Date: Dec 17, 2013 Author: Adam Sichko Source: bizjournals (
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In a word, David Apkarian gains freedom by selling part of his Schenectady, NY, company today.
That increased freedom manifests in two ways: The pursuit of new business partnerships, and the ability to move the business elsewhere, even out of state.
"I can go anywhere. It's flexibility like you can't imagine," Apkarian tells me.
Apkarian is the second-generation president and CEO of TransTech Systems Inc., started by his father Harry, an influential area entrepreneur up until his death in 2009. TransTech's core product is a testing device that helps contractors measure the density and strength of asphalt.
Apkarian says the core technology in those sensors can be used in a wider array of industries, from testing the strength of carbon-fiber airplane parts to bio-medicine. The U.S. government is using the technology on a trial basis to detect buried land mines.
But some potential partners have shied away, Apkarian says, viewing TransTech as strictly a construction company because of the work done by a division called QCQA. On Dec. 17, TransTech's board voted 7-0 to sell QCQA to two employees, as I reported this morning.
"We can no longer afford to be tied just to construction," Apkarian says.
"We see some lucrative partnerships going forward,"Apkarian says. "Research funding has changed; you can't just get it on your own anymore. You have to be part of a team, whether it's with a university, big business or even other small businesses."
Apkarian says the split with QCQA liberates him to move out of his cramped space in a Schenectady strip mall.
Apkarian had been pursuing a move to Colonie—but that's now called off, he tells me. I wrote earlier this year about that potential move, and Apkarian's pointed critique of a business climate he felt was urging him to ditch New York.
Apkarian says his landlord eventually gave up trying to build a new building in the Albany suburb, which is a commercial hub of the Capital Region and its second-largest municipality by population.
"I can make those devices in class A office space, anywhere," Apkarian says.
TransTech will be profitable this year, for the fourth year in a row, Apkarian says. The company's products are in use in 60 countries, via 36 distributors.
The company will have 20 employees, primarily engineers, following the split with QCQA, which employs 30 people.
Apkarian says he's serious about wanting to move his business to another state. He rattles off the attractive candidates: Georgia, Virginia, either of the Carolinas.
"I would love nothing better than to pick up and move," he says. "I don't want a handout. What I want is an easier business environment."
Yet Apkarian also acknowledges many reasons that such a move would not happen. His 85-year-old mother, born and raised in Schenectady, still lives in the area. He's the co-president of the Niskayuna PTA, where his 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son attend school. The Capital Region offers "fantastic" colleges, he says.
"If I didn't have such personal ties to New York, I wouldn't have my business here," Apkarian says.
