In October 2007, OSRAM Sylvania in Manchester approached state officials with a multimillion-dollar challenge: OSRAM was looking to expand its engineering and manufacturing operations to create longer lasting and efficient metal halide lamps. While the German facility already had the equipment to produce the lamps ( worth millions of dollars in investment), John Tremblay and the business team wanted the state's help to convince his German bosses the expansion should occur in Manchester, which had the skilled workforce and close proximity to Boston giving it easy access to numerous resources.
State officials met that challenge, helping Tremblay gather the information and resources he needed to build his case. The new $40 million to $50 million, 28,000 square-foot addition is scheduled to be completed in September 2009. OSRAM will add 50 to 100 new jobs that will pay $40,000 to $80,000 a year depending on experience and skill level.
It wasn't like we had to make a lot of phone calls, says Tremblay, plant manager, of working with the state. They were sending us e-mails, setting up meetings. They really took the driver's seat. That's what we were able to tout when we spoke to the board. That was a big plus in my mind.
As Germany already had the expensive equipment, Michael Bergeron, business development manager for the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development, had a tall economic hurdle to clear. So he arranged for Gov. John H. Lynch to tour the Manchester facility. He also created detailed plans about tax impacts and available job training grants, and connected OSRAM with other state agencies, and Manchester's community and technical college to create programs to meet the company's future needs.
Bergeron says the work was well worth the effort. OSRAM employs more than 1,500 people in the three locations, making it one of the state's largest manufacturing employers. Because they are opening that line in Manchester, it's effectively strengthening the Hillsborough and Exeter locations, so the ripple effect was important, he says.
Siemens, a global company employing more than 70,000 people nationwide, owns OSRAM. The company became OSRAM Sylvania when it was acquired in 1993 after years of ownership by GTE. The new halide lamps are used for street lighting, commercial spaces and warehouse use, moving the product into a new retail market. The Manchester facility employs about 500 people, and houses equipment development groups that design, build and install products for other North American operations. Tremblay says it's important for OSRAM to be a global company, and that expanding in Manchester provides OSRAM with European and North American locations for its new technology. How those locations grow will depend on the economies of both countries, he says.
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