New Product Lines Mean Westborough Growth For Maine Manufacturer
Maine Manufacturing, based in Sanford, Maine, had three employees four years ago. But now it has 175, including 65 new employees in Westborough.
"We're on a tear," says Maine Manufacturing president Bill Emhiser.
A big piece of that growth came in December, when the company acquired filter and membrane assets from GE's Water and Process division in Westborough.
Opening The Sales Door
Founded in 2007 by Craig Cunningham, Maine Manufacturing makes precision-molded plastic, filtration, membrane and biological products for customers in the life sciences industry.
Before the December acquisition, Maine Manufacturing had been a contract manufacturer for GE — making the filters and membranes itself — which GE then sold to its end customers. But now, said Emhiser, those end customers are its own.
The transaction opens up direct sales doors, says Emhiser, and cuts out the middleman.
"What it does is gives us access to a broad base of scientific research and diagnostic companies — customers," said Emhiser. "It allows us to sell products directly to clients in those fields. Before, we were primarily B2B. It's another way to access these user markets."
GE continues to operate a separate division — GE Healthcare Life Sciences — in Westborough, a spokesman said.
New Assets
The sale included recognized brands such as Cameo syringe filters and a wide range of polycarbonate and polyester track etched membranes previously made in Texas. Maine Manufacturing is now producing those items at two Westborough facilities previously operated by GE.
And last week, the company announced it is acquiring a line of GE laboratory products to further round out its life sciences portfolio, such as microbiological monitors, ZapCap-brand bottle-top filtration units and Centrex centrifugal filters. These products were previously made by Schleicher & Schuell and have been marketed under the Whatman brand name since 2006.
Though there are still lots of areas where the firm can expand, Emhiser said, there will be considerable time spent assimilating the new acquisitions before future growth.
"We kind of jumpstarted things by acquiring the office from GE," he said. "We'll add things as they make sense."
R&D Too
Maine Manufacturing isn't just into manufacturing. In the world of life sciences, it must also pursue its own knowledge.
The company's focus on research and development is evidenced by a $500,000 grant for small business innovation research awarded in March 2012 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue work on a reaction membrane for biological research and diagnostics to detect cancer.
The new membrane, according to the company, shows promise in detecting low-abundance proteins in substances like blood.
The company had received previous NSF money in 2010 to pursue detection of low-abundance proteins in blood and other complex biological mixtures.
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Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly identified the GE division that sold Maine Manufacturing its filter and membrane assets. The division is called GE Water and Process and is separate from GE Healthcare. The headline and parts of the story have been changed to reflect the correction.
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