A groundbreaking ceremony last Friday morning marked the beginning of construction for a 22,000-square-foot building for the mWAVE Industries technology firm in the Little Falls area of South Windham.
“It’s going to be the first commercial building connected to the public sewers,” said Windham Economic Development Director Keith Luke. The building will have both public water and sewer lines connected to the $6.5 million wastewater conveyance project that serves Windham, Gorham and the Maine Correctional Center.
Peter Anania, president of Anania & Associates that owns mWave, said sales have been up 100 percent this year and his seven employees have outgrown their space in the industrial park on Sanford Drive in Gorham.
“Right now they’re cramped for space,” said Anania. He said the move-in date is Oct. 1.
The tech firm makes microwave antennas for communication devices, including cell phone infrastructure. In February the firm completed a project for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Chris Mosher, vice president of engineering, said NASA used their microwave antennas to align some of their larger antennas.
“They did not disclose to us the application,” he said, referring to the larger antennas.
The new location on Main Street in South Windham will also provide space to Maine Cedar Log Homes and has 10,000 square feet of space available for an additional manufacturing and technology business.
A clearing behind an existing building at the new location has been used by mWave in the past to test out new antennas.
“Our test range is out here, so it’s nice to have that in our backyard,” said Mosher. The technology firm is expected to hire more engineers in the near future.
mWAVE: Peter Anania, second from right, holds a gold-painted shovel at last Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new mWave Industries technology firm building in Windham. Anania is the president of Anania & Associates that owns mWave. The new 22,000 square foot building will be the first Windham commercial building connected to the new sewer line.Send questions/comments to the editors.
