AeroGrowth is the only strategic coaching and membership network built for precision manufacturers ready to compete, win, and grow in aerospace and defense.
Most machine shops are exceptional at manufacturing. Few are built to navigate the sales cycles, compliance requirements, and relationship dynamics that define aerospace and defense contracting. That's what AeroGrowth is for.
One-on-one coaching to help your shop position, price, and pursue the right A&D contracts. We work through your pipeline, your messaging, and your approach to OEM conversations. We also help you identify and prospect the right strategic partners so you're building the relationships that generate future work, not just managing what's already in front of you.
Three structured network meetings per month plus a dedicated Slack workspace keep you connected to 20+ vetted precision shops in real time. Talk through live challenges, share hard-won lessons, and find solutions from members who have been through exactly what you're dealing with. Not a public forum. Not a quarterly newsletter. A room full of people with real shared experience.
Get inside access to how primes and Tier 1s evaluate suppliers, what they're buying, and how to get your name in front of the right people at the right time. We bring this intelligence directly into your coaching sessions and into the network through our OEM-side relationships, so you're making decisions based on how buyers actually think, not how suppliers assume they do.
From AS9100 positioning to ITAR awareness, quoting strategy to program pipeline planning, we help you build the operational and commercial foundation that A&D primes are looking for. And when a challenge falls outside our wheelhouse, we connect you with the right people to solve it. We are brokers of trust, and we only connect good people with good people.
"The best A&D suppliers aren't just technically excellent — they think like strategic partners. That's what we help you become."
Dan Echternkamp, Founder — AeroGrowthWe're getting real close to our first PO for repetitive 10,000-part orders. That's thanks to this network.
I committed to posting on LinkedIn once a week. Honest to God, that already led to one official new customer and one more in the inbox. The accountability to another person is what did it.
Business had been going downward for five years. That's one of the reasons why we joined AeroGrowth — to help us seek out new customers.
Our shop is full. Time to join the crew and learn how to fill the front end of the pipeline.
AeroGrowth keeps the network selective so every member gets real access, real coaching, and real peer relationships — not just a seat in a crowded room.
Submit a short application so we can understand your shop, your current A&D position, and where you want to go. Membership is selective to protect the quality of the network.
A dedicated strategy session to map your shop's positioning, identify your target OEMs, and build your 90-day growth roadmap. This is where clarity replaces guesswork.
Three network meetings per month plus a live Slack workspace mean you're never waiting for the next roundtable to get a question answered or a deal sense-checked. Real-time access to the full network, every day.
Track wins, refine your strategy, and build lasting OEM relationships. The goal isn't activity — it's durable revenue from contracts that create real enterprise value.
AeroGrowth was founded in 2024 by Dan Echternkamp, who has visited over 750 machine shops across the globe and built a firsthand understanding of what separates shops that grow from shops that grind. That experience is the foundation of everything AeroGrowth does.
Alongside Dan, Tony Kelbert brings deep OEM and engineering experience from programs across commercial aerospace, defense, and space. Together, they give members an inside perspective on how primes and Tier 1s actually think, buy, and build supplier relationships.
The mission is simple: give America's precision machine shops the strategic tools, peer network, and OEM access they need to compete for the contracts that matter. Not just to survive. To build something worth owning.
Membership in AeroGrowth is selective. Fill out the form and we'll schedule a brief conversation to understand where your shop is and where you want it to go.
We respond within 2 business days. No hard sell — just an honest conversation about fit.