Aging Defense Supply Chain Spurs New Conversations on Capital and Ownership

Aging Defense Supply Chain Spurs New Conversations on Capital and Ownership, hosted by God Bless Retirement

FORT WORTH, TX, UNITED STATES, October 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Across the United States, a quiet shift is reshaping the defense industrial base. Many small and mid-sized companies that supply technology, manufacturing, and logistics to the Pentagon are privately held, founder-led, and aging. As these owners approach retirement, the question is no longer whether their companies will change hands — it is whether the transitions will strengthen or weaken America’s national security and local economies.

God Bless Retirement (GBR), a Fort Worth–based, family-led and faith-anchored business brokerage, argues this is not a niche concern but a strategic one. GBR helps clients buy and sell businesses in the lower market and micro-cap space with a process built to keep Main Street ownership viable, protect retirement wealth, and maintain critical supply chains in American hands.

With the Pentagon increasingly reliant on small, privately held innovators, ownership turnover is becoming a national security issue. A Fort Worth event hosted by God Bless Retirement on October 22 will feature capital markets leaders and policy experts exploring how to finance and structure successful sales of defense-critical small businesses.

A Demographic and Strategic Inflection Point

The U.S. Department of Defense increasingly depends on small businesses for innovation: in 2024, over 70% of companies participating in DoD SBIR/STTR programs were small enterprises (U.S. DoD SBIR/STTR Annual Report, 2024). Yet these firms are often capital constrained and founder-run.

Ownership demographics add urgency. Baby Boomers control nearly 2.9 million U.S. businesses employing about 32 million people and generating $6.5 trillion annually (Project Equity, 2025). Defense suppliers are not exempt — many are veteran-founded and face succession without clear exit strategies. Finance-Commerce (2025) reports that only one in five small firms are “sale-ready.”

Strategic risk follows. The Government Accountability Office found in 2024 that poorly managed ownership transitions among defense contractors contribute to cost overruns, program delays, and capability loss (GAO, 2024). Meanwhile, foreign buyers have targeted advanced manufacturing and dual-use technology firms, prompting security concerns (Congressional Research Service, 2024).

Financing Bottlenecks at the Local Level

Successful transitions require capital — but the credit market is selective. Community banks hold just 15% of U.S. banking assets yet provide over one-third of small-business loans (FDIC, 2024). Their relationship-driven underwriting is vital for sub-$50 million deals, but applications often fail when sellers and buyers cannot present bank-ready files.

The FDIC’s 2024 Small Business Lending Survey shows that “insufficient financial statements” and “unclear working capital needs” are top reasons lenders decline acquisition loans. For defense firms, complexity intensifies: cleared staff, export controls, and government contracting obligations create diligence hurdles first-time buyers rarely navigate well.

God Bless Retirement’s Model

God Bless Retirement acts as an active bridge between sellers, buyers, and the community banks that finance Main Street. The firm goes far beyond listings:

Lender-Ready Packaging: GBR prepares SBA and community-bank deals with normalized earnings, mapped collateral, seller-note structures, and diligence sequenced for credit committees.

Strategic Sourcing: Through a proprietary data consortium, GBR identifies “bankable” businesses — including those in defense and advanced manufacturing — and connects them to qualified buyers.

Consultative Discipline: Associate brokers are trained to walk away from misaligned or poorly structured deals rather than push transactions likely to fail.

Transition Stewardship: GBR advises on post-sale continuity to maintain vendor networks, cleared personnel, and operational stability for lenders and new owners.

“We prepare deals that deserve to close,” said Dr. Brandon Chicotsky, Managing Principal of God Bless Retirement. “For founders in critical sectors like defense, a disciplined transition protects their life’s work, safeguards local jobs, and keeps essential capabilities in American hands.”

Monthly Gatherings as Market Infrastructure

GBR doesn’t simply transact — it builds market infrastructure by convening professionals through monthly gatherings at the historic Fort Worth Club. These events offer informational and positional advantage for attendees — whether they are de-risking investments, financing transactions, or advising clients.

The next session, “Defense & Venture: Policy, Capital, and Security Innovation,” will take place October 22, 2025, from 2:00–3:30 p.m. CST in the 12th-floor Trinity Room of the Fort Worth Club. The gathering is sponsored by the Special Forces Foundation, which is a non-profit organization supporting U.S. Army Special Forces Green Berets and their families by providing programs and resources for their mental and physical well-being, aligned with the Preservation of The Force and Family (POTFF) program.

The organization offers immediate and ongoing assistance for psychological and relationship challenges, including crisis support, transition assistance, and support for Gold Star Families.

The panel will feature:

Hal Lambert, Founder of Point Bridge Capital, known for managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios and advising on politically responsive investing.

Lex Keen, Founder and CEO of SecureFoundry Inc., a Marine veteran leading next-generation semiconductor manufacturing to restore U.S. microelectronics leadership.

Larry Covert, Managing Partner of Oxcart.vc, with a track record in commercializing defense and advanced technologies from DARPA and other national labs.

I. Bobby Majumder, corporate director and seasoned M&A and securities attorney advising on domestic and cross-border deals in defense and energy.

This event is sponsored by the Special Forces Foundation, underscoring its mission to connect the capital community with America’s national security ecosystem. Attendance is free thanks to GBR’s strategic partners.

“Our gatherings are designed to arm capital providers and deal professionals with insight,” Chicotsky said. “When Main Street meets sectors as complex as defense, preparation and the right relationships make the difference between a failed sale and a successful, dignified transition.”

By curating these forums, GBR both serves its professional community and strengthens its own deal execution capacity — ensuring that when a client engages the firm, the right capital relationships, intelligence, and sector expertise are already in place.

Faith-Led, Family-Run, Nationally Minded

GBR describes its brokerage as an expression of patriotism and faith-led stewardship. The mission goes beyond closing deals: it seeks to dignify the transfer of Main Street and lower-market businesses, including those supporting national defense.

That perspective aligns with the relationship-based culture of community banking. Just as local lenders sustain families and regional economies, GBR views sellers, buyers, and bankers as stakeholders in the nation’s fabric. Each successful sale preserves jobs, tax bases, and strategically important know-how; each failed sale weakens them.

Looking Ahead

As national security innovation spreads beyond coastal hubs, more small and mid-sized defense firms will face ownership change. The combination of aging founders, complex financing, and sensitive technologies creates both risk and opportunity.

God Bless Retirement’s faith-led, family-run, lender-ready model shows how local brokerage can have national impact. By preparing bankable, values-driven deals and curating strategic conversations like the October 22 Defense & Venture session, GBR ensures Main Street is ready for the defense innovation economy.

Founders gain retirement security. Buyers access financeable, strategically vital companies. Lenders strengthen portfolios and local impact. And the nation keeps critical capabilities — and the communities that sustain them — in trusted American hands.

Register to Attend

Defense & Venture: Policy, Capital, and Security Innovation
Date: October 22, 2025 • 2:00–3:30 p.m. CST
Location: The Fort Worth Club, 12th Floor Trinity Room, Fort Worth, Texas
Hosted by: God Bless Retirement
Sponsored by: Special Forces Foundation

Register to attend at https://GodBlessRetirement.com/defense

References

Congressional Research Service. (2024). Foreign Investment and U.S. Defense Industrial Base.

Edelman. (2024). Trust Barometer.

FDIC. (2024). Small Business Lending Survey.

Finance-Commerce. (2025, July 22). Economic shifts create challenges for aging entrepreneurs.

Gallup. (2024). American Pride Survey.

GAO. (2024). Defense Acquisition Annual Assessment.

Harvard Business Review. (2020). The New M&A Playbook, Revisited.

IBBA. (2023). Market Pulse Report.

KPMG. (2023). Global M&A Predictor.

Pew Research Center. (2024). Public trust in institutions.

Project Equity. (2025, March 14). 20 Key Business Owner Statistics on Exits & Succession.

U.S. Department of Defense. (2024). SBIR/STTR Annual Report.

Brandon Chicotsky, Ph.D.
God Bless Retirement
+1 817-800-1798
email us here
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