Friday, June 13, 2008

State commits $5M loan to Beacon Power to expand manufacturing

By Mass High Tech Staff

Power regulation equipment maker Beacon Power Corp. has landed a $5 million loan commitment to support the expansion of its production facility in Tyngsborough. The deal was announced by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick at a facility inauguration event this morning.

The funding comes through a collaboration between MassDevelopment’s Emerging Technology Fund and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, each of which will provide $2.5 million to the project. Final documents are being prepared and the transaction is expected to close within the next few weeks, according to Beacon Power officials.

The company’s expansion is expected to add jobs to the region’s clean technology cluster, though executives did not disclose specific numbers. Beacon Power reported 44 employees in its latest federal filing.

Beacon Power (Nasdaq: BCON), which makes fly-wheel energy storage systems, was founded in 1997 as a spinoff of SatCon Technology Corp.’s Energy Systems division. The company went public in 2000, and last year reported $1.4 million in revenue on a $13 million loss.