Drone motor manufacturer opens doors for community tours

LACONIA — Following recently unveiled plans for an expansion of the ePropelled manufacturing center, company staff held an open house Tuesday, showcasing manufacturing machinery, production lines, quality control and a behind-the-scenes look at bringing the patented drone motors to fruition.

The expansion of the facility on Lexington Road will triple production and increase support for the local job economy, led by founder Nick Grewal.

“As Nick mentioned, we’re experiencing explosive growth,” said Chris Thompson, vice president of global sales at ePropelled. “As you all have probably heard and seen in the news, the drone industry is a rocket ship of explosive growth globally.”

The company was founded in 2018 by Grewal, an entrepreneur known for his work in over 40 high-tech companies. Originally, Grewal opened ePropelled in Lawrence, Massachusetts, but expanded to Airport Road in Gilford in 2020. Three years ago, the company moved from Lawrence to Laconia, bringing with it a need for employees, and the Gilford location was folded into Laconia’s.

Representatives from the offices of U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (District 1) and Maggie Goodlander (District 2) read messages to the audience, and Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton) presented a commendation from Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

It reads: “Whereas this expansion marks ePropelled as the first U.S.-based drone component manufacturer with the Department of Defense compliant supply chain, positioning New Hampshire at the forefront of national defense innovation. And whereas ePropelled’s Laconia facility will employ more than 350 skilled workers and produce hundreds of thousands of motors and controllers annually serving land, air and sea applications across the defense and commercial sectors.”

It ends with, “I, Kelly, governor of the State of New Hampshire, do hereby commend ePropelled for its groundbreaking work in advanced propulsion technology, its commitment to the U.S. defense readiness and its leadership in building a high-tech future right here in the Granite State.”

Guests were then led throughout the manufacturing facility, gleaning a look at a stator winding machine operated by Dave Smith of Laconia. In a different room, technician Michael Karras, 29, explained how his machine checks for motor balance, a preventative measure ensuring the quality of the sparrow motor.

With such fast growth anticipated, leadership expects challenges, like staffing and hiring, facility size constraints and production capacity.

“Our biggest challenge right now is [the] supply chain for mechanical parts,” Grewal said.

To meet their current production numbers, they need an additional 100 employees.

“We need to get the word out: we’re hiring,” said Dean Marcarelli, vice president of marketing.