Carson City manufacturer acquired for $2.6 million

A Southern California company that recently purchased Astromec Inc. plans to expand production at the Carson City plant, a 16,000-square-foot facility that the president of the Carson City-based company said is underutilized.

Pro-Dex, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., purchased the manufacturing company for $2.6 million on Jan. 5 and is in the process of buying the building at 2950 Arrowhead Drive and 4.4 acres for $2.2 million.

Rhea Gustafson, president of Pro-Dex/Astromec, said Monday that his company now has "a lot more resources to draw from to develop new products."

"The change only means growth," he said. "We will fill up the entire 16,000 square feet, which we are not doing now. We have an unfinished second floor which we plan on completing."

Astromec has 25 employees, Gustafson declined to comment on if more employees will be hired. It is using less than 40 percent of its space.

Astromec, which manufactures tiny motors and motion control accessories for the medical device, aerospace and military markets, reported annual unaudited sales of approximately $2.7 million at the end of 2005. Entering the new calendar year, Astromec had approximately $1.9 million in open orders scheduled for shipment during 2007.

The new owners say the company has had a difficult time quickly acquiring precision parts, causing a backlog of orders. Pro-Dex will supply these precision components to the Carson City plant, which will increase its ability to meet urgent customer orders. Pro-Dex (NASDAQ: PDEX) makes miniature rotary drive systems for the scientific, medical and factory markets. It also has an operation in Beaverton, Ore.

Pro-Dex projects that its own consumption of the motors will increase Astromec's production volume by 20 percent to 30 percent in the next year.

"We're excited to have completed this acquisition as it represents the culmination of an almost three-year search to acquire specialized motor manufacturing capability," said Pro-Dex President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Johnson.

"The acquisition of Astromec not only expands our capabilities as a medical device manufacturer, but more importantly, it allows us to more rapidly develop new electric motor technology for the ever-changing medical device market."

Plans concerning the potential expanded use of the Carson City facility are not finalized. Pro-Dex's current lease in Santa Ana, Calif., expires in July. While Pro-Dex expects to maintain its presence in central Orange County, the operating costs of the Carson City facility are projected to be about half that of Orange County.

Visit the companies online at www.astromec.com and www.pro-dex.com.

-- Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.