Circuit Services, Inc. Retains Jobs and Remains Competitive with Assistance from MEPOL and SWTAAC
 
“I have been very pleased with the relationship we have formed with MEPOL and the services they have made available. I have brought MEPOL into other businesses because I am pleased to share this valuable resource with my customers. The SWTAAC program introduced to me by MEPOL is also a good program that offers a great opportunity that businesses should look into, especially if they have been negatively impacted by imports and are on the fence about spending money for improvements, training, marketing, etc.”
      - Dan Sensebe, President of Circuit Services, Inc.

Company Profile: Circuit Services, Inc. in Kenner, Louisiana designs, manufactures and assembles printed circuit boards. The company was founded in 1979 and employs 15 people. They sell their products throughout the U.S.
 
Situation: Circuit Services, Inc. needed to upgrade its information management system and obtain more training for its employees in order to remain competitive in the electronics industry. The company has also been negatively impacted by imports. MEPOL collaborated with the Southwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SWTAAC), an organization that assists U.S. manufacturing firms hurt by import competition, to help Circuit Services, Inc. obtain funding that would partially subsidize the services the company needed.
 
Solution: With assistance from MEPOL, the company applied for a grant from SWTAAC and received approval for $30,000 to pay for a portion of the improvements they needed. To date, MEPOL has assisted the company with two separate tasks partially funded by SWTAAC. The first task involved:

• A review of the information needs of the company.
• Designing a system to meet those needs.
• Creating an individualized software system to automate the information management.
• Implementing the software system.
• Training the designated users to use the system.

The second task involved assistance in purchasing items necessary for the company’s training efforts, including materials from the Institute of Printed Circuits and training equipment.
 
Results: Circuit Services, Inc. now has software that is current and up-to-date with the electronics industry. The company has also obtained training materials from the Institute of Printed Circuits that will allow them keep up with current practices. Circuit Services, Inc. is also developing plans for forming a training school for the New Orleans area, to train others to work in the printed circuit boards industry. The improvements have helped the company stay in business, resulting in all jobs retained.  We expect to hire 2-3 more employees for our training program and we hope to hire some of the students from that program as we expand our assembly operations.