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20 Worcester Business Journal | March 7, 2022 | wbjournal.com F O C U S H A L L O F F A M E Ani & Amar Kapur have found success together for 50 years WBJ Hall of Fame Amar & Ani Kapur Founders Aimtek and Atech Turbine Headquarters: Auburn His birthplace: India Her birthplace: Armenia Food wars: Mixing Hindu and Chris- tian backgrounds was a challenge, Ani acknowledged, but mixing Armenian and Indian cuisines was even tougher. Today, they like almost any cuisine, just another example of adapting, she said. PHOTO/CAMILLE FRASER A s entrepreneurs, when Amar and Ani Kapur reflect on their amazing success story, the Worcester community and Worcester Polytechnic Institute come up frequently. "We wouldn't have been successful without the Worcester community," Amar said on a February aernoon as the two relaxed in Florida with two of their four grandchildren. And successful they have been, growing a niche medical gas supply company into a cluster of niche businesses with customers around the world and a string of industry awards for excellence. It's been a long journey marked by strong family values that extend to employees and customers, plus business acumen, the ability to adapt, and a dose of good fortune. Amar le Mumbai, India, to study chemical engineering at WPI and pursue the American dream. Half a world away, Ani's family had le Armenia for a better life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there, Ani connected with an aunt who was working at WPI and would become her sponsor as she emigrated to the U.S. It wasn't long before the two met at a WPI party, and they began their journey together. Armed with a master's degree, Amar's career took him to Illinois, but opportunity knocked while he was on an assignment doing engineering work for long-time Central Massachusetts tech manufacturer Digital Equipment Corp.'s new plant in Hudson. He knew DEC needed a supplier of gasses, and he knew how to get that job done. An idea was born. Ani was supportive; he won the contract; Aimtek was founded in 1973, and the pair went to work building a family business. at first business operated out of their third-floor Worcester apartment and involved a leap of faith in investing their modest savings in supplying a range of medical gasses to educational and healthcare clients. ere were lots of days when the future looked uncertain, Ani said, but they had a deep belief in each other. He handled sales and the product; she handled the back office, from billing and shipping to payroll, a role she continues on a part-time basis today. BY NORMAN BELL Special to WBJ