NJIT Launches MarketShift to Bolster New Jersey’s Defense and Aerospace Industry and Maintain U.S. Military Readiness

WHAT: NJIT will launch MarketShift, a nearly $6 million program funded by the Department of Defense (DOD) to boost the capacity of the aerospace and defense industry in New Jersey by helping companies better understand and address risks associated with the defense supply chain, develop new products for existing markets, and identify new market opportunities for the products they already manufacture. The New Jersey Innovation Institute, an NJIT corporation, is leading the initiative as principal investigator for the DOD grant.

WHO: Attending the launch will be defense and aerospace industry contractors; government officials such as Aaron Fichtner, the Deputy Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development for the State of New Jersey; workforce development organizations, including the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Partnership; economic development organizations such as Choose New Jersey; higher education leaders, including vice presidents from Rutgers and Rowan universities; and NJII executives. Ed Morrison, Regional Economic Development Advisor for the Purdue Center for Regional Development, will give a keynote speech highlighting strategies to build the competitiveness of the aerospace and defense industries through public-private collaborations. Timothy Franklin, Associate Vice President for Business and Economic Development at NJIT and NJII Vice President, will provide an overview of the MarketShift initiative. A panel discussion on market opportunities in the New Jersey aerospace and defense industry featuring will follow.

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 31 from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: NJIT Campus Center Atrium

WHY: With defense budgets shrinking in the wake of Congressional spending cuts and a sharp reduction in U.S. forces abroad, defense and aerospace contractors in the state must remain not only viable, but competitive, in order to maintain the country’s defense capabilities. These efforts are also designed to benefit New Jersey’s economy and protect its job base.

Contact: For more information about MarketShift, please contact Timothy Franklin at franklin@njit.edu.

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