Business Thesis

The northern New England and upstate New York region has a golden opportunity to create a vibrant ecosystem of businesses providing goods and services to sensitive sectors such as defense, aerospace/space and telecommunications

Three powerful forces create an opportunity for enhanced domestic manufacturing of sensitive products after generations of offshoring.

1.        Risk management by large purchasers: United States-based companies with a global supply chain are acutely aware of the risk that they may not be able to source vital inputs in the event of geopolitical conflicts, future pandemics or other disruptive events. Companies serving sensitive sectors are actively seeking to reduce dependence on imports from foreign countries, especially those countries with a more adversarial relationship with the United States.

2.        Federal government domestic content requirements: There is bipartisan agreement on the need to rapidly decrease dependence on imported products for sensitive sectors, which is already leading to domestic content regulations. One salient example is regulations requiring that drone components be either produced domestically or face significant hurdles. Similar domestic content requirements or preferences apply (or will apply soon) across a broad range of defense, aerospace and telecommunications products.

3.        Tariffs on imports of sensitive products: Domestic production is likely to be increasingly competitive where imports face increased or unpredictable trade barriers.

The northern New England and upstate New York region are well-placed to seize these opportunities.

This region already boasts many relevant manufacturers and service providers, ranging from prime contractors to the defense industry to local small and medium-sized manufacturers and machine shops capable of growing into new fields. This region has a history of being a leader in innovation for manufacturing, including the “Precision Valley” corridor in eastern Vermont that was an internationally recognized hub for machine tools. Although this region is less densely populated, increasing use of automation and advanced manufacturing technologies reduce the importance of locating businesses near large population center.

Our purpose is to help businesses take advantage of this opportunity by providing efficient legal problem solving, including with respect to federal export control regulations

All businesses benefit from efficient legal problem solving with hands-on, personal service. Businesses serving sensitive sectors face the additional obstacles of federal regulation such as the International Trade in Arms Regulation (“ITAR”) and Export Administration Regulation (“EAR”). These regulations add complexity not only at the point of export, but also for manufacturers and service providers throughout the value chain.

We are here to help navigate this complexity with efficient and local service.