As part of Media Mouse's ongoing work documenting military contracts awarded to local companies in West Michigan doing work for the military, we have added three contracts to our database:
- On February 27, 2007, Borisch Manufacturing was awarded a $267,420 contract by the Army for electrical components under the description of "Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing."
- On March 1, 2007, Borisch Manufacturing was awarded a $43,999 contract for small arms manufacturing by Tactical Command Rock Island.
- On March 13, 2007, Smiths Industries Aerospace was awarded a $21,468 contract by the Air Force for a flight data recorder.
Both Borisch Manufacturing and Smiths Industries Aerospace are frequent recipients of military contracts. Smiths Industries Aerospace is the second largest recipient of military contracts in West Michigan, having received more than $278 million for military work since the "war on terror" began. The company is part of the Smiths Group, an international company that ranked 26th overall among the world's top 100 military contractors in 2006. Earlier this year it was announced that another major military contractor, General Electric, is attempting to purchase Smiths. Similarly, Borisch Manufacturing is a frequent recipient of military contracts. While Borisch ranks fifth with in West Michigan and has received more than $16.7 million from the military, it has a unique position in that the company is particularly proud of their work for the military. Officials with Borisch have been occasionally quoted in the media expressing support for both the war and praising their manufacturing of weapons components.
