Manchester firm finds customers in 'all corners of the globe': JP Sercel Associates' global outlook helps it thrive despite recession.

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Tapping into growing niche markets around the globe has helped southern New Hampshire's JP Sercel Associates to thrive in spite of the recession.

JPSA provides state-of-the-art excimer and diode-pumped solid-state industrial laser machining systems to customers around the world. The fully integrated laser systems are for use in industrial applications that handle micro-machining tasks.

In other words, "what we can do very well is perform operations in very small dimensions with specialized laser energy," said Charlie Cuneo, president of JPSA.

JPSA, founded in 1994 by left Sercel--now the company's chairman and chief technology officer--moved from its original home in Hollis to its current facility in Manchester in January 2007. Originally begun as a consulting company to assist customers with excimer laser technology, it has since expanded into the production and installation of laser systems, but customers can still send difficult micro-machining problems to Sercel for solutions.

Two of the company's recent growth areas have been in LED and solar panel manufacturing.

Because LED lights are being used in many new applications, like laptop monitors, flat-panel televisions and residential and industrial lighting applications, Cuneo said there has been a significant boom in business.

"We provide enabling technology to the manufacturers of LEDs to singulate the devices that are manufactured and to remove them from the substrates that they're manufactured on," says Cuneo.

Demand for solar panels has risen greatly in recent years, along with the increase in the search for alternative energy sources. JPSA taps into this market by providing lasers that can take very large glass panels and divide them into smaller solar cells. (The company's new solar panel laser scribing system, the PV-5000, was a finalist for the New Hampshire High Technology Council's 2009 Product of the Year.)

In addition, the company provides micro-machining for medical device applications, like stents, catheters and other implantable devices.

According to Cuneo, because the company has targeted high-growth areas, it has actually grown this year, in terms of sales volume and employees.

"We've been really well-positioned this year in high-growth market opportunities that have helped us to avoid being severely impacted by the recession," said Cuneo.