108. Massive Growth and CMMC Certification with Jessica from Bent River Machine

About this episode

Jessica Eckman discusses the rapid growth of Bent River Machine and the challenges of achieving CMMC certification in the defense industry.

Taking over a family machine shop is one challenge. Scaling it rapidly while navigating defense-industry cybersecurity requirements is another entirely. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul sits down with Jessica Eckman of Bent River Machine, an Arizona-based factory tooling and automation company that has been building complex equipment since 1978. After Jessica and her husband took over the business in 2021, Bent River experienced explosive growth, landing on the Inc. 5000 list after expanding more than 125% in a single year. Jessica shares how a combination of long-standing customer relationships, major automation projects, and a surge in demand from companies like Amazon and Sonix pushed the company from a $5 million operation to more than $12 million in revenue almost overnight. With limited time to expand facilities, the team had to rethink planning, outsourcing, subcontractor relationships, and internal logistics to scale quickly without losing control. Midway through the conversation, we pivot to one of the most pressing topics in defense manufacturing today: CMMC 2.0 certification. Jessica walks through Bent River's year-long journey to achieve Level 2…

People in this episode

Host: Paul Van Metre

Guest: Jessica Eckman

Topics covered

• business growth
• cybersecurity
• defense manufacturing
• CMMC certification
• automation
• family business

Keywords

• machine shop
• CMMC certification
• business growth
• cybersecurity
• automation
• defense industry
• family business
• Inc. 5000
• Arizona

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bent River Machine, Amazon, Sonix, Inc. 5000, CMMC 2.0

Places: Arizona

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