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V O L . X X V I N O. X I I L E W I S T O N / A U B U R N / W E S T E R N M A I N E At Pierce Atwood, Kenney says that while there are no specific hir- ing objectives at the moment, "we are always in the market for exceptional legal talent if we feel that it is comple- mentary and a good fit." High-powered high fliers Mergers and acquisitions are another route into New Hampshire. In March, Mega Industries LLC, a Gorham-based manufacturer of microwave components used in military, research and medical appli- cations, acquired Ferrite Microwave Technologies LLC, based in Nashua, N.H. Terms were not disclosed. Ferrite makes microwave components mainly for medical and some military uses and microwave heating systems for large meat processing companies. e companies merged their assets to form a new holding company, based in Gorham, called Microwave Technologies LLC, while keeping the Mega Industries and Ferrite brand names for their products. e combined entity has a combined workforce of 110, of which 66 are from Mega Industries and the rest with Ferrite. As of mid-May, the merger was about 80% complete, according to Peter V. Anania, president of Mega Industries, a portfolio company of his Portland- based investment firm, Anania & Associates LLC. "We're in the phase of getting the accounting systems coordinated," he reports. "All is going well." Initially, about 10 Ferrite employees will be moved from New Hampshire to Maine, and in the longer term Anania sees the overall workforce expanding. "I would love to see us grow in terms of employees," he says. "Once we get the integration done and we get past this COVID situation, I expect the market to come back very strong and we can grow even further," particularly in selling systems for government-funded scien- tific research projects. "It might be a year or two away, but we'll see a lot of those projects getting funded." He says the merged entity has about 25% of the global high-power microwave systems and components market, which he estimates to be in the billions of dollars. e firms' business relationship goes back more than a decade. While two previous rounds of merger talks did not lead to a deal, the third time was the charm with Mega's offer in late 2019 that Ferrite accepted. Anania, who will be chairman of the new holding company, says that closing the deal posed no major chal- lenges except for defense contract timing issues, and the fact that Mega Industries changed banks in the middle of the talks. Peter Tibbetts, a Colby College physics alumnus who serves as CEO of Ferrite and Microwave Technologies, says the companies complement each other well in terms of the components they make, which he describes with a plumbing metaphor: "In Gorham they make the pipe, in Nashua we make the valves." As for recruiting, Tibbetts says the plan has always been to hire in Maine, and expects to have some job losses in New Hampshire as work shifts from one site to another. ough four posi- tions are currently open, he says they'd take on additional hires if they find the right individuals. He knows it won't be easy, saying, "Hiring of engineers is very difficult for a small company, especially since young engineers typically gravitate to larger companies." On the plus side, Tibbetts says he's impressed that Mega Industries was able to hire two engineers in the past few months, both thanks to personal con- tacts: "We do see a lot of resumes, but we wait to find good people." Hannaford and Hancock Lumber In the retail sector, Scarborough-based Hannaford Bros. has been in the New Hampshire market for about 50 years. It employs around 10,000 in Maine and 5,000 in New Hampshire, where it has 36 stores including one in North Conway. e most recent store to open in New Hampshire was in Bedford in 2016. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 2 F O C U S Peter Tibbetts Peter Tibbetts, left, CEO of , left, CEO of Ferrite Microwave Technologies LLC Ferrite Microwave Technologies LLC, of Nashua, N.H., , of Nashua, N.H., and and Peter V. Anania Peter V. Anania, president of , president of Mega Industries LLC Mega Industries LLC, of Gorham, photographed , of Gorham, photographed at Mega Industries' factory, which makes microwave parts used in military, research at Mega Industries' factory, which makes microwave parts used in military, research and medical applications. The companies recently merged to form a holding company and medical applications. The companies recently merged to form a holding company called Microwave Technologies LLC, with a combined workforce of 110. Tibbetts will called Microwave Technologies LLC, with a combined workforce of 110. Tibbetts will be CEO of the new entity and Anania will serve as chairman. be CEO of the new entity and Anania will serve as chairman. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY J U N E 1 , 2 0 2 0 14

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