Opting for a less expensive plane, Congress shut off the tap and the contract dried up.

Fortunately, Sonju Industrial was enjoying a revenue spike in another of its ventures - manufacturing assault rifles.

"The gun industry is really driven by the political atmosphere in Washington. When there was fear of restrictions after the (2008 presidential) election, gun sales took off," Jason Sonju said. "Now there's more of a lull, and we're more focused on defense contracts."

The AR-15 was such a lucrative product that Sonju Industrial opened up a sister company, SI Defense. The retail store is run by Josh Sonju and his wife, Adyn, and specializes in rifles and rifle parts, all manufactured at the Sonju plant.

"I think SI Defense is going to be big," Jason Sonju said. "You don't know what Washington is going to do, so you need different programs, whether it's guns, torpedoes, missiles or aerospace. If you're diversified in defense, you can succeed."

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Sonju is now gearing up to break ground on a new 50,000-square-foot facility, to be constructed on the same footprint where Sonju Auto Body Repair has been located since 1978.