Mass. molder Apex Resource adding workers for medical jobs

PITTSFIELD, MASS. (Nov. 5, 4:55 p.m. ET) -- Apex Resource Technologies Inc. is expanding its medical device capabilities with the help of $5 million financing package developed through help from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp, a private nonprofit lender.

Pittsfield, Mass.-based Apex, which does engineering, design and injection molding, plans to add 15-20 employees to its staff in the next 18 months as it expands its workload.

“We expect sales as a result of this to grow by 40 percent in the next year, It is very exciting and it’s the kind of work that can’t be done offshore,” said Apex President Don Rochelo in a Nov. 3 telephone interview.

He was optimistic that Apex could double its sales in the next five years.

“This is probably one of the most important things that has happened to this company. You can bring a company to a certain point and then come to a wall. But this financing breaks that wall and lets us get to the next level,” Rochelo said.

Rochelo said that the identity of its medical customer is covered by a confidentially agreement, but that he could say that it was with an implantable device company.

“It is rather significant and it means the hiring of a lot of highly trained professionals,” he said.

Rochelo said the company is boosting its staff with quality and process personnel as well as a technical writer and a documentation person. It has 60 employees, but that number will be growing.

The company, which is owned by Don and Donna Rochelo, was founded in 1983.

The addition of a 3,000-square-foot Class 100,000 clean room in early 2008 set the stage for its current growth. Since then, Apex has added three new Niigata molding machines, and is planning to add other equipment. Overall it has 23 presses ranging to up to 385 tons of clamping force.

“We’ve been doing implantable devices since adding the clean room so it is true, ‘If you build it, they will come,” he said.

Rochelo credits Pittsfield Cooperative Bank for fashioning an innovative loan structure that combines a traditional mortgage with equity available through MHIC’s New Markets Tax Credit program.

“It’s more common to use for real estate development or nonprofits, but we are trying to find a way for businesses to create jobs,” said Deborah Favreau, senior investment officer at MHIC.

She said that the program had been used for projects like the restoration of a theater in Pittsfield, but now it can be used to provide gap financing for capital investment. The New Markets Tax Credit is a federal program aimed at spurring revitalization in low income communities.

MHIC also worked on the project with the Western Mass. Enterprise Fund and the city of Pittsfield.

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