Peachtree – Aegis Power Systems recently simultaneously celebrated its 30 years in business with its first Family Day and annual Manufacturing Day on Oct. 2 to offer employees and their families the opportunity to enjoy food, fun and fellowship at the facility.
According to CEO Arlissa Vaughn, Family Day was coordinated as “a chance to let our employees share with their families where they spend the largest part of the day.” The fact that it coincided with the celebration of Manufacturing Day, held annually on the first Friday in October, was a bonus. The facility is closed on Fridays, and the Thursday celebration gave the company a chance to enjoy some fun before the weekend.
The nationally celebrated Manufacturing Day was born of a grassroots effort by the Manufacturing Institute that “demonstrates the reality and future of modern manufacturing careers.” Vaughn said Aegis fits squarely within the highlight and promotion of manufacturing in both western North Carolina and Cherokee County.
Aegis provided games for employee’s children to play including soft axes, pogo sticks and cornhole and after the tours concluded offered a mean of grilled burgers, chicken and hot dogs, with sides of potato salad and macaroni and cheese along with drinks and chips. Door prizes and dessert were also offered in the break room before the evening ended.
“We’re privileged to be able to provide an opportunity for our community and improve the lives of our employees to allow them to stay in Murphy,” Vaughn said. “We foster a real sense of family and community here with our 40 employees.”
It’s a family affair
Aegis was started by Vaughn’s father, Bill Dockery, who was born and raised in Cherokee County. She continues the tradition begun in 1995, having taken over as CEO in 2017.
Vaughn said her father’s career was a vast and varied one.
“My father served during the Vietnam War. He was in the Air Force and stationed in the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea. He worked as a technician and also a cryptologist,” she said. “After his service and graduation from UNC-Charlotte with a degree in electrical engineering, he worked across the country in a variety of positions from Boulder, Colo., to Silicon Valley.”
Vaughn recounted her father’s move back to Murphy and how another national company, VICOR, reached out to him about advancing their product “to another level.”
“They were familiar with his work and thought he was the best fit to help advance their product,” she said.
“It was a hard time in the 1990s with a shift in manufacturing from the U.S. to overseas. He began to work with them and saw the need. He wanted to stay here, and provide both jobs and add to the local economy, and he wanted Aegis to stay true to the core needs of both the country and the county.”
When Dockery’s health began to wane, Vaughn saw an opportunity to continue her father’s legacy. Urged by her husband, Alan, to accept the role in the company, Vaughn stepped up by literally learning on the job.
“In 2015, we separated from the original parent company,” she said, “and then I took over in 2017 with my husband’s support.”
Lacey McClellan, wife of employee Bryan, said she and her four kids were excited to get to see what “Dad does all day.”
Vaughn emphasized Aegis’ commitment to also employing veterans, with six hired, while also reiterating building an environment of family at the company. That can only help “our employees enjoy both their work and home lives, which creates a stronger community for all of us.”
She added that the company looks forward to expanding where and when necessary, from employing electrical and mechanical engineers to working on internship opportunities with both the Schools of Innovation and Tri-County Community College.
‘Rugged power when you need it most’
During the facility tours, Vaughn held a slideshow in the company cafeteria and first explained how to pronounce Aegis (EEE-JUSS), then the meaning behind it.
Taken from The Iliad, the name refers to Zeus’ shield, also used by his daughter Athena, in various battles, which seems fitting for Vaughn’s continuing the family trade. Vaughn also pointed out that there are a myriad of mythological names used in the defense industry, because of the association with power and strength.
That defense industry has seen many changes over the decades. The most recent ones were President Donald Trump’s administration renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War and with newly imposed tariffs.
Vaughn said the former of those hasn’t caused any concerns, because most of the letterhead and other correspondence and regulation hasn’t seen much change or “trickled down” as of yet.
“While it’s sometimes difficult to make plans in a changing climate that you may not understand, we’re looking at what could’ve been a tough year but we’ve got five positions open and we’re looking to add more next year,” she said. “We had an early pause, but we’re back on track for the year.”
Those additions will supplement what Aegis already does well which is research, develop and manufacture power conversion and distribution units. These units are “used in a wide array of special applications including mobile field equipment, military and defense systems, aircraft, unmanned vehicles … and more” according to the company’s website.
Vaughn’s presentation added that Aegis is known for their “ruggedness and reliability” in varied military applications and environments, which coincides with Aegis’ slogan of “Rugged Power When You Need It Most.”
Power in another form
Vaughn described what power conversion is by explaining it as “converting electricity from one form to another” and using the analogy of your cell phone charger, which works to take the energy from an electrical outlet and thereby convert that energy to use to charge the phone.
“We don’t make those chargers, but we make products that can change the energy to a form that’s needed for supporting critical technology for the U.S. military as well as allied forces,” she said.
Facility tours were also conducted by different department managers and centered around visiting each production station. From design to development to quality control and assurance, Aegis specializes in providing unique specialty converters for various electrical systems globally.
Quality and compliance manager Michael Owens led a group. He explained that the shipping and receiving process is like Legos in that “each piece has to be either sourced or manufactured first to ensure that we can perfect the components to give our customers the best products in our field.”
Owens listed various pieces necessary for completing the assembly of the company’s many products before showing a newly acquired machine that helps them better ensure high quality.
Dubbed the Automatic Optical Inspection machine, or AOI, this machine helps to assure visually and schematically that a product is essentially ready by using advanced camera optics to match both the assembled pieces with their selected prototype to ensure that “we find any problems with parts before the process begins.” Owens added that the machine has already become invaluable in its first year.
Details: Visit aegispower.com.