SECNAV: Improve contractor relations

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said he is pushing sea-service officials to improve on those often “antagonistic” dealings with defense contractors. “We’ve changed the dialog with our suppliers,” SECNAV told Bloomberg News Aug. 7 at an initiatives-review session. In some cases, relations between the Navy and contractors were not the healthiest they could have been, he said. But those contractors need to know that funding dollars don’t grow on trees, but he was a “responsible buyer” who understands contractors’ need to make a profit. “I was in business. I get it,” said Spencer, former vice chairman of the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. The Navy has to sit down with contractors and show them what resources are available and plans to deploy those funds. Huntington Ingalls Industries, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin are among the Navy’s biggest prime contractors. (Source: Bloomberg News 08/08/18) Gulf Coast Note: HII’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula. Miss., builds multiple ships for the Navy and the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter.