technology
Mound Laser & Photonics wants Dayton to be major laser manufacturing center
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Larry Dosser steps off an elevator and turns a corner, gesturing and talking all the while.
"It's as exciting and dynamic a time as it's ever been," said the president and chief executive of Mound Laser & Photonics Center Inc. in Miamisburg.
Extras
Dosser talks about the laser welding system his company bought in 2007, the 1,500 square feet in floor space by which his company expanded and the 600-watt fiber laser welding system he expects to be shipped to him Jan. 14.
That's Dosser: restless, moving, talkative, yet as focused as one of his lasers.
Mound had a strong year in 2007, company officers say. And they don't expect to slow in 2008. "We want to make Dayton a major center for laser manufacturing," said Dosser, who owns 90 percent of his company. "And I think we're succeeding."
The company ended the year as the Dayton Area Defense Contractors Association's December "success story of the month." The firm processes materials with lasers — cutting, marking, labeling and "micro-machining." Last year, Mound — housed on the Mound Advanced Technology Center campus — worked for 146 companies nationwide.
But Dosser talks also of making things, and possibly forming spin-off companies, for that manufacturing work. If he did that, he added, he would do it in Dayton.
Dosser has worked at Mound since 1980, when it was a Department of Energy facility. After the government shut down its nuclear weapons-oriented work in the early 1990s, Dosser started his own company.
Initially, most of his work was performed for the military. In 2002, Dosser brought on Kevin Hartke to strengthen the commercial side of his business. The result? "Surgical instruments and implants are by far (our) fastest growing areas," said Hartke, sales manager and a 10 percent owner in Mound.
In 2007, Mound added 64 new customers to stake claims in medical device, automotive, fuel cell, microelectronics, aerospace and other markets. The company installed a computer-controlled milling machine and now has a total of seven laser workstations. Dosser even added a fitness center on site for his 20 employees.
Dosser dismisses uncertainty about how future environmental remediation at the Mound compound will be funded. In November, U.S. Rep. Michael Turner urged the Department of Energy to finish cleanup work at the site, fearing the government will abandon the job if local officials don't come up with an estimated $5 million.
In fact, Dosser talks of a new building for his company at Mound in 2010. It would be the second building constructed at the compound since the atomic plant closed.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or
tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About Mound Laser & Photonics Center
Founded: October 1995
Based: 965 Capstone Drive, Mound Advanced Technology Center, Miamisburg.
Revenue: $2.2 million in 2007, up about $300,000 from 2006.
Employees: 20, with expectations to hire three to five more in 2008. Expects to have 40-50 employees by 2010 and perhaps 75 by 2012.
Source: Larry Dosser, Mound president and CEO
