Gov. Hassan Finds Cutting Edge Technology Thriving in Merrimack

A visit to Nanocomp Technologies Inc. on Wednesday afternoon left Gov. Maggie Hassan energized about the possibilities for high-tech jobs being a sustainable option in New Hampshire.

Hassan toured Nanocomp's production facility in Merrimack, a stop on her “Innovate NH” tour – part of a jobs plan calls for the expansion of the Research & Development tax credit to help innovative businesses like Nanocomp develop new technologies and create jobs in New Hampshire.

“This is the story of what innovation and entrepreneurship can do and this is the story of our state and it's something we just need to make sure people understand how good we are at this in New Hampshire," Hassan said.

During a short meeting before the tour, Nanocomp President, CEO and co-founder Peter Antoinette gave Hassan a brief history of the company, which started with two employees sharing 500 square-feet of space in 2004 and has grown to 55 employees house in a 30,000-square-foot production facility, with a research and development team in Concord who will also be moving to Merrimack.

Nanocomp produces a range of products spun from carbon nanotubes that look almost like black cotton candy a raw stage but can be made into a variety of items like super light weight bullet-proof vests, electronic cables and more.

The material is lighter but stronger than material used in these applications today.

“We started in the military business and as we're moving forward into aircraft," Antoinette said. "We're using that as a springboard into everything commercial,  That's really what our objective is. We don't necessarily want to be a defense contractor although we do that very well. We want to be a very balanced company.”

One tangible example he gave, Antoinette explained how replacing the copper wiring in airplanes used to transmit the TVs the backs of the seats. It's very heavy, he said, and is a weight that airliners don't like. The cost of adding that weight to the plane is seen every time it is flown. Just by switching out the data cables to Nanocomp's spun material, which looks like and is about the weight of yarn, and airline could realize a $20 million to $100 million dollar savings over the plane's lifetime.

“That yarn can replace copper as a core conducter,” Antoinette said.

Still on the cutting edge of this technology, Nanocomp in Merrimack is the largest facility of its kind in the world, with primary competition coming from the the Russians and Chinese.

And the good news is that it continues to grow. The company has moved out of its technology innovation phase and into it manufacturing phase. With immediate plans for expansion this year, and another expansion planned in 2015, Antoinette said they will eventually fill its 100,000 square-foot facility.

“We are intending to eat this building up, so we're putting people back to work,” Antoinette said.

Nanocomp has earned $2 million in government funding and has invested $7 million of its own money into creating this technology.

The company has had a three and a half year lead on the technology for the last six years, and they hope to keep it that way.

“Our job is to continue to advance this so we can be the low cost producers,” he said.

Hassan asked if the company could benefit from the research and development tax credit, but at this time, the answer is no.

The cost, said Finance Director Ann Bonavita, just to show they qualify for the tax credit, is too much for the company which has not started to turn a profit.

Antoinette said once the company is profitable, it can see benefitting from the R&D credit.

And that profitability could come in as soon as the next 18 months he said. While expanding its market as it moves toward profitability, Nanocomp also has plans to double its workforce in the next couple years.

Good news for workers looking for high-tech jobs and for students that will be coming out college looking in New Hampshire for work in the field.

Antoinette emphasized a strong connection with area colleges and universities, with programs that connect them with students and paid internships for students looking for experience.

"I think what we want to do is attract innovative businesses to New Hampshire, keep innovative businesses like Nanocomp here in the state and, as they become profitable, having the advantage of the (R&D) tax credit is important for a number of companies and will be important to Nanocomp," Hassan said. "One of the things were doing on the Innovation tour is just listening to companies about the ways things are or are not working and we'll continue to take their feedback and input as we proceed."