The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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September 23, 2009

Local group to buy Thin Film

North Mankato considers low-interest loans to help sale

By Dan Linehan

NORTH MANKATO — The Japanese ownership of Thin Film Technology, a North Mankato computer component maker, decided in March to close down the North Mankato company’s manufacturing plant.

That move threatened to lay off more than 48 people out of the company’s then-total of 60 employees.

But its local managers quickly decided to try to buy the company, and with a mixture of public and private financing, they hope the deal will be finished during the next few months.

There are 18 employees now and Tom Lietha, who will be the chief executive officer, hopes to have 25 within a year. Production is continuing “at a low level,” he said.

The buyout includes the whole company — including the land, the facility and the customer base — so Thin Film should be able to operate much the same as it used to, Lietha said.

North Mankato’s Port Authority will soon see a proposal to offer the company between $200,000 and $300,000 in low-interest loans, City Administrator Wendell Sande said.

The state’s economic development agency and BENCO Electric also are chipping in with aid. BENCO is loaning the company $250,000 with a 2.5 percent interest rate.

“This is job retention and, hopefully, job creation,” Sande said.

Lietha said new product lines are among the ways to expand the business now that locals are in charge.

The company will be over 50 percent employee-owned, he said.

Thin Film’s manufacturing niche is difficult to describe in laymen’s terms, but Lietha gives it a shot:

They make what are called “passive components,” which time signals in circuits and improve the circuits’ integrity.

The phrase “thin film” refers to a method for making these components. They put a thin film on a base of ceramic and use chemicals to etch circuits out of the film.

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