnership between industry and government to protect classified information. This partnership ultimately ensures the greatest protection for the US Warfighter and our Nation’s classified information.
TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc. provides survivability systems to private entities and for large multi-year government programs, uniquely designed for personnel, land systems, watercraft, and aviation platforms. Capabilities also include state-of-the-art protection solutions as a tier one provider of personal protection products (P3) for the US Government, police departments, and federal agencies. TenCate Advanced Armor is an OEM-independent entity that can partner with government and industry to analyze, advise, design, integrate, develop, manufacture, and manage survivability programs across life cycles.
Armor Express Expands Leadership Team with the Additions of Lushana Offutt, Senior Vice President, Government Operations and Rick Dressler, Vice President, Federal Operations
Thursday, July 11th, 2019Dave Herbener, Founder and Former CEO of KDH Defense Systems Joins Board of Directors
CENTRAL LAKE, MI – July 11, 2019 – Armor Express, a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-performance protective solutions for the Domestic and Federal Law Enforcement markets, Department of Defense and First Responders, today announced two strategic hires – Lushana Offutt, Senior Vice President, Government Operations and Rick Dressler, Vice President, Federal Operations – as the Company continues to build out its leadership team.
Jim Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of Armor Express commented, “The additions of Lushana and Rick to our team are significant, especially as we grow our business with the U.S. Government and with the major contract opportunities on the horizon. Both have vast experience, knowledge and relationships across government and industry that will serve our organization and customers well. They have overseen multi-billion-dollar contracts throughout their careers and understand customer needs, which was critical in our selection process. We are excited to have Lushana and Rick onboard and look forward to working with our partners as we continue to expand our life-saving capabilities.”
The Company is pleased to welcome its new Head of Government Operations, Lushana Offutt, who brings over 20 years of defense and federal sector experience. Most recently, Ms. Offutt served as Senior Vice President, Operations at ADS Inc., a leading provider of equipment, procurement, logistics, and supply chain solutions to the Department of Defense (DoD) as well as federal, state and local agencies. She helped develop the business strategy, while overseeing all support functions including proposal development, contract administration, information technology, purchasing, inventory, and logistics. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President, Strategy, leading business development and capture management initiatives. She joined ADS in 2008 as Vice President, Program Business Development and served later as Vice President, Air Force, Army and International Sales. Earlier in her career, she held various positions with SYColeman Corporation, L3 Communications and NISH.
Also joining Armor Express as its new Vice President, Federal Operations is Rick Dressler, a seasoned professional in the Defense and Federal Law Enforcement industries. Mr. Dressler brings to the Company close to 30 years of special operations and management experience, having served in various senior roles for the U.S. Army; U.S. Air Force Reserve; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); and on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining Armor Express, his most recent roles were that of Supervisory Special Agent and Program Manager at the ATF’s headquarters in Washington D.C. He also served as a Special Agent (Lt. Col.) in the Air Force Reserve, Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
Ms. Offutt will be responsible for overseeing the Company’s Military, Federal and International operations, including contracts, programs, proposals, sales and business strategy, working closely with the operational teams in Eden, NC and externally with all customers. She will be based in the Company’s new headquarters in Arlington, VA, and initially spend time at the Eden, NC facility where the majority of contracts are being produced for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy Security Forces, and various Federal customers. Mr. Dressler will spearhead program and contract management, sales, sales support, and customer service for all Federal accounts and future business opportunities. He too, will be based in the Arlington, VA office.
Lushana Offutt added, “I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to have worked in such great companies that were all focused on servicing the needs of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day. I now look forward to working with the Armor Express and KDH teams to leverage the experience I’ve gained across all facets of operations, program management and sales to not only help the Company grow but help support our customers. The customer always comes first and that was a shared vision that attracted me to Armor Express. We have a great team in place, one that is expanding, and a product assortment and commitment to innovation that makes me confident in our ability to increase our share of market and deliver the best and safest products to our customers.”
Mr. Dressler added, “I’ve spent my career serving our country, in both the Military and Federal Government, and I have worn and sourced our products in the field. They are second to none and continue to evolve as new technologies come to market and as we gain insight from customers around the world. Every agency has different needs and part of my former responsibilities was harnessing the right resources and equipment to ensure Agents, Officers and Military personnel were safe. I look forward to utilizing my past experiences and relationships to improve our customer offering and service capabilities. The need for protection has never been greater and I believe we have the resources and drive to deliver exactly what our customers need.”
The Company also announced today that David Herbener, Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of KDH Defense Systems has joined the Company’s Board of Directors. This follows the most recent appointment of Sam White to the Board, a highly respected and seasoned executive from the body armor industry.
Ocean State Innovations Appoints Bryan Boulis as President
Wednesday, July 10th, 2019PORTSMOUTH, R.I. –- Ocean State Innovations, a leading textile solutions provider, announced the appointment of Bryan Boulis as President.
Mr. Boulis has many years of diverse textile experience. Most recently, he served as Managing Director at 1947 LLC, a textile and brand management firm. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Sales at Duro Textiles, a textile dye and finishing company, and the President of Fairhaven Textiles, a textile converting firm. Mr. Boulis is a 1979 Graduate of Stonehill College.
“We look forward to continuing our commitment to our customers and our employees by offering textile solutions and a great place to work. Bryan’s experience developing unique solutions for our customers, combined with developing talent for our team, are critical parts of our future.” said Edward Ricci, Ocean State Innovations, CEO.
Ocean State Innovations’ continued strategic growth has received enthusiastic support from Praesidian Capital, which initially invested both first lien debt and equity in B&O/OSI. “Since our initial investment, B&O/OSI has continued to provide premiere textile products and customer service,” said Jason Drattell, the founding partner of Praesidian. “We are pleased with Bryan’s appointment as President, and we anticipate continued success in the coming years as management executes on their strategic vision.”
For more information, please visit www.osinnovate.com.
Savage Arms Announces Sale From Vista Outdoor
Monday, July 8th, 2019WESTFIELD, Massachusetts – July 8, 2019 – Vista Outdoor announced today the sale of Savage Arms, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hunting rifles and shotguns, in a management led buyout to a group of investors headed by Al Kasper, the president and CEO of Savage. The press release can be found here.
“We want to thank Vista Outdoor for the support over the last six years. They invested in us and provided guidance in the transformation of the Savage brand, further developed our product portfolio allowing entry to new markets,,” said Al Kasper, Savage President and Chief Executive Officer. “Savage is an extremely strong brand and in a great position to keep charging forward. The momentum gained under Vista Outdoor will propel us for future success. It is business as usual and Savage is excited to continue building on existing relationships within the firearms industry.”
Savage, Stevens and Fox shotguns have been delivering innovative products for more than 125 years. In 1894, Savage forever changed the world of firearms with a commitment to a higher standard in quality. Savage has built a reputation for continuously improving firearm design while becoming the standard for accuracy and value in the industry.
“We are excited to build on the Savage legacy and are blasting into our next chapter. Here at Savage we are excited to show you what we have coming, because we are just getting our barrels warm! You’ll see more customizable platforms based on our incredibly versatile Accufit stock system, and a continued focus on making your firearm best fit your shooting and hunting needs.” said Beth Shimanski, Director of Marketing. “As we are transitioning, you’ll see more detailed information coming, with updated contacts and information.”
