Kalispell tech firm expanding

ClassOne Technology of Kalispell, a wet-chemistry semiconductor equipment manufacturer, has acquired two complete product lines from Pennsylvania-based Microprocess Technologies.

The acquisitions position ClassOne for major growth this year, ClassOne President Byron Exarcos said.

The company has a current work force of 30 employees and will add 12 to 15 manufacturing positions this year, according to Kevin Witt, vice president of technology. 

A new facility to house the growing company also is in the works in the next 12 to 18 months. Witt said ClassOne has outgrown its facility on Cooperative Way and for now is moving into additional units within the building. 

Manufacturing for both new lines will be moved to Kalispell. Included in the acquisition are the Microprocess Spin Rinse Dryer and Spray Solvent Tool families, which have become ClassOne’s Trident lines.

“This acquisition is a natural fit for us,” Exarcos said. “ClassOne’s fundamental mission is to provide higher performance wet-processing equipment at lower cost to the user, just as we’ve done with our Solstice electroplating tools, and that’s exactly what the new Trident Spin Rinse Dryers and Spray Solvent Tools deliver.”

ClassOne Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based ClassOne Equipment, started two years ago in Kalispell and is staffed largely by former Semitool and Applied Materials engineers. 

The company develops, manufactures and delivers innovative new wet-chemical processing equipment especially for cost-conscious emerging markets and users of smaller substrates that traditionally have been underserved by bigger manufacturers.

“This acquisition is the culmination of a relationship that’s been in progress for some time with Microprocess Technologies,” ClassOne Chief Financial Officer Richard Dotson said. “Months ago we began with an exclusive sales agreement for the SRD and SST products, and now ClassOne has secured full ownership of both lines.”

Exarcos said ClassOne

has been actively seeking opportunities to expand its offerings in high-growth segments of the industry. Some of the emerging technologies are estimated to be growing at double-digit annual rates, he noted.

He explained that the Spray Solvent Tool is becoming an essential process-of-record tool for metal lift-off, resist strip and more.

“In those scenarios, Trident tools are being seen as attractive solutions,” Exarcos said, “because they’re able to handle a range of advanced processes at a cost substantially lower than competitive systems.”

Exarcos said many of the Trident performance advantages are the result of innovative and elegant design features such as wrap-around heating to enhance drying, a Deluge spray manifold to improve rinsing and reduce particles, and ClassOne’s powerful new Solaris system controller.