Local leaders in aerospace and defense will now have a place to connect and share information about the industry with the launch of the Santa Clarita Valley chapter of the Aerospace & Defense Forum.
“We’re super excited about this and we’re glad to bring an additional level of support to one of our largest industries in the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Holly Schroeder, president and CEO of the SCV Economic Development Corp., which is sponsoring the launch.
The Aerospace & Defence Forum, with seven other chapters located across Southern California, Arizona and Texas, is a leadership community that “provides opportunities for sharing of information, current events, and analysis, mutual support and encouragement, partnering, innovation, and performance breakthroughs,” according to its website.
The chapter’s first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 19 from 7-9 a.m. at the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center at College of the Canyons, located at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Rd. The topic in focus is “Human Exploration: From the Moon to Mars,” with Humphrey Price, chief engineer of NASA’s robotic Mars Exploration Program.
The steering committee includes 15 business leaders such as Schroeder, Tom Mundy, president at Superior Thread Rolling; Carol Marinello, president of TA Aerospace; and Rob Gleason, executive director at ITT Inc.
The chapter is scheduled to meet on the third Thursday of every month, with upcoming topics to include cybersecurity, supply chain and financing, according to Schroeder.
“There are other forums for engineers to get together and for finance and human relations people but there’s not a place for CEOs and general managers to get together and discuss what it means to run an operation in the aerospace and defense industry,” she added.
For more information visit,scvedc.org/adf.
