Dexter business set to expand

By Mike Lange

Staff Writer

 DEXTER — A Dexter-based company that specializes in automated quality control equipment has been awarded a $25,000 seed grant from the Maine Technology Institute  Advanced Concepts and Engineering LLC will invest $128,000 of their own money on top of $600,000 already spent on innovative testing equipment, according to president and founder Joel Costonis.

 “If all the pieces come together, as it appears they will, I’ll eventually have more than 20 people working in town with an annual payroll exceeding $1.3 million in four-and-a-half years,” Costonis said.

 To date, Costonis said he has “met and exceeded all objectives he has set for his company.” But admittedly, he struggles looking for Maine-based vendors as he wants 100 percent of his company “to be supplied and assembled here.”

 Costonis has been in the paving business for 20 years, and said that he always enjoyed the “quality control aspect of the industry. A lot of science goes into the aggregate.”

 But one ongoing problem has been the length of the tests required by state and federal government agencies. “The current AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) testing procedure that classifies the particulates by size takes 90 minutes or more before you know whether it’s good or bad,” Costonis said. “We now have pieces of proprietary testing equipment that can reduce that time by 65 percent.”

 Costonis also said that one problem with the aggregate industry “is that while the businesses have grown, the testing protocol has not kept up. This changes everything.”

  He cited the scenario of a paving contractor doing Interstate 95 with material that isn’t up to Department of Transportation standards. “The DOT then gives you a choice: take it up and put it down again or pay a penalty,” he explained. “Chances are they’ll just pay it and go. So now you have a whole infrastructure that could be compromised.”

 While Costonis is the architect of the software for the testing program, he added that Bruce Bushey of Cornville — who has been working on the project since its inception — wrote the program. “He’s brilliant. I can’t say enough about him,” Costonis said. “He can control a telescope looking into deep outer space from his living room.”

 The Dexter entrepreneur started working for Barrett Paving Company in 2001 where he met his wife, Rae-Shawna. “She was the first person I met in the state, and 14 years later she’s my wife and the mother of my three amazing children,” he said. “She understands the business more than most people I know. She’s my number-one cheerleader.”

 Costonis said that the grant award not only means a lot to his firm financially, but the fact that MTI was impressed enough with the concept will open more doors for him.

  “The people at MTI are wonderful because they want you to win,” he said. “The application process is pretty brutal. You have to tell your whole story in five pages. But when 17 out of the world’s top 25 aggregate companies call you before you’re even finished with the process, you’re onto something.”

 Costonis is presently in the development phase with a local venture capital group, Maine Angels, for the company’s second round of capital for a targeted $500,000.

 He also credited U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s office for their assistance. “I told them we needed help getting to the finish line, so they steered me in the right direction,” Costonis said.

  His next quest is to find a suitable location to set up his company. “I’ve got my eye on a few places, but nothing definite,” he said. “I will tell you I’m staying in Dexter. We have hard-working people here, and nothing would make us more successful than utilizing the workforce in my home town.”

 While he said he’s naturally excited about developing a process that will streamline the aggregate testing process, Costonis said that creating the jobs is just as important to him.

 “We’ll need at least 10 production positions plus customer service, accounting, marketing, and so forth and we’re looking at a minimum compensation package of $37,000 a year and some level of company-paid health insurance,” he said. “My father raised us on the mantra that you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and the central Maine workforce is one of the best in the country.”