Bliley Technologies, an Erie company since 1930, sold to Japanese firm Kyocera

In 1930, when Erie's Frank Dawson Bliley founded what would become Bliley Technologies, he was in the business of manufacturing quartz crystals for the amateur radio market.

These days, the company's crystal oscillators are used on military jets, battleships and on NASA satellites.

More than 90 years after Bliley got its start in Erie, a new buyer, Japan-based Kyocera, sees a bright future for the company. And Kyocera sees that future taking shape in Erie.

The company, which has about 82,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of nearly $15 billion, announced Monday that it has purchased Bliley from a group of Erie investors, including the venture capital firm 1855 Capital.

The sale price was not disclosed.

Kyocera, which operates four U.S. divisions under the banner of Kyocera AVX, will create a fifth division with the acquisition of Bliley. The deal, which was in the works for more than a year, was awaiting regulatory approval for much of that time.

Kyocera AVX will operate for now from leased space in the Bliley building at 2545 W. Grandview Blvd. That building is owned by Erie lawyer and businessman Roger Richards, who owned Bliley from 1998 until 2019 when he sold it to 1855 Capital and a group of other investors.

Ralph Ford, who is the chancellor of Penn State Behrend and was among a number of local investors with a small stake in Bliley, said Kyocera has ambitious plans for the company, which generates annual revenues of between $7 million to $8 million.

Investing in Erie

Ford said Kyocera plans to begin work soon on a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Knowledge Park, a business technology park located on the Behrend campus in Harborcreek Township.

Kyocera AVX will build and equip its own building on leased space on Knowledge Parkway, Ford said.

"They want to be close to the university," Ford said. "Bliley has a strong connection and they hire a lot of our students in engineering and business."

Kyocera is buying Bliley with the expectation that it will grow, Ford said.

"Kyocera is estimating at some point that it will grow to be a $50 million to $100 million a year operation," with double or more the current number of employees, Ford said.

Amy Bridger, assistant dean for innovation and corporate strategy for Penn State Behrend, said in a statement that Bliley "is a perfect fit for Knowledge Park. It’s exactly the type of business that benefits from being close to a university.”

Ford said he's not concerned that Erie will lose something in this transaction.

"This is a great story in that we are not losing the company," Ford said. "They are building this manufacturing site that is quite significant. They want to create a substantial business in the United States."

The business of Bliley

Kyocera is already a major player in the worldwide production of crystal oscillators, which can be found in mobile phones and a long list of other electronic devices.

Those oscillators are produced by the millions, with most selling for a dollar or less, said Matthew Rhodes, CEO of 1855 Capital.

Bliley has laid claim to the higher end of the crystal oscillator market, supplying components, many of which sell for thousands of dollars, to the government and for use in outer space, especially on low earth orbit satellites.

It's a big market that's expected to grow as more of these satellites are launched and eventually need to be replaced.

"Space is a nasty place," Rhodes said, where oscillators and other components must withstand a harsh environment.

In a 2018 interview with the Erie Times-News, Keith Szewczyk, the company's CEO, explained that Bliley was among a handful of U.S.-based companies that manufactured crystals and oscillators within the same facility.

2018: Pieces of Erie are out of this world

Access to the market

Up until now, Kyocera hasn't had access to the sort of high-end customers that Bliley served, Rhodes said.

"They never had access to that U.S. market. You have to have a domestic presence to get contracts with the government," he said.

Rhodes said a scenario like this one was what he envisioned when 1855 Capital was formed in 2018 with a number of investments coming from the Erie area.

"This is a home run," Rhodes said. "Kyocera is a very good company and a very people-oriented company. I think they have every intention of growing employment here."

In an announcement from Behrend, Rhodes said, "Our goal from the start of this process was to grow the business and position it for a long-term investment that could expand it even further. In every discussion with Kyocera AVX, there was a consistent message of the need for Bliley’s products to be manufactured here in Erie, using the skilled workforce that has always been one of the company’s strengths.”

The sale includes the transfer of more than 20 patents, Kio Ariumi, a senior vice president with Kyocera, said in an announcement from the company.

"We are very pleased to welcome members from the Bliley Technologies team to KYOCERA AVX and are very excited to further expand our crystal devices portfolio with the disruptive technologies they've developed," he said.

Along with 1855 Capital and Gulfshore Capital, Ben Franklin Technology Partners led the investment in Bliley in 2019.

“The acquisition of Bliley Technologies by KAVX demonstrates the value of having early-stage, risk-tolerant capital operating in our region," Steve Brawley, CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, said in a statement. “Local capital can attract investment that gives our start-ups the opportunity to make global impact and bring job growth to our region.”

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Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Bliley Technologies has new owner with plans to grow company in Erie