Hybrid plans expansion

When biologists think about Mississippi's uniqueness, they probably think of the Mississippi sandhill crane, Yazoo darter or Camp Shelby burrowing crawfish.

For food buffs it may be comeback sauce or muscadine wine.

But in the industrial world, the state's unique product is quickly becoming POSS, or Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane.

Much like the burrowing crawfish, POSS, a silicon-based molecule measured in nanometers - or billionths of a meter - is exclusive to the Hattiesburg area. And the patent-holding manufacturers at Hybrid Plastics told a group of federal and state leaders Monday it is their goal to keep it that way.

"Everyone across the world is buying POSS - a technology made here in Mississippi and it can't be made anywhere else in the world," Hybrid President and co-founder Joe Lichtenhan said. "That's going to guarantee us a place in global technology."

His comments came at a ribbon-cutting event to unveil the $2.3 million, 15,000-square-foot expansion that will allow the company to increase its production five-fold to nearly a ton of material a year and double the current 30 employees.

The tiny POSS molecules are used to enhance the quality and durability of other materials in high-tech applications like arterial stents, fiber optic light generators, radiation shields or aerospace applications. It is the first significant chemical feedstock to be developed since 1955 when DuPont discovered aromatic monomers used in polymers like Kevlar, which is used in bullet-resistant vests.

Lichtenhan said Hybrid is also in the process of building an additional $2.8 million expansion that will allow them to manufacture up to 500 tons a year of a lower purity product that can be used in less sensitive applications. And that would keep the technology in Mississippi.

"If we don't demonstrate a capacity to manufacture a certain volume, then our customers will want to foreign source the manufacturing process," Lichtenhan said. "That's what Hybrid doesn't want to see happen. We've got 15 to 16 acres of land to build on and we want to keep the know-how here in Mississippi."

Hybrid moved from California to Hattiesburg in 2004 largely because of former University of Southern Mississippi president Shelby Thames' aggressive marketing of the university's polymer science program and new economic incentives created by Gov. Haley Barbour, the company president said.

"This represents a major increase in their manufacturing capacity and it's going to lead to the establishment in Mississippi of other high-tech industries," U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran said, listing off a variety of uses including U.S. Defense Department applications. "Hybrid Plastics is a great example of the type of company we want in Mississippi."

Barbour said he has watched computer technology shrink from behemoth machines capable of performing basic functions to complex devices that fit in a person's pocket.

"I won't pretend to understand nanotechnology but it is a pretty obvious extension of the miniaturization of technology that has been going on since World War II," he said.

Barbour said the average salary for Hybrid's employees is $90,000.

Southern Miss officials are also in the process of building the new Innovation and Commercialization Park along Classic Drive that Lichtenhan said would have been Hybrid's home if it had been finished when his company chose Hattiesburg.

Cecil Burge, vice president of research and economic development at Southern Miss, said the university is about 18 months from completing the first building, which will include the technology for entrepreneurs to start businesses like Hybrid.

"It should be clear to every one of us that Hybrid Plastics is a success story that can be duplicated again and again in the future," Thames said regarding the new technology park.

And it will be the role of local economic leaders to create the kind of environment that is appealing to both companies and the employees they bring with them or wish to harvest from the region's educational institutions, Area Development Partnership President Angie Godwin said.

"It goes back to our 360-degree view of economic development," she said. "We have to make sure we round out all the pieces. The burden is on us to leverage all our assets to draw more companies like Hybrid."

For scientists like Zack Kemp, a Magee native who graduated in Southern Miss' chemistry program, finding a high-paying job close to home was a godsend.

"I had a girlfriend - we just got married - and she was still in school at the time," Kemp said. "I didn't want to move away from her and my family. It was really great to have something like this. It's been an awesome job and I've really enjoyed it."

{}About Hybrid Plastics

*{}Executives: CEO, co-founder Joe Lichtenhan, COO Carl Hagstrom

*{}Founded: 1998 with $2 million grant from National Institute of Standards

*{}Mississippi presence: Moved company California to Hattiesburg, 2004

*{}Growth: Completed $2.3 million expansion increasing production five-fold; beginning $2.8 million expansion to increase capacity 500-fold

*{}Jobs: Currently about 30; expected to grow to 100 to 150 as production increases

*{}Product: POSS (Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane), used to improve quality and durability of other material

*{}Applications: Arterial stents, fiber optic light generation, radiation shields, solar cells, automotive, aerospace components

*{}What is nanoscience?: Developing materials at the atomic and molecular level