Innova Inc.
Founded: As CJ Laser in 1981.
Based: 130 Westpark Road, Centerville.
Products: Laser systems for military, medical and other applications, welding machines for Westinghouse nuclear fuel rods.
Employees: Soon to be 18; with plans to hire 40 more in coming months.
Revenue: Expect close to $5 million in 2011.
CENTERVILLE — A visit to Innova Inc.’s Westpark Road offices confirms that this former startup company is growing.
Innova, a producer of laser-emitting devices for the military, medical and cosmetic industries, has 7,000 square feet in office and manufacturing space today. The company looks to add perhaps another 4,000 square feet at the same location.
Innova’s growing in other ways, too. Since June 2009, Innova has added 10 employees for a total of 16 and tripled annual sales to more than $3 million. Cem (pronounced “gem”) Gokay, Innova executive vice president, anticipates generating close to $5 million in sales in 2011. Plans to expand by hiring 40 more workers are on track, depending on the pace of contract awards, said Nilesen Gokay, the firm’s president.
The Gokays are husband and wife.
In a joint venture with defense contractor Flir Systems Inc., Innova makes critical components for military helicopter and land vehicle gimbal mounts. The gimbals help laser-guided missiles find, identify and designate targets.
But the applications are wider than that, the Gokays believe. They are working to miniaturize the devices to about the size of a cell phone so that they could be mounted on a soldier’s helmet. They also see applications in police forensics and cosmetics.
The Flir contract runs until 2012, and Innova is in talks with Flir to extend the pact until 2015, Cem Gokay said.
“The relationship (with Innova) has been a good one; it goes back a long time,” said Tony Trunzo, chief financial officer at Flir.
Innova is about more than lasers, however. Since the late 1980s, the company has made welding machines for Westinghouse that seal nuclear fuel rods. It is working with the University of Dayton Research Institute on making devices that monitor the speed and condition of wind turbine blades.
“He has some really good ideas and technologies,” Joseph Haus, director of the electro-optics graduate program for UD’s School of Engineering, said of Cem Gokay.
“We’ve always had our fingers in a lot of different projects,” Nilesen Gokay said. “Somehow, it snowballed.”
“We’re nurturing these things carefully,” her husband said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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