North Carolina factories earn their stripes: tar heel manufacturers crank out an army of products from parachutes to plane parts.

• Position: MANUFACTURING - Company overview

After nearly 30 years in the Army, Joe Adamczyk had the plans and work ethic to launch a new business. What he lacked, though, was the expected source of his new company's income: a military contract. For months, beginning in 2007, Adamczyk had called contacts, searched for opportunities and submitted bids soliciting work for his company, SDV Command Source LLC of Spring Lake, outside Fayetteville. He had started the company intending to manufacture eyeglasses for the Department of Veterans Affairs, using a workforce composed mostly of disabled veterans and the blind, but opportunities were scarce. He was frustrated. So the retired colonel switched tactics. "Nobody likes a one-trick dog," he says. "It was clear we'd have to adjust our focus or fold the tent."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In partnership with Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind, which had experience making uniforms and equipment, he submitted a bid to make T-shirts for the Coast Guard. SDV Command Source won that bid in 2009 and has since built on that success. Today, Adamczyk's company has 28 employees and can expand to about 70 with temporary workers. The company is working on about five contracts across three service lines--making and fitting eyewear, making uniforms, and storing private vehicles for soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan--and has several other proposals out.

After that frustrating start, Adamczyk says he now feels SDV Command Source is living up to its mission to employ veterans and the blind while fulfilling important orders for the government. "When you see some of the folks we've been able to employ just being able to work and feel good about themselves and feel like they're contributing as responsible citizens, that's pretty rewarding," he says.

While some companies find the prospect of working with government regulations daunting, Adamczyk's experience shows that perseverance, flexibility and forging alliances can lead to new opportunities. Many North Carolina companies--from upstarts such as SDV Command Source to more-established firms--supply materials or services to the armed forces.

In 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the Department of Defense spent about $4 billion on contracts with Tar Heel companies, up 10% from the previous year, according to the N.C. Military Business Center, a division of the N.C. Community College System that helps businesses win federal contracts. About 5,000 companies in the state won at...