JSL Technologies Inc. was founded in 2008 by three friends who decided at a Camarillo restaurant that they should form their own defense contracting company.  

“One of the things in setting up the company, we wanted to make sure all three of us were on board with having integrity, not only with customers but also employees,” President Joe Black recalled. “Our word meant something. We still operate the same way.”

That commitment to integrity would eventually make JSL a leading provider of engineering, logistics, program services and lifecycle support for the U.S. Navy.

Early days were difficult, because the company started in the heart of the Great Recession, but Joe and founding engineers Ben Fujikawa and Jed Williams persevered. The company’s first job was as a subcontractor at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) to Northrop Grumman. JSL was certified as an 8a small business in 2010, and a few months later it had its first prime contract providing technical manual support to NSWC PHD. Soon other work followed, including an unrestricted contract in 2011 providing Engineering Support to PHD’s Land Attack Department.

Ben and Jed were former employees of NSWC PHD who had gone on to become civilian contractors. Joe, a native of the Philippines, was the son of a South Philly-born U.S. Navy Seabee. Joe traveled with his parents from his jungle village to Japan, Alaska and Fallon, NV, where he learned to speak English. He settled in Oxnard at 12 when his father was assigned to the Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme.

Joe enlisted in the Air Force in 1975. The Vietnam War was winding down, so he pulled tours in England and New Mexico. After his discharge four years later, he ended up in the Port Hueneme defense industry, where he met Ben and Jed.  “We used to work together,” he said. “I knew of them at PHD, but we actually worked for another private industry company.”

Founding JSL gave them an opportunity to support this country and the military Joe had grown up admiring as he traveled with his dad.

“Since Day One, I wanted to do engineering work for the Navy and the Department of Defense,” Joe recalled. “As a veteran, I still wanted to serve.”

Joe had founded and run companies before. As they prepared their incorporation papers, Joe suggested a name using the initials of his three children: Sandra, Luke and Jude. SLJ just didn’t sound right, neither did LSJ. But JSL had a ring to it that the partners liked. So, they incorporated as JSL Technologies Inc.

Ben and Jed are still part of the JSL family, which has grown to provide support to the Navy and Department of Defense on both coasts and Hawaii.  It all goes back to their initial non-negotiable: putting employees and customers first.

“For me, success isn’t measured in dollars,” Joe explained. “The real reward comes from watching our employees develop professionally and hearing from customers when JSL delivers solutions to their most pressing technical, schedule, or cost challenges.”                        

Today, JSL operates internationally, providing vital services to Navy customers across the globe.