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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Sheaumann Laser Expands Operations in Billerica, Massachusetts

11/01/2019
Sheaumann Laser Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of semiconductor lasers, announced its ownership has purchased a 57,800 square foot building located at 5 Federal Street in Billerica, Massachusetts.

The facility will be renovated to house its expanding workforce and production lines and will help address the growing demand for laser-based technologies from the defense and space industries. The company plans to move into its new headquarters by August 2020.

Sheaumann will continue to operate from its leased facility in Marlborough until the renovation of the new building is complete.

The move is spurred by a $2.34M grant that Sheaumann received this year from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2). This award, paired with Sheaumann’s matching funds, enabled the purchase of laser manufacturing equipment to expand Sheaumann’s production capabilities and to streamline existing processes.

The Billerica facility has triple the square footage of Sheaumann’s current location and includes around 15,000 square feet that the company plans to convert to state-of-the-art cleanroom space for its manufacturing and R&D activities. As a key supplier to an increasing number of customers in the defense and space sectors, Sheaumann must allocate dedicated assembly and test areas to these projects for quality and security purposes, which the new cleanroom will enable.

The building purchase signifies Sheaumann’s commitment to keeping its production in the U.S., and the expansion will necessitate training and hiring more local skilled workers.

“While most of our competitors have moved their manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheap labor, we continue to uphold our vision of supporting and leveraging our strong Massachusetts workforce,” said Frank Hsieh, Vice President and co-owner of Sheaumann Laser. “The move to Billerica brings us closer to some of the excellent educational institutions that offer a talent pool for our complex manufacturing processes, including UMass Lowell, MIT, and Shawsheen Tech.”

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