Automation Alley Macomb County Defense Office

Ken Rogers, Executive Director
Automation Alley
2675 Bellingham
Troy, Michigan 48083

Dear Ken:

Thank you for inviting me to the opening of the new Automation Alley Macomb County Defense Office.  I regret that I cannot be with you on Monday to inaugurate this office and the important work it will do for our region’s defense sector.

For more than 70 years, Michigan has been known as the Arsenal of Democracy.  Starting in 1941, when the first tanks rolled off the line at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Michigan’s industrial base built the tanks that defended our country in every conflict from World War II to the First Gulf War. 

Our region continues to play a vital role in our nation’s defense.  Michigan is home to companies -- large and small -- that design, develop, engineer and manufacture many of the Army vehicles that protect our soldiers and enable them to do their jobs.  At the same time, sustaining the thousands of key Army weapons systems is a growing challenge.  In many cases, TACOM is dealing with systems that are more than 30 years old, and finding needed replacement parts that are no longer in production is a tall order.  This is a problem that calls out for a robust partnership between the Army and private industry. 

Working with Automation Alley, a number of Michigan congressional offices teamed up to win funding for a creative new initiative – the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages Case Resolution Program – to help TACOM identify manufacturers capable of producing the replacement parts the Army needs.  I hope that many of these parts will be made by companies right here in Southeastern Michigan.  We have the skilled workforce as well as the engineering and manufacturing expertise.  It is fitting that the Arsenal of Democracy that built so many vehicles for the Army over the years should also build the parts needed to maintain the Army’s weapon systems today.  Implementing this initiative will be a key task for the new Macomb Defense Office and underscores the regional nature of Automation Alley’s efforts. 

Sincerely,

Sander Levin
Member of Congress

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