Courtesy / AEC Engineering
AEC building at 172 Lower Main St., Freeport. The company has been in the location since 1990, and will celebrate its 30-year anniversary there this August.
June 14, 2020
Former Connectivity Group co-owner buys Freeport engineering firm
Courtesy / AEC Engineering
AEC Engineering buyer Tim Hooper, right, and seller Dave Audesse conducted what Hooper called a “COVID closing” with physical distancing on the tailgate of Hooper’s truck.
The former co-owner and president of the Connectivity Group is now the new owner and president of AEC Engineering in Freeport.
Tim Hooper bought AEC’s real estate and business from Dave Audesse for an undisclosed sum, in a deal that closed this spring.
The real estate consists of offices and a fabrication facility in one building located at 172 Lower Main St. in Freeport.
Hooper and Audesse had a “COVID closing” on the tailgate of Hooper’s truck, complete with hand sanitizer and gloves, as the lawyers shuttled stacks of papers to sign back and forth, Hooper described.
Hooper grew up in southern Maine and is a resident of Falmouth.
He sold his stake in the Connectivity Group, which is now part of Auburn-based Connectivity Point Design & Installation, to his business partner, Doug Watts, in February 2019, he told Mainebiz.
Established in 2006, Connectivity Group and sister company Connectivity Point Design & Installation, established 2002, specializes in infrastructure for voice, data, video and security applications.
Interesting timing
Last fall, Hooper began networking with various consultants to find a small business to acquire.
He had certain criteria: a small company that had a great reputation and was a business-to-business company rather than business-to-consumer. And he didn’t want to detour entirely from his information technology experience at Connectivity.
Initially, he didn’t have a whole lot of success.
“But one day I blasted out some emails and I got a reply from a CPA and he said, ‘Tim, your timing is interesting. One of our longtime clients let us know he intends to put his business up for sale this year. Would you like us to introduce you?’ And I said, ‘Yes, please do.’”
In talking with Audesse, Hooper found that AEC applies a lot of the same knowledge base that came from Connectivity, but in the industrial world.
“My interest in AEC Engineering grows out of my experience with communications cabling and IT infrastructure,” he said. “The more I learned about the company, the more interested I became. AEC has technical skills and expertise that is in limited supply and in demand. The company has a stellar reputation within the industry, and they have the loyalty and respect of their customers.”
AEC, founded in 1982, had the solidity he was looking for, while also being a small company.
Interesting projects
Courtesy / AEC Engineering
AEC Engineering employee Brandon Morissette wires a control panel.
Often referred to as a “systems integrator,” AEC Engineering designs and fabricates custom controls panels used in industrial automation. It offers custom design, engineering, programming and fabrication expertise. It's clients are in a range of industries, including water/wastewater, manufacturing, communications, energy and biopharma.
The company gets involved in all sorts of interesting projects, Hooper said. Its control panels are integrated into the equipment and systems sold by other companies. As a result, AEC panels go all over the country and Canada.
Some past projects include the controls for the “turtle tank” at the Boston Museum of Science; controls for the water systems at the oyster hatchery/facility of Mook Sea Farm on the Damariscotta River; and controls for electric generating turbines powered by natural gas, which are clean-burning and shipped all over the country to enable companies and municipalities to get off coal-fired electrical grids.
“One of my favorite aspects of AEC Engineering is the combination of Yankee ingenuity and Maine craftsmanship,” Hooper said. “We build the controls that turn our customer’s concepts into a working reality.”
Hooper financed the purchase of the real estate through loans from Gorham Savings Bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The purchase of the business was financed by a Gorham Savings Bank loan.
The two separate transactions were finalized at the same time.
Digital processes
Courtesy / AEC Engineering
AEC Engineering’s fabrication shop in Freeport.
As an essential business, AEC has continued to provide products and expertise to support customers’ critical infrastructure throughout the pandemic.
The company has a small crew of seven people who essentially self-quarantined by simply going to work and then going home each day, he explained. The usual safety precautions, such as physical distancing, hand sanitizing and facemasks, were introduced on the premises.
“This is a little bit of good news that comes at a challenging time,” said Hooper.
Hooper said he plans to honor AEC’s long history while investing in its future.
“New ownership will strengthen the company and bring new energy and resources to what is already a strong business,” he said.
Investment includes the introduction of digital processes to replace old-school paperwork.
“Over half the workforce is under 30 and they are very motivated by my interest in digitizing some processes,” he said.
He’s also looking at expanding the company’s geographic scope.
“I see a lot of opportunity for AEC to do more,” he said. “The economy might be uncertain, but my confidence in this company is certain.”
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