Date: Jan 20, 2015 Author: Phillip Molnar Source: Monterey Herald (
click here to go to the source)
Monterey >> A Monterey company has received a massive contract from NASA that could be worth up to $40 million.
Monterey Technologies, Inc., located near Ryan Ranch, beat out Lockheed Martin and other major groups for the deal, which was announced this week. The company's work will involve research and development of rotorcraft technology to help build airplanes with vertical lift capabilities similar to helicopters, CEO Robert Chamberlain said Tuesday by phone from Utah.
"Conceptually, can you build a 100-person craft that could take off from the top of a building in Washington (D.C.) and fly to the top of a building in downtown Philadelphia?" Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain said its work, for instance, may include research and development of a roughly 100-person tilt rotorcraft in order to ease aircraft congestion. The contract could end up being one of the company's largest in its 31 years, despite winning nearly $25 million in government contracts since 2001, according to USAspending.gov.
Chamberlain said it is hard to say if this contract will be its biggest ever because it has a long-running contract with the Australian government on a military aircraft project that has netted $15 million so far.
Monterey Technology has 20 full-time employees but it is optimistic it will hire at least three more in the coming year. It will also use subcontractors for the NASA work.
The privately held company was assisted in winning the contract by the Monterey Bay Procurement Technical Assistance Center in Seaside, a free service designed to help small businesses get government contracts.
"It's very gratifying because this is the community support. We'd like to get more government contracts — federal, state and local — for our local clients," said Jeff Cuskey, a procurement specialist at the center.
Chamberlain retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2004, making Monterey Technologies a veteran-owned business. One of the company's founders was Michael McCauley, a research operations professor at the Naval Postgraduate School.
NASA has the option to pay out the full $40 million over five years but it is not set in stone. The type of contract is called "indefinite delivery, infinite quantity." Chamberlain said much of NASA's payout will depend on how well his company does its job and NASA's budget.
"While NASA has the capability to run $40 million through this contract over five years the reality may be something different," he said. "It could well be they run $10 million through the contract. I hope it is $40 (million) but it could be a lot less."
