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For six decades, Tech Etch has built its reputation around a willingness to take on technically demanding work, winning over customers with the jobs that many competitors would avoid. Founded in 1964, the Massachusettsbased company has grown into a trusted precision manufacturing partner to the world’ s leading medtech and defense organizations. However, as President & CEO Rich Cammarano is quick to point out, the parts Tech Etch makes is only half the story.
“ Our‘ why’ is not just to fabricate flexible circuits,” he declares.“ Our‘ why’ is to fabricate flexible circuits for devices that enhance people’ s lives.” That sense of purpose runs through everything Tech Etch does, from the operating room to the factory floor.
The company operates across three core disciplines: precision metal fabrication, flexible circuit fabrication and assembly, and EMI / RFI shielding products. Rich explains that company founder, George Keeler, directed the organization for 54 years before retiring without a formal succession plan – a gap he credits for counterintuitively shaping the company’ s next chapter.“ That succession led to a search, and I subsequently joined the organization about eight years ago.”
Rich’ s arrival in 2018 kicked off a period of widespread transformation. The company transitioned from 30 percent to 100 percent employee ownership, replaced a 35-yearold DOS-based system with a modern ERP platform, reshaped its board, and rebranded – all within two years.“ We went through a pretty radical period of change between 2018 and 2020,” Rich continues.“ Then Covid happened. I would say we actually got through that difficult period as an organization, and ultimately, we entered a brand-new chapter.”
Today, Tech Etch produces customengineered components spanning battery grids for pacemakers and defibrillators, mechanical components for life-saving
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