| by Dennis
Walikainen, senior editor
A local firm with Michigan Tech roots
has secured a $25-million, five-year
contract with the US Special Operations
Command.
GS Engineering, founded by Glen
Simula '80, was awarded the contract
recently, and technically, it is an
"indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity
task order contract to supply systems
test support services for US Special
Operations Forces (SOF) ground mobility
vehicles," according to a news release.
A task order is a defined scope of work
for one project.
Given the security surrounding the
work, much of the information is not for
public consumption, but GS Engineering
will be doing design and analysis of
light military structures, and the terms
of the contract are a bit different.
"Indefinite delivery and quantity
means they are purchasing man-hours for
whatever arises," Simula says. This
means GS Engineering must be able to
react, retool if necessary and produce
results in what can be short notice.
They'll have approximately 40 tasks to
complete in the five-year period.
Government contracts like this
normally run for two years, with
two-year options after that. This
contract, however, allows GS to look at
expansion, both in facilities and people
and gives them a solid base in a couple
of ways.
"It gets us into the game where, in
the future, we can work with General
Dynamics, GE, or other big companies,
especially as they work with the Army
and Air Force," Simula says. "And it
gives us stability for this time frame;
it's kind of like tenure!"
GS Engineering's work on the contract
may involve local subcontractors and one
Detroit-based, fairly famous
subcontractor: Roush Enterprises, part
of NASCAR'S Roush racing family.
"We've subcontracted with them
before, and with their help, we really
nailed the proposal," Simula says.
GS Engineering grew out of Simula's
work with Michigan Tech's Keweenaw
Research Center (KRC). Through his
involvement with KRC, he could envision
where a small, for-profit entity could
have more flexibility in bidding on
contract proposals and doing work on
state and federal projects.
GS is one of a few companies that
have spun off of KRC, and Simula is
grateful for that relationship with Tech
and one important, current connection:
his employees. Nearly all his engineers
are Tech grads.
"We wouldn't be here without Tech,"
he says. "I can't stress that enough. We
get asked sometimes why we aren’t in
Minneapolis or Detroit, but we have this
great university right here in this
beautiful area. We can attract the kind
of engineers who want to live in the
Keweenaw. This is home."
And the MTEC SmartZone helped, too.
The business-incubator organization,
created by Tech and operating with the
aid of the cities of Houghton and
Hancock and Finlandia University, leased
office space to GS as they began their
business.
They've moved from the SmartZone's
Powerhouse building downtown to a new
building outside of Houghton, and that
new building might not be big enough.
"We are talking about expanding next
spring," Simula says.
That's the result of a lot of hard
work, according to Chief Operating
Officer Jim Bottomley. "This was a
tremendous effort by a lot of people,"
he says. "This gives us a good, stable
base, and the effect will be felt all
over the region. It's going to be a big
impact."
That impact could include some work
with Tech academic departments such as
materials science and engineering, with
whom GS Engineering has worked in the
past.
Bottomley added that the broad-based
project will have them moving in myriad
directions, and they really don't know
where until they get their tasks. "It's
flexible, open-ended and you don't know
where you'll end up at the end of the
day."
But the engineers at GS Engineering
know where they will be: on the shores
of the Keweenaw Waterway, solving
problems while making their homes here.
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