Highlights from Richard Martin's Jones County Speech

Manassas, VA (October 10, 2006)—Addressing a large assembly of residents, business leaders, and county and state officials at the Jones County Civic Center last week, DHi’s President and CEO, Richard J. Martin outlined the company’s ambitious future plans for its new Operations and Technology Development Center in Trenton, North Carolina.

Martin was introduced to the audience by North Carolina State Representative William Wainwright.

“We’ve decided to name our new Trenton facility the DHi Operations and Technology Development Center,” said Martin. “Or, since we’re from Washington and are used to alphabet soup, OTDC.”

“DHi’s OTDC will become the hub of the company’s research and development efforts and industrial activities in North Carolina,” said Martin, proceeding to highlight the company’s 5 major objectives for the facility. He stated that the company will:

Manage new work for DoD and military customers that will be generated throughout eastern North Carolina. As with the company’s Dover, New Hampshire and Annapolis, Maryland locations, the Jones County business will be homegrown where retiring military personnel and there families have already established their homes.
Bring the assembly of metal fiber brush kits to the OTDC. This new technology, which will greatly reduce costly maintenance and downtime during motor brush replacement activities in U.S. Navy submarines and other vessels, shows great promise in applications in other branches of the armed forces as well.
Train some of its new Jones County employees as installers to help support DHi’s photoluminescent (PL) safety system installations in government and commercial buildings. DHi’s PL systems are currently being installed throughout the Pentagon as part of its post-9/11 reconstruction efforts. In a short time, the company has also become a major installer of these systems in large commercial buildings in New York City, helping its customers comply with the city’s new Local Law 26/04 mandating such installations.
Conduct important R&D in the innovative use of high-performance PL materials in military and commercial gun sights. The company’s products have the potential to replace the current substance—radioactive tritium—in such gun sights, with equal or better nighttime visibility but without the hazards associated with even mildly radioactive substances. If widely adopted, this technology could add high-tech manufacturing jobs at this facility.
Develop and produce new products using its leading-edge, high-performance PL paint system. In conjunction with a major American paint manufacturer, DHi has developed a new PL paint system that can be used successfully, among other applications, to provide reflective, night-time safety to prop-driven military aircraft. DHi plans to assemble propeller-marking paint kits, maintain inventory, and fulfill orders for the military at its Trenton facility.

Martin also noted that, during the initial ramp-up and start of operations at the OTDC, “DHi management fully intends to hire and train up to 25 area residents” to staff this facility. “These will be good, well-paying jobs with benefits that will help our new employees build a better tomorrow for themselves and their families,” he said. “It is also the intention of the company to develop, over time, a completely local management team to help run the OTDC in the years to come."