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St. Paul - 17 April, 2019 -- Defense Alliance held its annual Defense Industry Roundtable event today, with 110 Members of the Alliance in attendance, representing 98 businesses and organizations.  The morning event was held at CHS Field's Securian Club in downtown St. Paul.

The Defense Alliance convenes the Defense Industry Roundtable at least once a year in the Twin Cities.  The objective is to connect membership with the latest issues that are relevant to their success in the defense industry, such as:  the DoD budget, manufacturing trends, Federal procurement issues, best practices for success in government contracting, etc.  Everyone is welcome, including from neighboring states, from industry, government and academia.

This year's event included a keynote message from Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota's 4th District.  Congresswoman McCollum, who is Vice Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, provided "A View from D.C." on defense issues.  Her message was followed by an update from Kevin McKinnon, Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development on the proposed state-funed "Minnesota Innovation Collaborative."

The body of the meeting was a roundtable discussion among all attendees about challenges and opportunities for the defense industry in region, and next steps to enhance the ecosystem for technology commercialization.

The event included a "Warrior" sponsorship from Minneapolis-based Cummins Power Generation; and "Defender' sponsorships from Teamvantage, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Benchmark Electronics, Kinetic Protection, IRD Glass, Polaris Government & Defense, Minnesota High Tech Association, Huberty Performance Learning and Split Rock Coffee.  Exhibotors also included Sanos Nutrition, TerraCOH and the USS Minneapolis Saint Paul Commissioning Committee, part of the Navy League of the U.S., Twin Cities Chapter.