Mound Laser & Photonics Center Inc. broke ground Monday on a new $4 million, 20,000-sq-ft facility. The company, which has grown from five to about 40 employees in 10 years, has outgrown its 15,000-sq-ft facility in Miamisburg, said President and CEO Larry Dosser. The expansion will enable Mound Laser to add another 30 workers. MLPC is fabricating micromechanical components using a 3-D laser micromachine to mimic small structures, insect parts and surfaces that occur in nature. The focus is on micro air vehicle and medical device fabrication, as well as on other commercial, aerospace and defense applications. (Image: MLPC) The new site, in Miami Valley Research Park in Kettering, is a short distance from its research partner, Wright State University, as well as from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its Air Force Research Laboratory, Dosser said. The facility will feature 10,000 sq ft of manufacturing space, with 1000 sq ft for a Class 10,000 cleanroom, and will highlight Mound Laser’s focus on laser-based advanced manufacturing and R&D. The facility will be developed and built by Mills Development, designed by Alan Scherr Associates and financed by PNC Bank. The company received a $175,000 ED/GE (Economic Development/Government Equity) grant from Montgomery County to assist with the project. Construction is expected to be completed by March and relocation by April 2013. For more information, visit: www.mlpc.com