Management Committee Put in Place for NC Defense, Security Tech Accelerator

The five-member management committee to oversee development of the Defense and Security Technology Accelerator is now in place. The

North Carolina Technology Association

named three people to the Partnership of Defense Innovation. A non-profit organization, it will direct the Center.

Two other members independent from the NCTA fill out the committee.

The Defense and Security Technology Accelerator, or DSTA, is designed to be a new-business incubator focused on defense and security technology. It will be based in Fayetteville. The DTSA is designed to house between 12-15 companies and will include lab space. The Center's backers hope that it will help facilitate rapid growth of new technology for use within the defense, security, homeland security and intelligence fields.

The project has received $2 million in initial funding from the North Carolina General Assembly, and the NCTA is seeking another $1.5 million from the General Assembly this year, according to NCTA spokesman Jim Rapp.

"They are now looking to hire a president," he added.

A site has yet to be selected for the center.

NCTA has said the Fayetteville Center is only part of a long-term plan. "Keep in mind this is the first hub of a security cluster," Rapp said.

The three committee members named by the NCTA are: Ed Carney, vice president and general manager of the Government Systems Business Unit at Cisco Systems; Kenneth Marks of Raytheon Corporation and principal and managing director of Marks & Company; and John Tuohey, director of operations for Sierra Nevada's Tactical Communications Business Unit in Fayetteville.

"The leadership and vision of this esteemed group solidifies NCTA's commitment to the state legislature to bring the best business talent to the project to accelerate job creation in North Carolina," said Janet Wylie, chairman of the board of directors of NCTA. "We are pleased to have assembled such an impressive management team for the project."

The two other committee members are: Bobby Ervin, associate vice president for Learning Technologies at Fayetteville Technical Community College, and Bill Martin, president of the Cumberland County Business Council and the Partnership for Defense Innovation.

NCTA is endeavoring to drive more defense industry-related growth in North Carolina. In February, NCTA put on a one-day event at Cisco where numerous firms based in the state or with significant operations in N.C. made presentations to representatives from the armed forces and other federal groups.

Participants include Research Triangle Software, CipherOptics, Oak Grove Technologies, IntePoint, Engineous Software, Stonewall Networks, Netdirectsystems, Virtual Heroes, 3Dsolve, VisionAir, Concurrent Technologies, Saffron Technology, Blue Shoe Technologies, Cyberlux, The Whitlock Group, Sierra Nevada, Integrian, and Ballistic Protection Technologies.