 |
|
 
City’s marine and science technology Quest Center
graduates its first company
Seaworthy success story - Maker of waterproof electrical
connectors outgrows its incubator
Seaworthy success story
Maker of waterproof electrical connectors outgrows its
incubator
By Becky W. Evans, Standard-Times staff writer
A new marine technology firm that sells underwater
electrical connectors is leaving the nest today to grow
and prosper on its own.
BIRNS Aquamate is scheduled to move out of New Bedford's
Quest Center on Purchase Street into a new office at
Howland Place on Orchard Street.
"We need a larger space," operations manager Eli Bar-Hai
said.
The Quest Center opened in September 2005 as an
incubator for startup companies specializing in marine
science and technology. The City of New Bedford, UMass
Dartmouth and the SouthCoast Development Partnership
created the center to nurture the region's emerging
identity as a marine science and technology hub.
BIRNS Aquamate is the incubator's first success story,
said David Sheehan, the center's executive director.
The company moved into the incubator six months ago,
utilized the center's resources to connect with local
customers and now plans to grow its business while
remaining rooted in New Bedford.
"That's the whole idea," Mr. Sheehan said. "We expect to
have them here in New Bedford for a long time."
The company, which currently employs two people, is
expected to hire an additional seven to eight employees
within the next five years as it expands its operations
to include manufacturing. Mr. Bar-Hai said he will
likely hire and train three to four "technical people
with electrical backgrounds."
BIRNS Aquamate was founded as a joint venture between
the Israeli firm Zevulun Marine Systems and
California-based BIRNS Inc. Both companies manufacture
waterproof electrical connectors used in submarines,
sonar and video equipment and other deep sea
applications.
BIRNS Aquamate was established to market the connectors
to U.S. companies.
"We needed to be on the east coast, where there were no
companies manufacturing underwater connectors," Mr. Bar-Hai
said.
Being located near customers is important since many of
them need the connectors to be shipped quickly to avoid
costly project delays, he said.
New Bedford was selected for its central location within
New England's growing marine technology sector and its
proximity to research institutions such as UMass
Dartmouth and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The city's "whaling history and its colorful past"
enchanted Mr. Bar-Hai, who said he splits his time
between New Bedford and Israel.
"I think the city holds a lot of potential," he said.
Since moving into the Quest Center, BIRNS Aquamate has
established customer relationships with local entities
such as Teledyne Benthos in North Falmouth and the UMass
Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology in
New Bedford. It has sold and shipped connectors to
companies in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Brazil, Australia
and South Africa.
Christopher Jakubiak, a project engineer at SMAST's
marine turbulence lab, said he recently received price
quotes from BIRNS Aquamate for electrical connectors
that would be used on underwater instruments that are
still being developed.
The school uses the connectors for underwater vehicles
and other instruments that collect information on water
temperature, depth and salinity.
The connectors are "definitely the kind of thing that
almost everyone has some use for," he said.
Ranging in price from $20 to $500, the connectors come
in various shapes and sizes and are gold-plated to
retard corrosion in seawater. They are in high demand by
three growing industries: offshore oil and gas
exploration, oceanographic and climate research and the
military.
The Quest Center was a "very good place" to launch the
company, Mr. Bar-Hai said.
He praised the staff for being helpful and creating
networking opportunities. The few companies at the
incubator shared knowledge and Fathom Research, a
scientific diving company, recently placed an order with
BIRNS Aquamate, he said.
For the concept to work better, the incubator needs to
attract more marine technology firms, Mr. Bar-Hai said.
"When they have 10 companies that are related, that will
make a big difference," he said.
After BIRNS Aquamate departs, the Quest Center will have
four tenants: the diving company, an alternative energy
consulting firm, a Web development group and a company
that designs launch and recovery systems for underwater
robots.
Two additional companies that specialize in
environmental science are "under consideration" for the
incubator, Mr. Sheehan said.
Contact Becky W. Evans at
revans@s-t.com
Date of Publication: January 28, 2007 on Page D01
www.birnsaquamate.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
