FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Release Chip Laingen
Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. Phone: 651-642-1800
St. Paul, Minnesota

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. Passes Department of Defense Audit
St. Paul, MN, 04/18/05 –

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. last week successfully completed a Department of Defense (DoD) Accounting System Review Audit, further reinforcing its credibility as a manufacturer in the defense market. The audit was performed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) which maintains a local office in the Twin Cities because of the significant amount of defense and defense-related firms that reside here.

"This is another key milestone for us, and for our defense division, Minnesota Defense. I’m frankly not surprised that we did well, given our long history as a manufacturer in the exacting medical field," said Marge Andre, Minnesota Wire & Cable Co.’s Accounting Manager.

The company has aggressively pursued the complex military market through a multi-track approach, including the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Minnesota Defense has now won three SBIR Phase I proposals and a Phase II proposal, the latter for minimum of $750,000 to continue R&D on "Smart Connector" technology prior to commercialization. Originating from a U.S. Air Force requirement for diagnostics on the F-16 Falcon fighter aircraft, Smart Connector is designed to provide rapid, imbedded fault detection in aging wiring systems.

Any company or individual with an SBIR grant or government contract is audited by the DCAA which has accounting regulations, standards and requirements that can be different than the traditional bookkeeping standards of most businesses. The purpose of last week’s audit at

Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. was in part to ensure that the company is able to accurately segregate direct outside costs and direct labor costs, particularly for government contracts.
In all, Minnesota Wire & Cable Co. has continued to win defense contracts in the past two-and-a-half years, and along with its aggressive ongoing R&D footing is a supplier to major defense companies including Alliant Techsystems, Titan Defense Systems, Mine Safety Appliances (MSA), General Dynamics and United Defense.

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