27°
County Executive Marcus Molinaro said, “This is a great example of our Think Dutchess Alliance for Business working together to expand our high-tech economy. This project retains and creates jobs, and provides regional businesses and students access to high-tech equipment.”
Spectral, an employee-owned company located at 35 Corporate Park Drive in East Fishkill, is the leader in precise infrared optical components, coatings, through final production. Dutchess County Assistant County Executive Ron Hicks began working with the company two years ago when Spectral acquired a Connecticut-based business and was considering a consolidation/relocation to Connecticut.
Hicks brought in Dutchess Community College (DCC), a fellow member of the Think Dutchess Alliance for Business, and T-SEC, a non-profit whose mission is to help revive the regional manufacturing industry to make it more competitive. Together they worked to consider Spectral’s needs and determine if their new SMARTT LAB program would provide the company the incentive and edge they need to compete and expand in Dutchess County.
“Often manufacturers lack investment capital to purchase costly specialized manufacturing equipment necessary to improve an existing product or to develop a new product – that is where T-SEC can help," said Carl Meyer, president, and CEO.
Recognizing Spectral Systems was experiencing increasing market pressure as foreign players were gaining market share because of pricing advantages, T-SEC proposed adding a complementary technology to Spectral Systems’ existing processes to enable them to bring high-tech work, currently done by out-of-state vendors, in-house. This allowed the company to make multi-million dollar investments in their plant, improve their bottom line and create at least six new, high-paying jobs.
T-SEC purchased an optical profiler with its grant from the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council, under the Governor’s Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) program and installed it in the Spectral Systems plant. With this equipment in place, Spectral has been able to expand market share and grow its business, thus retaining state jobs and adding new employees.
“Dutchess County and T-SEC’s assistance was key to Spectral System’s decision to stay in New York and grow our business. We look forward to continue working with them and Dutchess Community College," said Bruce Capuano, vice president at Spectral Systems.
To learn more about Spectral Systems, visit their website at www.spectral-systems.com. For more information about T-SEC, visit www.tsecny.org.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Poughkeepsie and receive free news updates.
