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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Laser Thermal Expands Charlottesville, Virginia, Operations

07/26/2023
Laser Thermal, a nanotechnology company that helps semiconductor manufacturers and other small-electronics makers innovate their product portfolios and improve quality control, plans to expand its manufacturing, research, and development facility in Charlottesville, Virginia. The $2.9 million project is expected to create 28 jobs.

“As a native Virginian, there was no other place I wanted to start a company due to proximity to major shipping hubs and international airports, the ability to maintain collaborative ties with the University of Virginia, and access to bright young talent from the first-class higher education network that exists here,” said John T. Gaskins, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO. “Many of our employees are originally from Virginia, or are happily transplanted, and love working at a high-tech company located in such a beautiful, friendly, and innovative state.”

As an incentive Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the City of Charlottesville to secure the project and will support Laser Thermal’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP), which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs in order to support employee recruitment and training activities. As a business incentive supporting economic development, VJIP reduces the human resource costs of new and expanding companies. VJIP is state-funded, demonstrating Virginia’s commitment to enhancing job opportunities for citizens.

“This Virginia-founded company’s growth is a win for Charlottesville, the Commonwealth, and our tech and manufacturing sectors,” noted Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “Virginia’s workforce training solutions helped secure these 28 new jobs, and it is a priority to assist employers like Laser Thermal that choose to put down roots and grow in the Commonwealth.”

Founded as a spin-off from the University of Virginia, Laser Thermal has developed an innovative thermal metrology process and equipment that can deliver fast, accurate, and reliable thermal measurements at the nano-scale. The company produces the SSTR-F (Steady-State Thermoreflectance in Fiber Optics) analysis tool, with several additional measurement tools planned for release in 2024 and beyond. Laser Thermal works with industrial partners, academic institutions, and various branches of the Department of Defense.

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