Power Technology Inc.

Recruiting to Arkansas the highly skilled workers needed for the laser industry is not easy. But for nearly 40 years, Little Rock’s Power Technology Inc. has drawn enough expertise to become a major player in the niche field.

Today one of the company’s biggest assets is the number of people it dedicates to its laser technologies, according to Walter Burgess, vice president of sales and engineering.

Power Technology, which employs about 50, was founded in 1969 by Burgess’ father, Thomas Burgess.

Thomas Burgess was in the telecom business when he heard from a friend about a Jacksonville company that needed a power supply for a gas laser, so he began making gas laser products on his kitchen table

Over the years his company grew by making smaller and more efficient laser products. Then, when semiconductor lasers began replacing gas lasers, Power Technology changed its focus too.

“When that switch happened, we were in a position where we already had a large customer base,” Burgess said.

Those old gas-powered lasers now make up only about 15 percent to 20 percent of the company’s business. Today, Power Technology’s three main fields will also be the company’s driving force for the future, Walter Burgess said.

The company makes lasers for inspecting semiconductors, such as those used in computers or cell phones, so that when those chips are mass-produced they aren’t made incorrectly repeatedly.

It also makes lasers for biomedical analytical applications, such as machines that use lasers to detect cancer, analyze DNA or measure certain properties of blood tissue.

The company’s third focus is reprographics, which could include lasers used for making holograms on credit cards or lasers that digitize hazardous X-ray film.

Power Technology does not actually make these machines or the technology they enable — just the lasers.

As Walter Burgess put it, “We make the light engine and someone else makes the car.”