D. Gillette Industrial Services in Forks Township is ramping up its workforce to meet increasing demand to manufacture products that are improving safety and efficiency for the nation’s armed forces. 
That growth drew a visit from the U.S. Small Business Administration recently, with officials promoting the agency’s Made In America Manufacturing Initiative and connecting with small businesses that have used its programs to grow their capabilities.
In 2016, D. Gillette Industrial Services became one of the few women-owned manufacturing companies certified in the 8(a) program offered by the Small Business Administration to prepare small businesses to compete for federal government contracts.
“The difference between the success of this company, and not being successful, was the 8(a) program and the SBA. It put legs under us,” President & CEO Dee Spencer, a certified mechanical engineer, told the SBA officials.
D. Gillette Industrial Services specializes in the design, fabrication, repair, and assembly of parts and equipment for the lifecycle sustainment of military customers’ assets, the federal government, and worldwide commercial and foreign military clients.
The SBA leadership team that visited on May 28 included Lisa Shimkat, Associate Administrator for the Office of Field Operations; Jim Spencer, Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator; Elmo Rinaldi, Mid-Atlantic Regional Advocate; and Steve Dixel, SBA Eastern Pennsylvania District Director.
“It’s vitally important to meet with entrepreneurs and small business owners like Dee and her team at DGI, to hear from successful small businesses about the support they need to succeed,” Shimkat said.
D. Gillette Industrial Services won its first government contract, for $6 million, in 2017. Today, they have $57 million in contracts underway for the Department of Defense.
That work is driving job growth. The company has increased its team to 18, with more expected to be hired by the end of June.
“We're 30% higher in employment now. We expect it to be 60-70% higher, so we're employing people and we're teaching skills,” Spencer said.
Her son, Paul Gillette, Vice President of Operations, highlighted for the SBA some of the company’s work for the Navy and Air Force, explaining how D. Gillette Industrial Services is innovating and designing products to meet critical needs.
“Our vision and our mission is really about doing top quality work, expanding the workforce, keeping Pennsylvania's supply chain whole and strong,” said Dee Spencer, who received the Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year Award from the SBA in 2024.
D. Gillette Industrial Services was founded in Bangor in 2002 in a 6,000 square-foot building.
With help from a Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan, the company moved to the current 35,000 square-foot location in Forks Township. The loan came through Lehigh Valley Economic Investment Corporation.
Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) provides administrative services for LVEIC, which is a Pennsylvania certified economic development organization. Northampton County first brought the expansion project to the attention of LVEDC.
D. Gillette Industrial Services is planning to open a business incubator in a newly renovated building adjacent to its manufacturing operation, to support the growth of other Lehigh Valley small businesses.