For Thompson, the tour of QorTek, located at the former Woodward Township Elementary School building along U.S. Route 220, was, admittedly, eye-opening, as he saw technology for deep water craft produced right here in Lycoming County.

The headquarters of the business where the power systems center is located also has an advanced materials center in State College.

“The way I explain it to my nosey relative is we are in the business of finding very lethal enemy fish or confusing very lethal enemy fish,” said John Maize, QorTek chief human resource officer.

What Thompson experienced was a tour of a converted elementary school that now has advanced laboratories producing smart material devices and high-density power electronics and he was told it was one of the region’s best kept secrets.

KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette U.S. Rep. Glenn GT Thompson, R-Howard, left, speaks with Qortek CEO Ross Bird, right, during a tour of the companies Linden facility.

In fact, a lot of the U.S. Department of Defense and high security information could not be shared because the tour included an invitation for the Sun-Gazette and Jeffrey Stroehmann, a township supervisor along with the new township solicitor.

Stroehmann said he just had to invite Thompson to the facility so he could see the employees’ breadth of knowledge and their purpose, dedication and commitment to protect the nation’s bravest men and women diving deep into bays, lakes, and the ocean’s depths.

Thompson was thrilled to learn about the growth plans for the business and opportunities that exist for QorTek as it continues to hire graduates from Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Bucknell University, to name a few.

Innovating, developing, and providing quality technologies to a diverse array of industries including underwater systems, land and air systems, military and commercial space systems, medical, and industrial,

QorTek leadership team described for Thompson how it is creatively advancing technology to promote sustainable business growth, driven by dynamic engineering enabled by advanced science and technology.

“We are developers and integrators of digitally-controlled power and advancement materials,” said Mike Bradley, QorTek CEO, summarizing what, arguably, could have been a deeper dive that could have taken hours.

The facilities’ production capabilities put QorTek in the maritime space, he said. QorTek has a comprehensive website that describes the equipment such as ultra noise DC-DC power supplies, modular transducer amplifiers, high power Class-D amplifiers for marine applications, textured piezoceramics and military power converters. It’s confusing for most laymen and the team was glad to try to simplify it for the tour.

“Most of what we do is prototype for the U.S. Navy,” Bradley said, adding these are electronic parts and materials that provide the military branch with such things as counter measures.

“Pretty interesting stuff,” he said.

Ross Bird, QorTek, chief operator officer and Dan Warner, vice president of engineering, also briefed Thompson on aspects of the plant. QorTek has a plan for an expansion in the rear of the facility, a proposal which is slated to take another two to three years before they anticipated breaking ground.

Thompson learned how the business recently secured a five-year contract with a $12 million ceiling.

While the business makes equipment and competes with the giants of the Department of Defense contract supply world — such as Lockheed Martin — it also has partners with them as well, Thompson was told.

Thompson was shown the military hardware, sonar system equipment, and technology enabling the business to combine the disciplines of engineering and science together.

QorTek has been very successful turning interns into engineers and into employees.

It has a growing workforce consisting of those who studied engineering, highly educated individuals and a coordination between Penn State, evidenced by the many PSU diplomas on the walls of the board meeting room.

“Given that, are you finding a workforce need and recruitment?” Thompson asked team members.

He was told that production and support personnel are more easily found and recruited but the challenge has been finding seasoned professionals who are engineers.

“You’ve got to recruit the whole family,” Thompson said, laughing.

“We can provide them with stimulating, non-repetitive work with good salaries and good benefits,” Maize said.