The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and The Protocase Companies have announced the inaugural Velocity Summit, an event scheduled for November 17, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina, that will confront a growing national security concern: the speed at which the United States can produce critical defense systems.

The summit will bring together leaders from industry, the military, government, policy, research, workforce development, and the media to tackle one of the country's most pressing defense challenges—the slow translation of military requirements into manufactured capability.

Organizers say the event's focus is squarely on speed. Although the United States fields exceptional engineering talent, technology, capital, and advanced manufacturing expertise, moving from military need to fielded equipment often takes years. Production delays, supply chain constraints, and limited surge capacity increasingly imperil national security. The Velocity Summit will pose a practical question: how can the country turn military requirements into manufacturing capability at scale more quickly? Discussions will center on accelerating production, reducing barriers across the defense industrial base, strengthening supply chains, and expanding capacity to build and sustain ships, aircraft, munitions, and other critical systems—all with North Carolina businesses positioned to play a leading role.

"We have an extraordinary collection of assets in this state," said Dr. Doug Milburn, co-founder of Protocase. "The opportunity is to connect those strengths around a common mission. That is what Velocity is intended to begin."

North Carolina enters the effort from a position of strength. According to the press release, the Department of Defense has an estimated $79.7 billion annual economic impact in the state, where the military ranks as the second-largest economic sector. North Carolina also claims the Southeast's largest manufacturing workforce—approximately 459,000 jobs—alongside more than 400 aerospace manufacturers, over 100,000 aerospace, aviation, and engineering professionals, six major military installations, two deep-water ports, leading research universities, and a statewide community college system. Those assets map directly onto the summit's agenda: the aerospace manufacturers and deep-water ports speak to the aircraft, munitions, and ship capacity under discussion, while the community college system that anchors NCMBC ties into the event's workforce development component.

"It is the speed at which we can bring those strengths together to meet urgent national security needs," said Jimmy Hendrix, Director for Regional Programs at the North Carolina Military Business Center. "Velocity Summit is about creating the connections and alignment needed to help transform those strengths into faster, more responsive defense manufacturing capacity for the nation."

Unlike a traditional conference, the Velocity Summit is designed to advance practical solutions and durable partnerships among industry, government, academia, and the military. NCMBC and The Protocase Companies view the inaugural event as the start of a broader effort to strengthen defense manufacturing and raise the visibility of North Carolina's industrial capabilities. The organizers' own operations embody that approach—NCMBC runs its business development work through the state's community college network, while The Protocase Companies' businesses are built around compressing the path from hardware iteration to production.

A new episode of ProtoPod featuring Milburn and Hendrix discussing the summit is available on YouTube. Additional information and registration are available on the official event page, which remains the destination for details as the November 17 gathering approaches.

The North Carolina Military Business Center is a statewide business development and technology transition entity of the State of North Carolina, embedded in community colleges and headquartered at Fayetteville Technical Community College. The Protocase Companies—comprising Protocase, ProtoSpace Mfg, and 45Drives—operate at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and open-source infrastructure, helping engineering and technology teams rapidly iterate hardware and move toward production on timelines aligned with modern mission requirements.