Update on the maker of Eagle on the 38th Anniversary of its Moon Landing

Friday morning at LIMBA, on the 38th anniversary of the first moon landing, we had
Duke Dufresne, the current chief of Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Integrated
Systems Eastern Region (Ticker NOC), the current incarnation of the Lunar Module
builder, give us an update on what is going on with the storied aerospace
corporation, long a mainstay of the Long Island economy.
Duke is head of the eastern region of NGC Integrated Systems, which is a 2
Billion dollar division of the company, working with the Navy and Air Force to
connect the warfighter on the ground, sea, and air, with the information they
need to execute their missions.  Today, there are approximately 4,600 employees
in the Eastern Division of which 2000 are on Long Island.  A recent highlight
was the win of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye pilot production contract, totaling 408
Million dollars to build 3 new aircraft.  Duke expects the Navy to buy 75
aircraft in the full production program, and the Bethpage location will have a
strong role in the engineering functions, with the airframes being built in St.
Augustine in Florida.  The team is busy pursuing opportunities on the Navy’s
BAMS project and the AF’s Tanker replacement program, which are both due to be
awarded later this year.

Duke discussed some of the challenges that doing business on Long Island
presents, such as the cost of housing, and the recruiting problems that they
present.  He also detailed some of the programs that Northrop has in place to
address these issues, such as a grant program for employees that are first time
home buyers.  One of the great programs that they run is an outreach program to
get school kids interested in careers in engineering, that not only goes into
high schools, but starts in the middle schools, catching their interest early,
and hopefully recruiting more local talent that will stay on Long Island.   An
avid boater, the southern California transplant was effusive in his praise for
his new home,  a reminder that some of us natives take what we have here for
granted because we grew up with it. 

The aerospace community was well represented at our meeting, with many partners
of Northrop Grumman on hand to educate us on the extensive programs that affect
subcontractors during the Q and A session.  It was again, a very well spent
morning at LIMBA with a chance to meet and greet Duke Dufresne, one of the region’s most
influential people, and NGC's partners. Included in the mix was;

Joseph Battaglia -- President, Telephonics
Ed Palacio -- Vice President, EDO
John Capacchione -- CAPY Machine
Peter Rettaliata -- President, Air Industries
Kenneth Nevor -- NDIA (National Defense Industrial Association) Conference  

 

also in attendance were Northrop Grumman associates:

Diane Dufresne
Patricia McMahon
Dianne Baumert-Moyik
Stacy Simpson 

 

and of course, the ever curious and involved LIMBA membership.

Officiating for LIMBA, Bill Miller, Pres

Presiding over meeting Dick Dunne, LIMBA Board Member