Aerospace Defense Forum

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“M&A Trends in the Aerospace Industry and Guidance for Small to Medium Sized companies and How to be Prepared”

Virtual Joint Meeting of the Santa Clarita Valley and South Bay Chapters on June 9, 2021

Despite continued uncertainty about the economic recovery and proposed legislation, valuations are at record highs, the stock market is booming and debt is cheap. How do the current economic and market conditions impact business owners and management teams across the A&D landscape today and in the future?

Please join us online on Wednesday, June 9, 8:00–9:00am pacific time, when Wells Fargo Investment Bankers Paul Croci (Head of A&D Investment Banking, New York) and Scott Dragicevich (Director, Southern California Investment Banking, Los Angeles) as they share perspectives on key topics being discussed in Board rooms across the A&D industry.
We look forward to an interactive discussion on valuation, preparing for a sale or acquisition, financing alternatives and the general A&D landscape.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfscvjun21.eventbrite.com/.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The Santa Clarita Valley chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation.

The South Bay Chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is sponsored by Moss Adams, Chubb, and Bolton & Company.

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“Innovation and Out-of-the-Box Solutions: What A&D Companies can Learn from The Creation of Special Effects for Star Trek”

Inaugural Meeting of the Ventura County Chapter on May 27

Please join us online on Thursday, May 27, 8:00–9:00am pacific time, when Dan Curry (Fellow in the international Visual Effects Society, member of Directors Guild of America, The American Society of Cinematographers, and The Art Directors Guild) will be the inaugural speaker for the Ventura County Chapter of The Aerospace and Defense Forum. Dan is best known for his imaginative and trailblazing work as Special Effects Supervisor on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise – an 18-year professional journey.

Dan is a leader in developing innovative visions and bringing them to life. Dan will talk about his career trajectory as well as fun and interesting anecdotes along the way.

One of the questions we will explore is what can aerospace and defense companies learn from the innovativeness and out-of-the box thinking required in the special effects industry?

The meeting is free for members and for non-members. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfvcmay21.eventbrite.com/.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

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“Post-COVID Aerospace Market Outlook”

Los Angeles Chapter virtual meeting on May 19

The COVID pandemic in 2020 triggered a significant downturn in air traffic, aircraft production rates, and MRO. However, as the aerospace industry turned the calendar to 2021, our outlook also turned – beyond relief that 2020 was over, there seemed to be optimism as well. As the year progresses, vaccine rollouts and less restrictive COVID measures are building an expectation that things are returning to normal.

How, when, and in what ways will this normal ultimately spill over into aviation:
• How are air travel and aerospace production recovering?
• Is the industry recovering as we’d thought?
• What is the outlook for 2021?
• When will production rates return to 2019 levels?
• What challenges will the industry face in the market recovery? (e.g., supply chain capability)

Please join us online on Wednesday, May 19, 8:00–9:00am Pacific Time when Peter Zimm, Principal, and Cliff Collier, Principal, of Charles Edwards Management Consulting will address these topics from both market and supply chain viewpoints in an informative and interactive session that will provide the audience with new perspective on the state of the industry recovery.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adflamay21.eventbrite.com/.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The Los Angeles Chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is hosted by Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell and sponsored by Chubb, Bolton & Company Insurance Brokers, Stanton Chase, Moss Adams, and Fifth Third Bank.

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“Increasing Cash Flows during COVID-19”

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am Pacific Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 when Craig Lammlin, Tax Senior Manager, and Peter Henderson, Partner, both of Moss Adams, will discuss how A&D companies can increase cash flows by taking advantage of the many credits and incentives available to them.

This will include both long-standing incentives, such as the R&D tax credit, cost segregation studies, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). It will also include new incentives stemming from the COVID-19 rescue bills, such as the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) and the Aviation Manufacturing Payroll Support Program (PSP).

Other topics will include various state incentives, such as the Washington State B&O Aerospace incentives, the California Competes Tax Credit, and various favorable accounting options (accrual to cash, treatment of inventory, NOL carrybacks, etc.). We encourage you to invite your company’s CFO or other financial leaders to join.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofmay21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

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“International Distributorships – Pitfalls and Tips”

AZ Chapter meeting in Scottsdale on May 28, 2021

Meeting location: Kybun USA & Treffpunkt
14325 N 79th Street STE A, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Meeting Date: Friday, May 28, 2021
Meeting Time: 5:30-7:00pm

Most A&D companies, at all levels of the supply chain, are distributing internationally, and many are manufacturing internationally.

Please join us in Scottsdale on Friday, May 28, 2021, 5:30-7:00pm, when Mike Patterson, Attorney at Law, Spencer Fane LLP, and Molly Ho, Sr. International Trade Specialist and Director – Global Technology Team, U.S. Commercial Service will discuss pitfalls and tips in good distributorships and distribution agreements that will save a lot of trouble, risk, and money.

This in-person meeting is free for all. Attendees are requested to maintain social distancing and wear masks. For more information and to register to attend the meeting, go to http://adfazmay21.eventbrite.com.

Click here for more information about and to join The Aerospace & Defense Forum.

The meeting is hosted by Kybun USA & Treffpunkt.

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“The 10P’s of Manufacturing Services Marketing”

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am Pacific Thursday, April 29, 2021

Modern marketing mix stems from the concept of the Four P’s of Marketing created by E. J. McCarthy (1960) in his book Basic Marketing – Managerial Approach. The concepts are the basic building blocks of marketing strategy utilized around the world. In the last 20 years, different authors have altered or built upon McCarthy’s work, but the four “P’s” (Price, Product, Place, and Promotion) have remained the mainstay of modern marketing theory.

In this presentation, the original four “P’s” remain the basic building blocks of marketing strategy. They are augmented by six new “P’s” to amplify the impact of today’s complex market approaches. The 2021 Marketing Mix includes the original Price, Product, Place, Promotion, and adds Personal, Presence, Persistence, Perceptions, Pathology, and Proportionality.

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am Pacific Time on Thursday, April 29, 2021 when Frank Nichols, Founder, CEO, and President at Silicon Forest Electronics will speak to all ten elements and give ideas and guidance around creating a successful marketing mix.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofapr21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The webinar is sponsored by Moss Adams

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“How does Apprenticeship Help With Workforce Problems?”

Virtual Joint Meeting of the Santa Clarita Valley and San Fernando Valley Chapters on April 15

A common issue across all manufacturing businesses is the ability to find and retain the needed skilled resources. Apprenticeship is a viable and proven solution to finding the needed resources and developing existing resources to support and improve the performance of your business.

Please join us online on Thursday, April 15, 8:00–9:00am pacific time, when Daniel Wierman (Apprenticeship Coordinator, Goodwill Southern California and The Strong Workforce Apprenticeship Group), Jeffrey Forrest (Vice-President of Economic Development, College of the Canyons) and Tracy DiFilippis (Sector Strategies Implementation Manager, Goodwill of Southern California) will explain the value of apprenticeship, how it works and the commitment to ensure its success.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfscvapr21.eventbrite.com/.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The Santa Clarita Valley Chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation. The San Fernando Valley Chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is sponsored by the Moss Adams, Chubb, and Bolton & Company.

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“Decrypting Aerospace Ventures and the SPAC Craze”

Los Angeles Chapter virtual meeting on April 21

Four years ago only SpaceX, Planet, and perhaps one other startup could claim to be part of a once exclusive club. Over the last 12 months however, we’ve seen more than 20 aerospace startups evolve from ‘early-stage’ to unicorns, through direct listings, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), or late-stage private funding rounds. When reflecting back on the original vision for Starburst and its inception 10 years ago, the writing on the wall was clear: legacy industry was under attack and the startups were coming. Anticipating the disruption, we launched the first and still the only truly global aerospace accelerator to help founders realize their dreams while finding the rest of us better ways to travel and explore.

If we look back on this past year in more detail, and more specifically the most recent 3 months, valuations of aviation, space, and defense companies have skyrocketed; literally! SPACs have fueled companies in virtually every industry, and aerospace & defense has certainly been a significant player. In 2020, during a once in a hundred-year pandemic, SPACs raised $83B on U.S. exchanges, accounting for approximately 46% of the total of all IPOs according to Bloomberg data. In 2021, 270 SPACs have already exceeded the 2020 total in raising more than $88B year-to-date. Since late 2019, space- and satellite-based companies and other companies in the A&D sector have seen considerable interest from SPACs. Similarly, SPACs have been looked at by many startup space- and satellite-based companies as attractive vehicles for access to the public equity markets after their original venture capital rounds of funding.

Please join us online on Wednesday, April 21, 8:00–9:00am Pacific Time when Van Espahbodi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Starburst, will give us an interesting update on how Starburst supports early stage and growth companies, and a discussion of whether the wave of considerable interest from SPACs will continue.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adflaapr21.eventbrite.com/.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The Los Angeles Chapter of The Aerospace & Defense Forum is hosted by Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell and sponsored by Chubb, Bolton & Company Insurance Brokers, Stanton Chase, Moss Adams, and Fifth Third Bank.

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“How to Reap the Benefits of a Company Operating System”

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am pacific Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Aerospace manufacturers follow the AS9100 Quality Management System to organize their operations and demonstrate their reliability to customers. Hundreds of thousands of smaller companies are now adopting a company Operating System for similar reasons – to organize the management of their company and demonstrate to their customers that they are operating on a solid foundation. This presentation will explain:
• What a company Operating System is and how it impacts performance
• Why SME (small to medium-sized enterprises) hit the ceiling at various points in their lifecycle
• Top frustrations SME owners report about managing their companies
• Which leadership skills are particularly important for SME (hint: they are different from skills needed for start-ups and multinationals)
• The tools that all Operating Systems include
• Costs of implementation (many SME implement an Operating System with zero third party costs)
• How a solid Operating System impacts company valuation

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am pacific time on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 when Peter Hammond, Aerospace Manufacturing Executive, will introduce company operating systems without focusing on any particular system – different systems cover similar ground just like different ERP systems perform similar core functions. He will provide insights for SME owners, larger companies looking for better, reliable performance from their SME suppliers, and service providers who benefit when their SME clients grow.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofmar21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.