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MassDevelopment In The News
Luminus Devices Plans $10.2 Million Expansion in Billerica
Firm Sees Adding 300 Jobs at Plant
June 21, 2007: The Boston Globe, by Robert Preer
A Woburn company that makes lighting components for high-definition televisions is planning a major expansion in Billerica, bringing an estimated 300 new jobs to the region over five years.
Luminus Devices, founded four years ago by an MIT scientist, reported last week it will soon open a $10.2 million manufacturing plant. The company, which was awarded a state loan for the expansion, has outgrown its existing leased space on New Boston Avenue in Woburn, according to company officials.
Chief executive officer Udi Meirav said Luminus Devices will retain its Woburn facility, where manufacturing of the tiny chip-like illumination components, as well as research and development, are conducted now.
"The northwest Boston area is a fabulous area to do what we're doing," said Meirav. "It's the heart of the Greater Boston high-tech region. There is good access for employees and good highway access for contractors."
In documents filed with the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, known commonly as MassDevelopment, the state agency providing funding for the project, Luminus estimates it will create 80 new jobs in the first year of the expansion. Salaries for the manufacturing positions will range from $31,000 to $45,000 a year; jobs in engineering, administration, and marketing will range from $50,000 to $110,000, according to the documents.
Luminus develops and manufactures semiconductor devices that generate high-power lighting for televisions and other displays. The components are being used by several major consumer electronics companies, including Samsung Electronics USA.
The decision of Luminus Devices to do its manufacturing in Massachusetts is a departure from a broader trend of recent decades for companies to shift production to lower-cost areas elsewhere in the world.
Meirav said Luminus uses sophisticated manufacturing processes that need to be carried out close to the company's research and development and corporate headquarters. "It is very important to have the manufacturing near the engineers," he said. "We had to master the process and bring it to the table."
According to Meirav, the company also benefits from being close to MIT, which has provided engineering talent to Luminus and where company founder Alexei Erchak and Meirav both received degrees. "We take pride in our MIT roots," Meirav said.
MassDevelopment is providing a $2.5 million low-interest loan to the company.
"Our mission is to keep these companies from leaving Massachusetts," said James P. Kenney, vice president for commercial lending for MassDevelopment. "These are jobs that are typically good-paying. They are jobs that are replacing conventional manufacturing positions."
Kenney said the agency also supports the venture because Luminus's products consume less energy than conventional illumination devices and do not present an environmental hazard.
Luminus Devices has not set dates for opening of its new facility or disclosed a precise location. The company's filing with the state says it is considering a 48,000-square-foot building at 1100 Technology Park Drive in Billerica. The property is in a business park off Route 3.
"It will be a new manufacturing facility and headquarters, and it will happen soon," Meirav said.
Erchak, who is from upstate New York, developed the new lighting components and manufacturing process shortly after he received his doctorate from MIT in 2002. The company began in a business incubator office building in Cambridge before moving to Woburn.
Meirav joined the company as the second employee in the summer of 2003. In four years, the firm has grown to 175 employees.
© Copyright 2007 The Boston Globe.
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