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Home / Washington Business - January 2006 / Made in Washington - nLIGHT: Growing at the Speed of Light |
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Made in Washington - nLIGHT: Growing at the Speed of Light |
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Written On: January 2006 |
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Written By: by Shawn Sullivan |
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An extremely difficult decision faced an entrepreneur with a keen business sense, and an ability to plan for contingencies—what should a start-up do when faced with one of the biggest downturns in history? Instead of relying on gut instincts or choosing the easiest process to implement, he decided on the option with the greatest market potential.
Scott Keeney carefully analyzed each potential product for profit margin, room for growth and sustainability of revenue. After careful consideration, he decided to focus on light-emitting diodes.
Keeney opened nLight in 2000, during the booming telecom era, with the intent to manufacture the premier semiconductor lasers in the industry. "We saw an opportunity to build semiconductor lasers for the telecommunications industry, but planned to move beyond that as the telecom market matured," Keeney said. "However, our core market didn’t mature but rather disappeared in the telecom downturn in 2001."
In 2001, manufacturers and suppliers began to reduce production resulting from an increase of inventories. "The dramatic downturn in the telecommunications sector has led to more than 500,000 job losses, $1 trillion in corporate debt and nearly $2 trillion in market valuation losses in the telecommunications industry alone since 2000," former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Michael Powell said in 2001.
nLight survived the market downturn by expanding into other industries like defense and medical. By focusing on high-quality, durable components, nLight was able to secure several contracts with government agencies and large private firms. nLight’s ability to adapt to the recession kept the company from closing its doors and actually created a pattern of growth that has consistently increased over the years.
nLight now manufactures high-powered, light-emitting semiconductor components for a vast range of applications. "We produce the same lasers found in everyone’s CD or DVD player, but at a much higher power," Keeney said.
nLight’s lasers are so powerful they are used in aircraft missile defense systems, target illumination for the Department of Defense, and high-tech aspects of the medical field, especially ophthalmology, dentistry and oncology.
To ensure that nLight continues as the industry leader, Keeney employs some of the brightest minds in the world. "We have a fantastic team comprised of the world’s best scientists and engineers," Keeney said. "Our work as a team has allowed us to develop unimaginable technological advances within the semiconductor industry."
nLight serves as an example of how U.S. companies can remain competitive in the new global marketplace. "More than half of our products are exported," Keeney said. Germany, Japan and China purchase the bulk of nLight’s exported products, which total more than 10,000 units each year.
Despite the recent recession in the technology industry, nLight continues to grow exponentially. The 2005 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 program ranked nLight the seventh-fastest growing technology company in North America, and the fastest growing in Washington state. "When we started nLight, we competed against 500 other companies—now there are fewer than 20," Keeney said. "We’ve grown so fast that I have the smallest cubicle in the building."
Another reason behind nLight’s survival lies in the quality and specialization of its manufacturing process. The company produces semiconductor lasers in an integrated 60,000-square-foot facility. "We have more than 200 steps in the manufacturing process," Keeney said.
nLight controls every step of the process to ensure its products are of the highest quality. "We work closely with our customers so they understand how to use our products to improve their competitive advantage. We do not produce a commodity—we produce very specialized, high-quality semiconductor lasers."
nLight relies constantly recruits people from all over the world. "We see education as a crucial issue for Washington state and the nation," Keeney said. He views education as one of the most important factors in the success of the nation, but also feels the current education system is failing to provide necessary skills for global success.
"We see an important gap in our nation’s high schools, especially when I compare the United States to places like China and India," Keeney said. nLight is trying to close the gap in southwestern Washington-area schools by creating a mentoring program for high school students called MAPP. The company mentors students enrolled in advanced placement physics to develop skills for the rapidly growing technology industry.
"Mentoring students has been extremely rewarding," Keeney said. "We launched our mentoring program this year, and, to date, we have mentored more than 30 students through advanced physics courses."
Scott Keeney’s planning for future growth includes the relocation of nLight’s manufacturing facility from Seattle to Vancouver—the area with the highest concentration of semiconductor producers. By staying in Washington, nLight can ship its products anywhere in the world in 10 hours or less, a necessity within the industry.
"When we started nLight, we planned to grow past telecommunications," Keeney said. "Now that we have grown past it, we plan to grow even more."
With a sound business plan, determination to grow, and the ability to capitalize on every opportunity, Scott Keeney and nLight have a bright future.
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