NDIA New England Director AJ Jarnagin was recently selected as the 2021 recipient of the National Defense Industrial Association’s prestigious Kathleen P. Sridhar Small Business Executive of the Year Award. The award is named in honor of Dr. Kathleen Sridhar, who was a small-business CEO of uncommon ability and accomplishment. The late Dr. Sridhar was a distinguished businesswoman and inspirational leader who mentored others to successful leadership positions in the small-business sector of the defense industrial base. She was very active in NDIA conferences, seminars, and events, and eventually served as President of the San Diego Chapter of NDIA. The award is bestowed annually to a defense industry small-business executive who best reflects Dr. Sridhar’s leadership excellence and support of a robust small-business sector in the defense industrial base. The award will be formally presented to AJ at NDIA’s Fall Board of Director’s Luncheon in Arlington, VA on November 15th. Congrats to AJ on this well-deserved award! Thank you for all of your contributions on to NDIA New England and the local Defense Industrial Base!
Contributions to the Small-Business Sector and the Defense Industrial Base
Adam “AJ” Jarnagin is a separated United States Air Force (USAF) service-disabled veteran and Founding Partner and CEO of EXPANSIA, a defense strategy and technology consulting firm based in the Southern New Hampshire/Boston area. The firm is focused on advancing technology & technical services in support of our nation’s defense. For over 20 years, AJ has been a military and defense advocate focused on connecting the right people, technology, and successful rapid deployment and delivery strategies to support the acquisition of C4ISR, Space, and Cyber capabilities for our nation’s defense. AJ’s passion resides in bridging the Commercial, R&D, Acquisitions, and Operations communities to support common goals around our nation’s defense requirements implementation in an affordable and rapid way.
His USAF experience began as a nationally recognized and Air Force ROTC Distinguished Graduate from the University of Utah. AJ served at Hanscom AFB, MA as C4ISR Operations Requirements lead, Executive Officer, and Air & Space Operations Center International/Coalition Lead. After Space & Nuclear Operations tours, AJ separated from the service honorably with a service-connected disability. AJ was nominated as the Airpower Advocate for the nationally recognized Air Force Association Paul Revere Chapter and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Hanscom Representatives Association (HRA). He is proud to actively serve as a board member of New England’s nationally-acclaimed model chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) since 2015. In an effort to continue focusing his passion on being part of our nation’s defense, AJ transitioned as a civilian working for several consulting and contractor firms before founding EXPANSIA in 2014 with his wife, Tynel. AJ and Tynel have four children and one grandchild and currently reside in Amherst, NH.
Because of the transformative nature of EXPANSIA in helping the government “deploy technology and capability faster to users around the globe,” EXPANSIA grew quickly and has achieved over 30% growth each year since 2014 when it launched as a non-traditional small business in support of an Air Force prototype. As a result of the firm’s commitment to its DoD client’s mission, EXPANSIA was competitively selected in 2020 as one of a few small businesses nationally to be awarded the DoD Mentor Protégé award with it’s Mentor, CACI of Reston, VA.
Giving Back to the Community
Mr. Jarnagin has mentored and serves as adviser to several SDVOSB, and minority-owned 8(a) firms in helping expand their ability to bring capability to the DIB in markets across the country.
For over 10 years he has served as a former President and Executive Board Member for the Hanscom Reps Association (HRA), whose mission is to foster open dialogue between industry representatives and the acquisition community operating in support of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Hanscom AFB and regional Defense and Federal Organizations. AJ also serves in his community by volunteering many hours per month to help guide youth ages 12-18 in their physical, social, spiritual, and intellectual development as an Adult Youth leader across several cities and school districts in Southern New Hampshire. His desire to see the rising generation make a positive impact in the world is an additional passion.
NDIA New England Contributions
For over six years the enduring impact of AJ’s charitable and company work have resulted in him being selected three times to the NDIA New England Board of Directors, where until recently, he led the Nomination and Selection process for the Executive Committee and Board of Directors, whose mission is to strengthen the New England Defense Industrial Base (DIB). AJ currently serves as a member of the Finance committee focused on philanthropic efforts to give back to organizations in support of DIB objectives in the New England states.