WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King, in a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Seapower, spoke with Matthew Sermon, the program manager of the Maritime Industry Base, about the importance of strengthening Department of Defense (DoD) operations by removing unnecessary bureaucratic barriers to help expand the defense industrial base. During the exchange, Senator King cited the “burdensome” and “slow” process that companies are currently forced to go through when trying to contract with the DoD, and how it puts smaller organizations at a disadvantage.

Last spring, Senator King joined Governor Janet Mills, Senator Susan Collins and Representative Chellie Pingree in announcing the Maine Defense Industry Alliance (MDIA) — a newly established non-profit coalition of Maine defense companies, state agencies, community colleges and universities, and other vocational training organizations. The partnership was created to attract and train thousands of new employees to perform critical jobs at smaller contracting businesses that work within Maine’s defense industrial base. In Maine, the defense sector employs more than 200,000 people at over 150 companies, and, in 2021, defense spending in Maine totaled $3.2 billion.

“Everybody around here for the past three or four years has been talking about rebuilding the defense industrial base, expanding it. How do we do it? Is that a matter of more contracts for big prime contractors? Is it bringing new people into the business? Is it encouraging smaller companies? This is one thing everybody talks about, but I never hear specifics about how to go about it. Mr. Sermon what’re your thoughts,” asked Senator King.

“My three primary focus areas that are absolutely aimed at capacity are getting the workforce that we need, and not just shipbuilders but the supply chain across the nation, not just where the shipyards are in the coast,” replied Sermon.

“Isn’t one of the big issues supply chain? Second and third order suppliers,” questioned Senator King.

Sermon responded, “It is. My second item is foundational investment in the supply chain. In the submarine community, we have about 70% of our critical suppliers are single or sole source which means we don't have a backup method, so getting a backup supplier or getting to where they are competitive both in terms of schedule and cost is crucially important.”

Senator King said, “We have had testimony before the full committee that smaller companies have given up trying to contract with the Pentagon. It’s so burdensome, slow. There is so much paperwork. We are losing the opportunity to develop the capacity and anything but larger entities.”

“It is necessary for us to lower the barriers to entry to get more suppliers in,” said Sermon.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King has championed funding for both Bath Iron Works (BIW) and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY). Recently, Senator King and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, discussed the importance of utilizing lessons from the private sector to maintain best practices for ship designing, building, and maintenance. Last year, he strongly urged Mr. Frederick J. Stefany, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition to prioritize long-term investments in the defense industrial base — including Bath Iron Works — to avoid a ‘trough’ between contracted work, resulting in a likely loss of workers and threatening American national security.

In the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, Senator King secured authorization for the procurement of an additional DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that Bath Iron Works will build. In a recent hearing of the Armed Service Committee, he outlined the importance of supporting our nation’s shipbuilding capacity, citing the three biggest challenges for the industry as “workforce, workforce, workforce.”

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