SARASOTA, Fla. —Niche Electronics, a leading electronics manufacturing services company, celebrated the completion of its latest expansion project with a May 27th ribbon cutting at its Sarasota, Florida, location.

The expansion included an increase of its production area by 50%, the enhancement of HVAC, lighting, and filtration systems, and the addition of leading-edge etching and inspection equipment.

Niche Electronics crafts high-complexity circuit board assemblies for many industries, providing services from new product introduction to volume production. At 20,000 square feet, the expansion moves even closer to the uniform outfitting of all three Niche Electronics locations: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Florida.

In his remarks to staff, customers, and associates during the ceremony, Niche CEO Frank Bowman cited expected growth in the aerospace, defense, and medical sectors as the deciding factor in the decision to expand and upgrade. He also credited all in attendance for the expansion’s success, and the continued, steady growth of the company.

“We couldn’t have done this without our employees, our customers, and the community,” Bowman said. “Growth takes intention and a willingness to invest in something before you can fully see it. That's what we've done here, and we're just getting started.”

The Sarasota expansion represents more than just a growth in its overall footprint: it also represents the addition of leading-edge new equipment, including:

• Vanstron S-46OS-CO2 Laser Etcher: with a precision of +/- 0.015mm, this equipment moves to a pre-programmed position and etches predefined content like barcodes, datamatrix codes, text, or logos onto the product.
• Yamaha YSI-V Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) System: this advanced optical inspection system examines assemblies on a microscopic scale, and offers high-speed, high-accuracy 3D inspections more rapidly and accurately than visual inspections.

Niche maintains redundant sites in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Florida, enabling the company to shift production in the event of service interruptions. The three strategically located facilities also give Niche an optimal geographical reach, enabling personalized service to hundreds of high-tech customers within a three-hour drive.

SOUTH BEND, IN – June 2026 – Microscreen, a U.S. manufacturer specializing in high-precision SMT solder stencils and custom tooling solutions, has named Nik Thomas as Director, formalizing an expanded leadership role that has been developing across the organization over the past year.

The title change reflects Nik Thomas’s increased responsibility across day-to-day operations, cross-functional coordination, and long-term strategic planning alongside his father, Steve Thomas, President of Microscreen.

Over the past year, Thomas has played a key role in advancing operational priorities and supporting internal development across the business. His work has included hands-on involvement at Microscreen’s Oxford, Connecticut location, where he supported coordination efforts, helped improve execution between teams and partners, and contributed to ongoing operational initiatives as the site was being established and brought into day-to-day operation.

That effort has made the Oxford location a key part of Microscreen’s manufacturing and technical footprint, supporting production capability and customer programs across the company’s core markets.

What began as engineering and customer-facing responsibilities has naturally evolved into a broader leadership role spanning multiple functions of the business, including operations, marketing, information technology, and business development.

In his new role as Director, Thomas will oversee cross-functional teams while helping guide Microscreen’s operational direction and organizational development. A key focus moving forward will be strengthening internal teams across the company to support continued growth, while also developing long-term technical expertise to ensure continuity of knowledge, capability, and customer support for years to come.

“One of the biggest priorities for me is making sure we have the right people and structure in place for the long term,” said Thomas. “That means bringing in new talent where it’s needed, while also investing in and developing the people already here. We’re focused on building something that lasts and continues to support our customers at a high level.”

Thomas has been formally with Microscreen for more than five years, with additional involvement prior to that. As the grandson of founder Townsend Thomas Sr., he represents the third generation of leadership within the company.

“It’s important to me to see Microscreen continue to grow and succeed over the long term,” Thomas added. “Carrying forward my grandfather’s vision and my father’s work is something I take seriously. I want to make sure we continue building a company that stays strong well into the future.”

Now in its 45th year, Microscreen continues to build on a foundation of precision manufacturing and long-term customer partnerships. That focus remains central as the company supports customers in aerospace, medical, automotive, and other high-reliability industries.

As Microscreen continues to evolve, it remains focused on strengthening its technical capabilities and expanding ways to deliver value to customers. This includes working more closely with select partners where there is clear alignment in capabilities and customer needs.

One example is the Microscreen AGI Alliance (MAA), a collaboration between Microscreen and AGI. The alliance brings together complementary strengths—AGI’s fixture systems and Microscreen’s nano-coating and stencil technologies—to provide more complete solutions for shared customers.

MAA reflects a practical, engineering-driven approach: when two companies are aligned on quality and customer outcomes, collaboration becomes a natural extension of that mindset. The partnership is built on shared priorities around performance, reliability, and delivering real-world manufacturing solutions.

Together, Microscreen and AGI continue to develop integrated solutions that improve efficiency and consistency for customers across advanced electronics manufacturing.

Microscreen specializes in laser-cut stencils, nano-coated stencils, step-stencil solutions, custom tooling, and related SMT printing products used in aerospace, medical, automotive, and other high-reliability applications.

For more information about Microscreen and its advanced stencil solutions, visit www.microscreen.com.

W&S, an established distributor and service partner of capital equipment, automation solutions and lifecycle services for the electronics manufacturing industry in the Benelux, has announced a new strategic partnership and strengthened shareholder structure to support the next phase of its growth.

As part of this development, Jochem Winkelman has joined W&S as both investor and Managing Director. Having held senior roles within manufacturing and electronics production organisations, he will oversee the company's next phase of growth while working alongside strategic partner DDJ Holdings, the group behind Altus Group in the UK and Ireland and Danutek across Central and Eastern Europe.

The partnership will strengthen W&S's long-term market position, technical capabilities and customer support offering, while creating new opportunities for collaboration across the wider group.

Jochem Winkelman, Managing Director of W&S, said: "W&S has built a strong reputation for technical expertise, customer focus and service quality over many years. By combining this foundation with the experience, resources and industry knowledge available across the wider group, we are creating a stronger platform for future growth while maintaining the close customer relationships and technical support our customers value."

The new structure will allow W&S to further develop its sales, service and lifecycle support capabilities, helping customers maximise equipment performance, improve production efficiency and support long-term manufacturing objectives.

Joe Booth, Chief Executive Officer of Altus Group, said: "We are very excited about this opportunity and look forward to supporting the continued development of W&S. The company has a strong reputation in the Benelux market, long-standing customer relationships and an excellent portfolio of technology partners.

"With Jochem leading the business and the support of the wider group, we believe W&S is well positioned for future growth. By sharing knowledge, expertise and best practices across our organisations, we can further strengthen the support available to both customers and suppliers throughout the region."

For existing customers and suppliers, W&S will continue to operate as the trusted partner they know today. Existing contracts, service levels and ongoing business operations remain unchanged.
To support continuity during the transition, Ruud Bouwhuis and Goos van Pelt will remain actively involved with the business, while Helen Pels will continue her activities within W&S until her retirement, ensuring valuable knowledge and relationships remain in place.
Founded in 1984, W&S has established itself as a trusted partner to electronics manufacturers throughout the Benelux. Through its strengthened shareholder structure and strategic partnership with DDJ Holdings, the company aims to further reinforce its position as a leading provider of equipment, automation solutions and lifecycle services to the electronics manufacturing industry.

CRANSTON, RI -- Federal Electronics, a leader in providing advanced electronic manufacturing services, announced the addition of a new in-house environmental test chamber designed to support the reliability, qualification, and validation requirements of high-performance electronic products.

The advanced thermal test system delivers precise and repeatable temperature conditioning across an extended operating range of -70°C to +200°C, providing customers with expanded access to environmental testing services without the delays and costs often associated with third-party laboratories.

Designed for demanding qualification and reliability applications, the chamber offers programmable temperature cycling and ramp profiles with ±1°C stability, enabling testing aligned with widely recognized industry standards. The system supports key portions of MIL-STD-810, RTCA DO-160, IEC 60068, SAE J1455, and applicable NASA GEVS environmental test procedures.

“This investment strengthens our ability to help customers accelerate product qualification, reduce program risk, and validate performance in real-world operating environments,” said Ed Evangelista, Federal Electronics President. “By combining manufacturing and environmental testing under one roof, we can provide a more streamlined path from prototype through production.”

Customers in aerospace and defense, medical devices, high reliability industrial, and semiconductor capital equipment markets will benefit from faster environmental validation, earlier identification of design vulnerabilities, improved product reliability, and greater supply chain efficiency.

The new capability further enhances Federal Electronics’ vertically integrated manufacturing model, allowing customers to consolidate build, test, and qualification activities with a single U.S.-based partner committed to delivering high-reliability products for mission-critical applications.

For more information about Federal Electronics’ environmental testing and manufacturing services, visit www.federalelec.com or contact sales@federalelec.com.