Date: Jul 06, 2012 Author: Jo-Anne MacKenzie Source: Boston Herald (
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LONDONDERR, N.H. -- Insight Technology has just been awarded a $50 million contract from the U.S. Army for more than 3,800 Enhanced Night Vision Goggle systems -- and the company is hiring.
The company, purchased by L-3 Communications in April 2010, was founded in 1988 with three employees.
When it was named Business of the Year by the Greater Derry/Londonderry Chamber of Commerce in 2010, it employed 1,100 workers.
The latest contract is "very significant" and carries with it the promise of more contracts in the future, Danielle Hoffman, Insight's director of communications.
"We're actively hiring employees -- engineering and program management personnel," Hoffman said Friday. "We're experiencing significant growth with recent contract wins; this is one of several. It's been a great year."
State officials often tout Insight as one of New Hampshire's real success stories.
In 2008, Gov. John Lynch and then-U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg commended the company for its night vision technology, which was being used in the war on terror.
That's when Insight broke ground on a 50,000-square-foot expansion -- and celebrated its 20th anniversary.
The addition meant a 33 percent increase in the size of the plant and 200 new employees.
Insight's products are used by the United States military, federal law enforcement agencies and allied nations.
The plant is located on Akira Way, near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on the north side of Londonderry.
The newest contract is for goggles that are helmet-mounted and are an example of fused technology, offering both image intensification and thermal imaging.
"They give soldiers the ability to see in poor light," Hoffman said. "With thermal image capability, soldiers in Afghanistan are, as they're walking and moving, able to make out images in the hills, through foliage and camouflage."
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Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/jobfind/news/technology/view.bg?articleid=1061143889
