Spotlight on: Mitchell P. Zakula
09/02/2021
Question and Answer spotlight on Mitchell P. Zakula, Director of Business Development, North American Operations, WesCom Defence
Find out how Mitch has responded to the challenge of growing the WesCom Defence business during the COVID-19 pandemic, how he expects the business to grow as we come out of the crisis and what his goals are over the next few years.
Question: What does your job at WesCom Defence entail?
Answer: My responsibilities are to grow the North American business for WesCom Defense. My primary focus is on Department of Defense (DoD) applications, whether directly with the branches of the military or acting as a subcontractor. I seek opportunities through my existing network and talking with Points Of Contact (POCs) cultivated by Bremerhaven over the years. Although limited over the past nine months, conferences and trade shows are very useful in making new contacts and learning of adjacent applications for our existing product lines. As global societies open back up, I expect the activity with conferences and trade shows to spike, thus allowing many new business opportunities.
Question: When did you join the company?
Answer: I joined WesCom on the 1st of August 2019.
Question: For your region, where does WesCom Defence sit within the sector?
Answer: From a North American perspective, our H-PEMBS (minefield breaching) position with the US Navy Seals is strong, and despite it being a niche market, we have worked with the Seals for more than 25 years. The Seals have selected our product over the USA-made competing product, APOBS.
We are working on leveraging this business with other Special Ops units, too. This is especially challenging at the current time since it is not possible to meet with these groups on-base or at trade show/conferences.
Our Training & Simulation product line leads the market with our M30 and M31 cartridges and the corresponding launchers, and the M176 MANPADS WESS launcher and cartridges. There is a competing technology for the M30/M31 that is USA-manufactured.
Question: In your market, which product or sector is the most successful or prominent for the brand?
Answer: It is too early to tell. The biggest success has come from the Minefield Breaching segment, but based on future military deployments and defense budgets, I believe growth there will be gradual.
Question: Do you foresee any new developments in the market?
Answer: For WesCom Defence, I think there is potential developments in the minefield breaching sector and, without giving too much away, if we continue to work on some acquisitions with high explosives, there will be some product line developments that will help us compete on a larger scale.
Question: How do you ensure you’re keeping in touch with your team during the global pandemic?
Answer: I stay in touch with the Bremerhaven and UK team as regularly as possible, and we have shared internal updates to ensure everyone knows the status of current and future projects.
Question: Has the pandemic affected the way you do business?
Answer: It absolutely has affected the way we do business, especially considering I am trying to get WesCom Defence noticed in markets where few know of us. The non-existent conferences and trade shows have limited my ability to cultivate new prospects, but we persevere. We hope that 2021 will see the return of our shows and conferences, and we can meet with customers and potential customers again soon.
Question: Have you got any specific goals for WesCom Defence in the next 12-24 months?
Answer: My goals for WesCom Defence for the next 12-24 months are to secure strategic North American acquisitions that will enable us to compete on a wider scale for new projects and contracts, and see the development of new products and upgrades to some of our current lines. We also plan to have a major presence at Levels of Fidelity (LOF) to be held in the USA in April 2021, which will include several WesCom attendees, having a booth and conducting a live demo.
Question: Outside of work, how do you spend your leisure time?
Answer: I enjoy woodworking and playing golf
