LANSING – Col. James Braden, project manager of the Robotics Systems Joint Project Office at the U.S. Army Tacom Life Cycle Management Command, will soon become director of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Defense Contract Coordination Center, replacing former Marine General Bradley Lott.
The news reportedly came from State Sen. Valde Garcia, who made the announcement during his keynote speech at the National Defense Industrial Association Michigan Chapter fall business event.
Garcia chairs the Senate appropriations subcommittee for military and veteran affairs, and sponsored the legislation that created the center.
Lott, director of the center since mid-2007, resigned June 30 �??by mutual agreement�?� with MEDC in order to devote greater time to his St. Clair County-based consulting company, Truenorth Logistics L.L.C., Crain�??s Detroit Business reported.
Braden currently oversees the Robotics Systems Joint Project Office, a defense program that was transferred to Warren from Huntsville, Ala., as part of a series of military base consolidations mandated in 2006.
During Lott’s tenure, the center and the 11 statewide Procurement Technical Assistance Centers that it oversees saw government contracts grow from $315.5 million in fiscal 2007 to more than $760.5 million in fiscal 2008.
But contracting in fiscal 2009 is about flat compared with last year, based on partial-year state data released in late May.
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