With an eye on the future growth of Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) and its potential to positively impact the area’s economy, more than 30 economic development leaders from across North Carolina toured the depot May 11.
Hosted by the Eastern North Carolina (ENC) Tech Bridge at FRCE, the visiting members of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina learned more about the Tech Bridge and its mission to bridge the gap between the Navy and nontraditional partners like small businesses, academia and nonprofits. During a brief tour of FRCE, they also had the opportunity to get a firsthand look at the depot’s military aircraft maintenance operations.
FRCE Executive Director Mark Meno provided the group with an overview of FRCE’s history and transformation from a World War II-era aviation repair depot with just a few dozen employees to an organization with more than 4,000 employees who provides touch labor, logistics support and engineering services at the depot’s five detachments and to forward-deployed units throughout the world.
“FRC East is more a capability than a location,” Meno said. “Our skilled labor is what sets us apart, and we can send teams of artisans, logisticians and engineers out to locations around the world. When the Fleet can’t come to us for service, we can take the service to the Fleet. We’re able to provide the world-class service our warfighters depend on, no matter when or where they need us.”
The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina focuses on recruiting new businesses to the state and supporting the needs of existing businesses, along with connecting exporters to global customers and helping small business owners. ENC Tech Bridge Director Jamaine Clemmons said the visit provided the perfect venue to familiarize these economic development advocates with the important role FRCE plays in the local economy, and the prospects the ENC Tech Bridge presents for growth and advancement.
“We’re excited to network with economic development leaders within North Carolina and introduce them to FRC East and the ENC Tech Bridge,” Clemmons said. “This was a great opportunity to discuss the Tech Bridge’s core initiatives and lay the groundwork for future partnerships as we continue to foster innovation and collaboration in our region, in order to meets the needs of the Fleet across the globe.”
The ENC Tech Bridge works to build an ecosystem of innovation to support the Navy and Marine Corps with a focus on several areas of consideration, including manufacturing and repair technologies; advanced manufacturing; big data, data analytics and visualization; technical insertion; augmented and mixed reality; automation and robotics; and soft and wicked problem solving. The ENC Tech Bridge operates in conjunction with a partnership between Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) and Craven County.
As part of a NavalX network, 18 Tech Bridges aim to bridge the gap between the Navy and emerging entities like startups, small businesses, academia, nonprofits and private capital that aren’t traditionally part of the Navy’s development and acquisition process. The Tech Bridge framework allows the Navy to collaborate with nontraditional partners and accelerate the innovation timeline in ways that traditional acquisition methods do not. This structure eases the collaboration process and allows the Navy to leverage the speed and efficiency improvements these nontraditional partners have experienced in recent years, ultimately putting assets in the hands of the nation’s warfighters significantly faster, at a more economical rate.
FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.