By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — While it’s too soon to speculate whether the Maine Military Authority will be receiving a 2,000 -3,000 Humvee contract through the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), the famed refurbishment facility did receive a visit from IDF officials on Monday, including their IDF’s Chief of Tactical Wheeled Vehicles. MMA was one of only three companies IDF representatives will be visiting for this contract.
“There are three [companies] they’re going to be visiting, and we’re one of them — which is good,” said MMA’s Executive Director Tim Corbett on Monday afternoon, after spending the morning highlighting MMA’s capabilities to the IDF representatives.
“They were very much impressed by the facility,” he added. “Whether or not that means we get the contract … it’s going to come down to price.”
Corbett said that MMA officials and IDF representatives had a good, honest discussion during the production line tour.
“I feel we understand what they’re looking for and we’re more than able to provide it,” Corbett said, adding that he feels MMA has a good chance of winning the contract.
Attributes touted by MMA are “quality, timeliness and cost effectiveness” — locally, it’s more common to hear “better, faster, cheaper.” Any way you describe them, those characteristics are key when it comes to winning a bid.
Corbett explained that the contract would mean approximately 100 refurbished Humvees a month (roughly 2,000 -3,000 Humvees over three years) once it gets going, and MMA officials were resolute in conveying the message that they’re ready and more than able to handle the workload.
This past winter, MMA invested $10 million in upgrades to their paint and body shop facilities — due to the vast improvements the upgrade affords, they can refurbish Humvees and other vehicles even better, even faster and even cheaper.
For example, while discussing another refurbishment program at MMA last month with the Aroostook Republican, Corbett mentioned that two employees could paint four Humvees per day before the upgrades; now they can paint eight.
MMA has more than cutting-edge technology, their famed workforce and a flawless record to help them win the bid, they’ve also partnered up with Textron Land and Marine Systems out of Slidell, Louisiana — a larger company that has successfully teamed up with MMA in the past.
“Between the two of us, we have all the bases easily covered,” Corbett said.
His own opinion aside, Corbett stressed that it’s too early to speculate whether or not MMA will win the bid. The request for proposal (RFP) is estimated to come out in a few months, “and we’ll keep everyone posted,” he added.
Senator Susan Collins, a member of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, extended an invitation to Ambassador Michael Oren, Israel’s envoy to the United States, after she learned that Israel is looking to procure additional Humvees.
“The talented workforce at Maine Military Authority has a long history of producing high-quality vehicles for use by the Army and the Army National Guard. I am delighted that I was able to bring MMA to the Ambassador’s attention and to serve as an advocate for the great work performed at MMA,” Collins said in a press release on Friday. “I am certain that the opportunity to compete for a Humvee contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense will help maintain our nation’s most important relationship in the Middle East. And, should MMA win the contract, it would be an important economic victory for Maine, and especially Aroostook County.”
Surprisingly, the honored Israeli guests hadn’t traveled the farthest to tour the Limestone facility; historically, MMA has received visitors from as far as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco.
