By Tracy Solomon, TEVET CEO and Founder
This article originally appeared in the Greeneville Sun on July 17, 2025.
In Greeneville and across the country, small businesses like mine are doing far more than meeting payroll and moving products. We’re quietly sustaining the backbone of our nation’s defense industrial base.
At TEVET, for two decades, we’ve supplied the federal government and its prime contractors with the technology, testing equipment, and procurement solutions they rely on to keep our country secure. One of the most visible examples of that work is the F-35 Lightning II program, where we help ensure the aircraft’s electronics perform to standard and its systems stay mission-ready.
But the truth is, TEVET’s value, and the value of small business manufacturing and logistics partners like us, extend far beyond any single program.
Whether it’s electronic warfare platforms, critical sustainment efforts, or acquisition of precision test systems, our role is to make complexity invisible to the warfighter. That means being able to move fast, manage risk, meet compliance standards, and integrate with customer systems without missing a beat. It also means investing in the next generation of American engineering and manufacturing talent, here in Tennessee, and across the U.S.
Programs like the F-35 don’t just serve our strategic goals overseas — they drive real economic impact at home. In Tennessee alone, F-35 supply chain activity supports hundreds of jobs and contributes over $48 million to the local economy every year. That impact is multiplied when those dollars flow through high-integrity small businesses rooted in the communities they serve.
We’re proud to be a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and a HUBZone employer, but these aren’t just credentials — they’re commitments. Commitments to hiring locally, to serve with transparency, and to stepping up when called upon, whether that’s helping a prime accelerate production or delivering hard-to-source equipment in critical need.
National defense is not a single program or procurement line item; it’s a network of trust, capability, and execution. The federal government depends on that network to be ready, resilient, and reliable. And small businesses like TEVET, working shoulder to shoulder with industry giants, play a critical role in delivering on that promise.
As Congress weighs funding priorities, it should recognize that investing in defense is also investing in American small businesses. Fully funding programs like the F-35 strengthens our armed forces, reinforces our alliances, and ensures that the American industrial base remains capable, competitive, and committed.
Because when it’s our nation’s security on the line, we all have a part to play.
About TEVET
Selecting and acquiring the right technology to meet your specific challenges requires a partner that can add value at every step. TEVET brings more than 20 years of experience to the acquisition and integration of technical products, systems, and instrumentation – with support from identification to sustainment. Our quality, technology, and personnel competencies make it possible for us to provide best-in-class acquisition and integration capabilities, so our customers, suppliers, and partners succeed. We strive to execute at the highest levels, providing service to Country, Customer, and Community. For more information on TEVET, please visit www.tevet.com.
