A few years ago, Denis Place and his two partners left their jobs at Suss MicroTec to launch their own business. Today, Suss MicroTec no longer exists but their company, SemiProbe, is alive and well, reports USA Today.
“In terms of employees, over the next five years, our expectation is to be at 60 to 75 people,” says Steve Mank, SemiProbe’s chief operating officer.
If Mank is right, SemiProbe will come close to replacing the 80 jobs Vermont lost last year when Suss MicroTec closed up shop after 20 years in the state and moved its manufacturing back to Germany and its marketing to California.
SemiProbe is one example of how innovation and invention are critical to America’s economy, especially in hard times, when jobs are scarce.
“The whole engine that drives any economy is inventing, innovation,” says Stephen Gnass, a Los Angeles-based invention consultant and advocate for more than 30 years.
Photo from SemiProbe