TRAVERSE CITY. — Military leaders, defense manufacturers, and technology providers gathered in Traverse City on Friday for a conference aimed at strengthening Northern Michigan’s position in the national defense supply chain.
The conference, organized by Traverse Connect, brought together companies from across the region with officials from Camp Grayling and the National All-Domain Warfighting Center to discuss defense contracting opportunities, drone technology development, and the future of military manufacturing in the state.
Warren Call, president and CEO of Traverse Connect, said the region’s defense roots run deeper than most people realize.
“A lot of people don’t realize is that Northern Michigan has been a center for the defense industry, in the aerospace industry for a long time, actually going back several decades,” Call said, adding that regional companies have been building components for the U.S. military since before World War II.
Call said the conference was designed to connect regional manufacturers and technology providers with the U.S. military’s supply chain and procurement operations, as well as with larger national defense contractors that rely on local suppliers.
He pointed to several established companies already active in the sector, including Clark Manufacturing in Traverse City, as well as SMI, Coherent, and EOTech elsewhere in the region.
Among the companies represented at the conference was Century, a Traverse City-based manufacturer with three business units — two metal machining operations and one heat treating facility. The company specializes in producing difficult, high-precision parts using subtractive manufacturing techniques and thermal processing.
Tim Healy, Century’s president, said the company produces flight safety critical components for helicopters, as well as parts used in natural gas compression and carbon capture pumps — applications he described as having very high pressure and very low tolerance for failure.
Healy said the defense industry is a natural fit for Century because it involves demanding requirements at relatively lower production volumes than sectors like automotive manufacturing.
The company operates as a dual-use manufacturer, with a foundation in commercial products that have similar counterparts in the defense sector. One of Century’s primary commercial products is helicopter rotor masts for light civil helicopters, and Healy said those components are similar to what is needed for military applications.
Healy, a 25-year U.S. Air Force veteran who flew Pave Hawk helicopters on combat search and rescue missions, said his connection to the military remains personal. He has a son and a nephew currently serving.
“It’s important to me to support them with the equipment that they need to be successful,” Healy said, noting that world events are putting pressure on the defense industry to grow.
That connection hits close to home for Century. The company produces engine components for the T-700 engine that powers the Coast Guard’s MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters stationed at the Traverse City Airport.
Healy said he sometimes takes his young machinists outside to watch the Jayhawks and reminds them that the parts they are producing are what keeps those aircraft in the air and their crews alive.
Healy pushed back against the idea that Northern Michigan is a new or unlikely location for defence manufacturing, noting that 17% of all jobs in the region are in manufacturing, compared with less than 9% nationally.
“Per capita, we punch well above our weight in terms of manufacturing,” he said.
To meet growing demand, Century is investing in robotics and automation, particularly in areas where the company has difficulty finding labor. Healy said the company tries to reserve its skilled workers for tasks that require a human touch and uses automation to handle the rest more efficiently.
Healy also welcomed the news that Swedish defense company Saab is investing in a facility in Grayling, saying he views the company as a partner rather than a competitor.
“I believe that having a company like Saab join us here will draw resources that we all need into the area,” Healy said.
Col. Lucas Lanczy of the Michigan National Guard said the conference reflected a broader effort to bring military, industry, and local government together in a region with significant untapped potential.
Lanczy described Camp Grayling as part of a larger ecosystem anchored by the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, which spans locations in Grayling and Alpena, with extensive airspace and upgraded ranges.
The recent designation of the area as a national test site for drone technology, he said, has raised Northern Michigan’s profile in the defense world.
Lanczy, a National Guardsman whose own son serves in the Guard, said Northern Michigan’s four-season climate and varied terrain — hills, forests, water, and open land — make it an ideal training environment for troops preparing to deploy anywhere in the world.
He said the arrival of Saab in Grayling is an acknowledgment of the region’s workforce and its character.
“The grit, the work ethic, the population and just being beautiful country — I think is really something special you’re not going to find anywhere else,” Lanczy said.
Lanczy said the military is also opening its training exercises to private industry, giving companies the chance to field-test technology alongside soldiers in a cooperative environment.
“We might break it. We might not break it. We might tell you it works or it doesn’t work. Good feedback,” he said.
Jason Bisalski, a territory manager with Alro Steel in Grayling, said his company supplies raw materials to defense manufacturers across the region, working as an intermediary between steel mills and the companies that machine parts for the military. He said business has been strong and the future looks promising.
“They’ll ask for certain specs of a material, and we have to make sure we meet that,” Bisalski said, adding that the certifications required for defense work can be intricate.
Call, the Traverse Connect chief, said defense contracts can be lucrative for local companies and help them diversify beyond their commercial customer base, allowing them to sustain operations year-round.
He said the National All-Domain Warfighting Center in Camp Grayling, along with the new national drone test site designation, represents a major opportunity for the region’s manufacturers, technology firms, and workforce development programs. The opportunities extend to uncrewed aerial systems as well as uncrewed marine systems, he said.
Call said drone testing is being conducted carefully, with community awareness programs in place. He cited coordination with the Coast Guard and Munson Health Care locally to ensure residents are informed about when testing will occur.
Looking ahead, Call said the conference also served to highlight the need for Michigan’s state policymakers to invest in the defense industry, both in Northern Michigan and across the state. He invoked Michigan’s historic legacy as the arsenal of democracy and said the state needs to continue leading that effort.
“As we’re seeing, the world can be a dangerous place,” Call said.