Thursday, November 26, 2009
Synchrony lands $16 million deal
The magnetic-bearing manufacturer, which is based in Roanoke County, will build drive trains for an air conditioning company.
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Synchrony Inc., a magnetic-bearing manufacturer, has received an order from air conditioning maker McQuay International that promises almost $16 million in sales.
Roanoke County-based Synchrony will build integrated drive trains -- a system of motors, bearings and electronics that uses friction-free magnets for levitation -- for McQuay's high-efficiency Magnitude chillers. The "green"-friendly water chillers will reduce input energy and the need for oil lubrication and maintenance in air conditioning systems at large buildings such as schools, hospitals, shopping malls and government facilities, said JC Campbell, a McQuay spokesman.
"I have no doubt that in the future, the types of technologies we offer will just totally replace, for a large number of applications, traditional oil-lubricated bearings systems," Synchrony CEO Victor Iannello said. "You're going to see the more aggressive companies, the more forward-thinking companies, using technologies like this."
Iannello said the deal will bring "significant" sales to Synchrony once it delivers all 500 drive trains to the Minneapolis-based company. The deal is valued at $16 million and is to be completed by mid-2011, said Troy Jamison, a company spokesman.
The company will produce 150 drive trains for McQuay before January and deliver them next year. Iannello declined to confirm the deal's potential sales next year or to share sales numbers for the closely held company.
Developing and building machinery for McQuay helps solidify Synchrony's four-year transition from a research-and-development company to a technology manufacturer.
After the 16-year-old company began working on the McQuay project in early 2005, investments from venture capitalists, totaling $15 million, helped push Synchrony further toward commercial business.
About 70 percent of the company's sales came from producing equipment this year, the rest from government funding and research investments, Iannello said.
Synchrony has developed magnetic-bearing equipment previously for the Defense Department, NASA and commercial companies such as Rolls Royce.
