It is a well-known fact that the United States spends more on defense than the rest of the world’s top militaries combined, with an annual budget in excess of $683 billion. The US government spends more on the military than all 50 states combined spend on health and education. This military industrial complex funnels huge amounts of money in the form of government contracts to military contractors. Some companies in particular, L-3 Communications included, make billions of dollars from the US government. In 2011, it’s revenue from contracts totaled $15.17 billion. They are one of the largest contractors in command, control, communications, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and aircraft modernization. Such contracts that have been awarded include the following:
Learn MoreBell Helicopter, an American rotorcraft manufacturer, announced a brand new helicopter assembly plant recently, one which would be ultimately responsible for assembling the company’s new Short Light Single (SLS) helicopter line. The factory, located in Lafayette, would be the first modern-era aircraft assembly factory to be located in Louisiana.
Learn MoreEaton Corporation, an international power management company, just recently completed a merger that would see its corporate headquarters moved to Ireland from its current location in Northeast Ohio, a move which would potentially save millions of dollars in US corporate taxes. Eaton joins a list of companies that have moved their headquarters overseas in attempts to shield their profits from US corporate taxation. Among them is Cooper Industries, which merged with Eaton in 2012. Cooper Industries, which was originally a Texas-based company, lists its corporate headquarters as in Ireland as well.
Learn MoreLycoming is a US based company that manufactures civilian aircraft engines. The company was founded in 1845, originally as a manufacturer of sewing machines. In the early 1880’s, the company was bought out by the Scofield Brothers and the factory moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Citizens of the town invested about USD$100,000.00 into the factory which employed 250 people.
Learn MoreIn 1919, Clessie Cummins, an Indiana mechanic at the time, founded the Cummins Engine Company with a focus on further developing the new engine technology that was pioneered about 20 years earlier by Rudolf Diesel. It was not until 1933 that the company unveiled its first successful engine, the Model H, which was used in railroad switchers. The company experienced large success once World War II came around as they became a leader in producing heavy duty truck engines. With their new (at the time) N series engines, they captured more than half of the market share of engines between 1952 and 1959.
Learn MoreBombardier Aerospace, a pision of Bombardier Inc., was recently begun advanced discussions with some air carriers to become the first operator of its brand new CSeries jet line. The company suffered a recent setback when Sweden’s Braathens Aviations AB pulled out of its commitment to become the first launch operator. Consequently, Bombardier opted to push back deliveries of the jet until the first half of 2015, which is highly unusual.
Learn MoreAbracon Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. The company recently opened an order fulfillment center in Austin, Texas in 2013 and retains design and engineering facilities in California and Illinois. Additionally, Abracon has a global network of sales offices in the United States, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Scotland, and Germany.
Learn MoreAeroflex Inc., founded in 1937 in Plainview, New York, specializes in microelectronics and test solutions particularly for the avionics, space, and defense industries. With 650 engineers, 11 primary manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and one in England, Aeroflex manufactures advanced multi-chip modules (MCMs) for airborne, space, shipboard, ground-based, and commercial avionics and telecommunications systems. Most plants are ISO-9001 certified and their Colorado and New York plants are also certified to AS9100.
Learn MoreAgere Global LLC began as a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies in 2000, focusing on integrated circuit components. In 2002, Agere spun off as an independent company (headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania) and was acquired by LSI Logic Corporation in 2006. The deal merged the two semiconductor companies in an all-stock transaction worth $4 billion.
Learn MoreFounded in 1902, 3M Company is an international conglomerate with highly persified products and services. The company began as a mineral mine for grinding wheel abrasives but expanded rapidly after a series of innovations. Some of 3M’s early milestones include: the world’s first waterproof sandpaper in the 1920s, the invention of masking tape in 1925, Scotchlite™ Reflective Sheeting for highways in the 1940s, Scotch-Brite™ cleaning sponges in the 1950s, Neil Armstrong’s Fluorel™ synthetic rubber boots used to walk on the moon in 1969, and the invention of Post-it® Notes in 1980, to name just a few.
Learn MoreIn 1999, Agilent Technologies was incorporated as an independent spin off from the Hewlett-Packard Company’s test and measurement pisions. Agilent’s initial public offering, the largest ever at the time, raised $2.1 billion. The company specialized in test and measurement components, chemical analysis and medical businesses, and computing and imaging.
Learn MoreAerovox Inc. was founded in 1922 as Radiola Wireless Corporation manufacturing radios. Its current incarnation as Aerovox Inc. dates back to 1938 during which time it began selling capacitors - the product for which it is currently known. Currently headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the company specializes in producing electrostatic (film and paper) and aluminum electrolytic capacitors primarily for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the industrial, medical, and specialty industries.
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