Ophir-Spiricon Honored by Utah Chamber

Ophir-Spiricon was honored as the outstanding technology business of the year by the Cache Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber’s 2012 annual awards banquet at Utah State University. President Gary Wagner accepted the award.

Gary Wagner accepts the award from Cache Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandra Emile. (Image: Ophir-Spiricon)

“Ophir-Spiricon exemplifies the type of company we want to encourage to stay, grow, and, in the future, locate in Cache Valley, Utah,” said Sandra Emile, CEO of the chamber. “They represent clean, innovative industry; steady growth; and above-average paying jobs with excellent employee benefits. They also believe in supporting the community. We applaud their success in the laser technology industry.”

Ophir-Spiricon, a Newport Corp. brand, develops precision-based laser measurement equipment. The company was founded in 1978 by Dr. Carlos Roundy, who invented a technique to make 2-D images from heat (now known as a pyroelectric infrared camera) while working at Bell Labs. Bell was not interested in commercializing the technology, so Roundy brought the camera concept to Cache Valley and founded Spiricon.

Thirty years later, the company is now operating as Ophir-Spiricon, and over the past five years, it has more than doubled its number of employees (58), quadrupled its revenue to $21 million, and in 2001 moved into a new 18,000-sq-ft facility in North Logan, Wagner said.

For more information, visit: www.ophiropt.com