Defense Business Council Businesses Visit Norway/Denmark
Linda Thomson
President
JARI defense-related businesses visited three northern European cities during the first two weeks of September to enhance relationships with key business partners. The group first met with Kitron’s executive team in Arendal, Norway getting a first-hand view of the flagship facility and learning more about the company’s worldwide operations. The group then bused to Kongsberg, Norway, the HQ for the Kongsberg organization. Meetings were held with production leaders, and the group participated in tours of various facilities. Finally, the group spent time with JARI's partner agency, CenSec, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Meetings were held with the U.S. Embassy, the CenSec Board of Directors, and MyDefence, a small company that visited Johnstown during the Showcase for Commerce this year.
Those attending the marketing trip included Linda Thomson, JARI; Bill Locher, Somerset Trust Company; Bill and Tina Sipko, BCL Manufacturing; Tim Brown, Enterprise Ventures Corporation; Russ Bailey, Lockheed Martin Aeroparts; Carl Sax, Compass Systems; and Kim Kunkle, Laurel Holdings. Special thanks to Jason Galiote (Kitron), Jeff Wood (Kongsberg), Shawn Koontz (JWF) and Bernadine van Kessel (FirstEnergy) for participating in portions of the visit.
Many thanks to our hosts: Kitron, Kongsberg, and CenSec for the detail and time associated with our visit.