Karmyn Norwood, general manager for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Inc. (center), speaks with Amy Brand, Associate Vice President for Finance at Meridian Community College and Kathy Brookshire, Vice President for Development for the MCC Foundation at the foundation's President's Roundtable Luncheon Tuesday.

    About 200 local business leaders gathered at the Tommy E. Dulaney Center Tuesday for the President’s Roundtable Luncheon, a yearly event sponsored by the Meridian Community College Foundation.

     The featured speaker was Karmyn Norwood, general manager for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Inc.,  who gave a presentation on the company’s history and its ongoing contribution to Meridian and surrounding areas.

    The company, a defense contractor in the aerospace, defense, security, and technologies industries,  employs about 112,000 people worldwide, she said.  

    The Meridian site opened 45 years ago and employs about 150 people. It sits on 69 acres and has a 113,895-square-foot facility, Norwood said.

    The plant, located on Northeast Industrial Road, builds more than half of the Air Force’s C-130J Super Hercules cargo planes before sending them to Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., plant for final assembly, she said.

    The C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The airplanes are used during wartime and for humanitarian efforts, she said.

    A major focus for the company is staying innovative in a competitive market, she said.

    “As times change, as government funding changes, as programs shut down, the site has evolved,” she said. “Right now we are building sub-assemblies for the C-130 only.”

    The company’s goals for the Meridian plant are to modernize it by making it an “auto-drill site of excellence,” Norwood said. “We do a lot of drilling at the site. So from an ergonomics perspective, folks get a lot of shoulder and hand injuries.”

    To that end, the company invested more than $20 million to install auto-drill machines, which can drill 25,000 holes a day, Norwood said.

    Other areas of focus are improving efficiency and affordability through lean manufacturing techniques and developing a competent workforce, Norwood added.

    “Over the years, we’ve partnered with Meridian Community College on workforce development initiatives,” she said. “We’re continuing to do that, to build a capable, flexible workforce.”

    Eight years ago, the company was going through a transition and needed workers quickly. Norwood said the partnership with MCC resulted in a “100 percent hire rate.”

    “That partnership was strong then, is strong today and will be strong in the future,” she said. “So we really appreciate the support we’ve received from Meridian Community College.”

    Norwood said another focus is economic development, or “keeping jobs in Meridian.”

    “The company is looking at expanding the the C-130’s potential by marketing it as a commercial cargo aircraft,” Norwood said. “We’re excited about that.”

    The company also uses 32 small business suppliers and is hoping to add more, she said.

    Long term, the company plans to invest in STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to “build a sustainable workforce,” she said.

    A big part of that is continuing to partner with MCC, she said.