Peter Lehnen, president and owner of Lehnen Industrial Services, introduces Keene Mayor Jay Kahn during an opening reception for Lehnen Lab in October. (Courtesy of Lehnen Industrial)
A new proof-of-concept lab in Keene where companies can showcase new technology underscores the Monadnock region’s importance in the Granite State’s high tech and life sciences sectors.
Peter Lehnen, founder of Lehnen Industrial Services, recently hosted a kickoff event for its new space at 809 Court St., which includes lab space dedicated to forging business partnerships and providing learning opportunites for students.
Lehnen Industrial develops process control technology and custom machinery, focusing primarily on the life sciences sector.
Its customers include high-volume manufacturers like MilliporeSigma — a pharmaceutical company that has operations in nearby Jaffrey — and Massachusetts biotech companies Cytivia and Repligen.
“Our machines are designed for clean rooms. They’re not erector set automation. They are purpose built,” Lehnen said during his company’s opening reception in October.
In March, the company, which employs 24 people, took over space formerly occupied by an athletic training center to expand its operations. It dedicated 1,600 square feet of the nearly 20,000-square-foot building for the proof-of-concept lab, named Lehnen Lab.
Kaz Umeda, left, of CCS America discusses his company’s products with a guest during the Lehnen Lab opening reception in Keene in October. (Courtesy of Lehnen Industrial)
In partnership with a group of automation hardware manufacturers, the company is making the space available at no cost to visitors.
The lab offers a venue to demonstrate cutting-edge technology, provides an educational resource for the community and also serves as a site for the creation of videos, trainings and webinars.
“We have these world-class manufacturers here who are able to display their wares, and it’s a cross-pollination, because Beckhoff (Automation) may bring a customer in here to see their equipment, and they get exposed to all these other vendors,” Lehnen said.
The space allows for more targeted encounters than at exhibiting at a conference hotel.
“Unlike a trade show where you’re just at random, hoping interested parties will walk by, this is a whole different marketing exercise,” he said. “It costs nothing other than the people to display their equipment here.”
Lehnen is working with local schools including Keene State College, which offers a program in mechatronics (the integration of mechanical systems with electronics and software), and the Cheshire Career Center at Keene High School, to make the program available to students.
Keene State College student Blessing Sithole, left, listens to Lehnen Industrial compliance engineer Nate Roark talking about the Asyril part feeding system in the lab during the October opening reception. (Courtesy of Lehnen Industrial)
“They get to come here at no cost and work on creating proof-of-concept things,” Lehnen said. “The same holds true for our customers.”
Keene Mayor Jay Kahn, who attended the opening reception, hopes the lab can be a catalyst for growth of the region’s manufacturing sector.
“The ability to prototype automation and have the services from engineering to fabrication to testing and measurement documentation — having that kind of a partner that does that for a variety of clients can provide advantages to manufacturers in this region. That’s what excites me about what they’re doing,” Kahn said.
“They can engage students, both from the Career Center and from Keene State, in the design and fabrication processes,” he said.
Lehnen, who was born in Germany and raised in South Florida, moved to Keene from Orlando with his wife, seeking a better quality of life and a better education for their son.
The new headquarters is the company’s third since its founding in 2001.
Keene offers a small-town vibe, but it’s hardly a hindrance to business, Lehnen said.
“The people in the Boston biotech corridor consider us local. They don’t think a two-hour drive is a big deal at all,” he said.
New Hampshire’s bioscience industry employed 9,330 individuals in 2023 across 1,048 businesses, according to a Dec. 2 report by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Council of State Bioscience Associations, which includes the newly formed NH Life Sciences trade association.
Center: Robert Chase of Lehnen Industrial, left, demonstrates a packaging application for Matthew Sherrier of Keyence at the Lehnen Lab opening event in October in Keene. (Courtesy of Lehnen Industrial)
Lehnen said he plans to join NH Life Sciences and that working in the sector offers professional and personal satisfaction.
“I think it’s really nice being in a business that’s useful. The equipment we build for the life sciences customers is meaningful,” Lehnen said.
And it’s been good for growth, though “2024 was very flat, as everybody is having the COVID hangover in life sciences. But we see business trending up again. We very much want to be part of the life sciences economy and life sciences community.”
Lehnen Industrial’s specialty is maximizing clean room space with custom designs, said Julie Runez, director of marketing. While Lehnen works with lots of companies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, it has also shipped machinery globally.
“We’ve got equipment that’s in India. We have equipment in China. We have equipment in Ireland. We have equipment in Australia,” Runez said. “Most of those companies, except for one, all stem from working with their parent company here in the Boston area.”
Igus, a German automation company that has U.S. operations in East Providence, Rhode Island, is among the companies partnering with Lehnen on the new lab.
“We’ve been working with Lenin for some time now,” said Harlos Guerrero, territory sales manager for Igus.
“They buy parts from us, and now that they have this lab space, their mission lines up with ours as well, where we all just work together to solve problems.”
