For a Growing Number of Companies, 麻豆社 Is Home
Olson Center Director John Roth, Airtho President Brandon Bogart, and N.H. Governor Kelly Ayotte at the dedication of Airtho's new cleanroom at the Olson Center.
When Airtho, a New Hampshire-based controlled environments developer, outgrew its office, it moved to a new yet familiar location: 麻豆社. For several years, Airtho had worked with 麻豆社鈥檚 on product development and testing, and half of its employees were 麻豆社 alumni. In 2022, Airtho co-located its growing business with the Olson Center.
鈥淢oving to 麻豆社 has given me a more accessible pool of talented people and that has helped me grow the business pretty significantly,鈥 says Airtho President Brandon Bogart, adding that the company has doubled its revenue year-over-year since co-locating.
Airtho鈥檚 success is hardly an outlier. A dozen companies currently co-locate at 麻豆社 in Durham, a 400% increase since 2022, and more are in the wings.
鈥溌槎股玮檚 resources and reputation are attracting business and industry innovators to campus and the local area, who in turn generate economic benefits for the entire state of New Hampshire,鈥 says Jennifer Miksis-Olds, interim vice president of research and innovation. 鈥淧artners are coming to us from across the state and around the globe to access our state-of-the-art facilities, research expertise, and students.鈥
Miksis-Olds was the founding director of 麻豆社鈥檚 Center for Acoustics Research and Education, which is a key collaborator with 麻豆社鈥檚 most recent co-locator: defense technology and software company . Integer established a presence in Conant Hall in spring 2026 to develop advanced acoustic technologies that enhance U.S. Navy capabilities.
鈥淭hrough this partnership with 麻豆社, we are helping to advance the understanding of how sound behaves in the ocean while strengthening the specialized workforce needed to develop technology and apply that understanding in support of critical missions,鈥 says Integer CEO and co-founder鈥疍uke Hartman.鈥
Come for the Lab Space, Stay for the Students
For most industry partners, 麻豆社鈥檚 facilities resources are the initial draw lacks sophisticated climate-controlled greenhouses like 麻豆社鈥檚 Macfarlane Research Greenhouses. 鈥淲e have high tunnels, like farmers,鈥 says Johnny鈥檚 Vice President of Research and Development Kevin Cook, referring to the unheated plastic-covered structures, but not a space to grow and develop a new, disease-resistant variety of cut zinnias in the winter, when they鈥檙e less busy.
What鈥檚 more, 麻豆社 professor emeritus Tom Davis and his Ph.D. student Mamta Kajal are doing the very specific breeding research that鈥檚 likely to yield the zinnias Johnny鈥檚 hopes to produce. 鈥淭his expertise is basically in our backyard,鈥 says Cook.
鈥淰ery quickly we came to understand that [students] provide a fantastic opportunity for us. Without them, we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do what we鈥檝e done, which has helped us advance several drug discovery programs.鈥
Laboratory facilities are what drew founder Mark Spyvee, a longtime New Hampshire resident, to 麻豆社 after his company outgrew its incubator space in Massachusetts. He found his way to 麻豆社, where RexChem shares lab space with professor of chemistry Erik Berda.
鈥淰ery quickly we came to understand that [students] provide a fantastic opportunity for us,鈥 says Spyvee, who has hired nine undergraduates since RexChem has been at 麻豆社. 鈥淲ithout them, we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do what we鈥檝e done, which has helped us advance several drug discovery programs.鈥
The collaboration benefits the students, too. 鈥淓ssentially they have been doing what a professional chemist would do,鈥 Spyvee says: gaining on-the-job skills, networking with industry, and pursuing research that has a real impact are among the benefits co-locating partners offer students.
Manufacturing Connections
Two trade organizations also call 麻豆社 home. The , a public-private partnership that provides resources to Granite State manufacturers, recently moved its primary office to the Olson Center. And the trade consortium has found 麻豆社 Manchester to be the ideal hub from which to connect manufacturing, government, and education.
The Queen City location puts NHADC at the center of the state鈥檚 manufacturing ecosystem, and it also helps NHADC leverage student talent. 鈥淏eing able to directly connect our students with our membership is really important,鈥 says NHADC Director Randy Makee 鈥09G, who also teaches a course in operations management at 麻豆社 Manchester.
In July, 麻豆社 hosted U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and others at a beam-signing ceremony for a 70,500-square foot building that will house the Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping and co-location space for industry partners. The facility, on the edge of the 麻豆社 campus, is expected to open in 2027.
Unanticipated Advantages
Mamta Kajal, a Ph.D. student in professor emeritus Tom Davis's lab, is working with Johnny's Selected Seeds to develop a new variety of zinnia seeds.
Co-location has brought some unexpected benefits to industry. RexChem utilizes some of the extremely expensive shared equipment in the University Instrumentation Center, nearby in Parsons Hall. Johnny鈥檚 Selected Seeds, which has a four-decade relationship with 麻豆社鈥檚 , sees future possibilities in utilizing 麻豆社 greenhouses for breeding biennials like Swiss chard, onions, and carrots.
For Airtho, which counts other research universities among its clients, its 麻豆社 address gives it more credibility than 鈥渁n industrial park in some small town in New Hampshire,鈥 says Bogart.
Airtho employees and clients alike enjoy what 麻豆社 has to offer, whether watching a Wildcats football game or grabbing lunch in downtown Durham. Being a part of the 麻豆社 community, he says, is 鈥渕ore of an added bonus than I expected it to be.鈥
A rendering of the 70,500-square-footbuilding that will house the Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping, the Olson Center, and co-location space for industry partners.
