Business Oregon Awards $1.2 Million to Applied Physics Technologies to Support Oregon Innovation and the Semiconductor Industry

Business Oregon is thrilled to award Applied Physics Technologies (APT) with a grant of $1,200,000 from the Emerging Opportunity Fund. This award will assist the company with the construction of a new clean room and improvements to the company’s headquarters facility in McMinnville, Oregon. This award was made possible through the support of the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) and Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

APT is a small, Oregon-grown, high-tech manufacturer that produces critical components for sophisticated capital equipment used in the semiconductor and life science industries. They specialize in the design and manufacture of thermionic, field emission, and thermal field emission electron sources made from single crystal materials refined in-house.

“Business Oregon is pleased to support a highly innovative, Oregon-based company that provides immense value to its local and regional communities,” said Sophorn Cheang, Director of Business Oregon. “We are committed to supporting Oregon’s semiconductor industry and this investment will help our state gain a competitive edge as a global leader in semiconductor production and advanced manufacturing. Business Oregon will continue to support innovators like APT who provide Oregonians with new, high-paying job opportunities that will last for generations.”

“Applied Physics Technologies is a leader of innovative product development and MEDP is encouraged by the significant investment of APT and Business Oregon,” said Patty Herzog, MEDP Executive Director. “This award demonstrates the state’s unwavering commitment to investing in companies like APT that are leading an innovation-based economy in McMinnville. This grant is the result of a dedicated partnership between Business Oregon, SEDCOR, and MEDP that provides regional benefit and retains high-wage jobs.” 

APT has designed and patented products on the cutting edge of electron emission and must continue to innovate and improve its processes to retain and grow market share. Customers are demanding ever-higher product quality and ever-lower failure rates. APT sees opportunities to develop new product lines that cannot be made in the company’s current facility. 

“There is a limit to the volume of product we can manufacture in our current structure,” said APT President and CEO Marcus Straw. “Furthermore, the quality our customers are increasingly demanding will be unattainable without a major facility upgrade, effectively making our most demanding markets unserviceable. APT’s future depends upon this project.”  

APT’s products operate in an ultrahigh vacuum with high applied electric fields. So, particle contamination is the main mode of product failure during operation. The company currently has a 975 sq ft “clean area” where the most sensitive manufacturing takes place. This “clean area” is largely uncontrolled, has no ISO rating, and is too small. With this grant, APT will construct a new, ISO 7-rated, 2,670 sq ft clean room. The company will also update the company’s server room, renovate their office space, and conduct improvements outside of the new clean room that will improve workflow.

“Our new cleanroom will enable us to both increase our capacity and improve our quality, nearly doubling our revenue by 2027, adding an estimated $8.8 million in wages, benefits, and payroll taxes into Oregon’s economy,” said APT’s President and CEO Marcus Straw.

APT supports Oregonians by adding approximately 30 new high-wage jobs, paid on-the-job training, and welcoming student interns from Oregon’s higher education institutions. APT is also committed to environmental sustainability in their business practices.

Learn more about Business Oregon’s programs at Oregon.gov/biz.