TransducerWorks Opens New Centre Hall Facility, Expanding U.S. Manufacturing for Global Ultrasound Company

TransducerWorks officially opened its new manufacturing facility in Centre Hall on Wednesday, marking a major expansion for the Pennsylvania-based operation as parent company Vermon Group grows its global footprint in ultrasound technology.

The new 30,000-square-foot facility consolidates the company’s four local sites under one roof and significantly increases its manufacturing capacity in the United States. The purpose-built plant includes ISO 7 and ISO 8 certified cleanrooms, an integrated machine shop and more than triple the industrial capacity of the company’s previous location.

The Centre Hall expansion is one of three major announcements from France-based Vermon Group, which also acquired ultrasound subsystem company Moduleus and launched a unified corporate platform bringing together its four businesses under the Vermon Group name.

TransducerWorks, founded in 2007, designs and manufactures custom ultrasound transducers used in medical, veterinary and industrial applications, as well as fish finders. The company serves North American customers while complementing Vermon Group’s operations in France and South Carolina.

According to the company, the new space is four times larger than its previous site and provided three times more production capacity to support projects. The Centre Hall site also allows “integrated capabilities,” meaning its R&D, production, cleanrooms and machine shop can all be brought together under one roof. 

Centre Hall mayor LeDon Young said the company’s growth reflects both the region’s strengths and its long-term commitment to innovation.

“Our soils are known for their fertility, and since its inception in 2007, TransducerWorks has certainly grown,” Young said. “Its designs and manufacture of custom and state-of-the-art ultrasound transducers for medical, veterinary, industrial and fish finders has certainly grown. That growth and its commitment to improving the quality of life through development of innovative ultrasound products has been its guiding force.”

The new facility strengthens Vermon Group’s manufacturing presence in the United States, allowing the company to increase production while keeping operations closer to its North American customers. Company officials said the investment is intended to improve production capacity, shorten response times and support future growth.

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, said the expansion is an investment in both the local economy and workforce.

“As a local legislator, we’re always excited when we see new businesses coming to town, businesses that are going to grow, bringing four different sites under one roof,” Benninghoff said.

Benninghoff also said he hopes companies like TransducerWorks will help retain more young professionals in Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania as a whole is an aging state … the third largest aging state in the nation, and we worry about that because we need more young people here in our community to stay here,” Benninghoff said. “We do a great job in our tremendous educational institutions educating people, but oftentimes they go somewhere else. Your product is pretty unique, and what it does, and the applicability.”

Vermon Group CEO Bertrand Boutaud called the opening a significant milestone for both the Pennsylvania operation and the France-based company.

“It’s a major event for us today. It’s a unique milestone,” Boutand said. “There are plenty of people in the world who never experience inauguration of a new plant, and for TransducerWorks it means a lot. For Vermon Group in France, it means a lot as well.”

Boutaud said the United States remains the company’s largest market, accounting for more than half of its revenue.

“Our main customers here [in the U.S.] present nearly 60% of our revenues, and very prestigious customers,” Boutaud said. “I mean, we are working with startups, but also with major companies worldwide. We can be very proud of that. So we can have leading medical technology companies here. Of course, the markets are huge, and we are very offensive in these markets. And innovation in the United States is very advanced, and we benefit from that from our customers.”

He added that manufacturing products domestically has become increasingly important to customers.

“Our American customers are very happy to hear that we are able to manufacture in the United States, to have teams in the United States,” he said.

The Centre Hall facility also represents an investment in future employment and workforce development, according to site director Jim Evans.

“Today, we open the doors to represent more than manufacturing capacity. It represents growth, innovation and shared opportunities,” Evans said. “This new facility was designed with a clear purpose to support sustainable, long-term development in a way that strengthens both our business and the community around us. “From energy-efficient systems like our lighting, our HVAC, every part of this building represents commitment to be responsible and progress this modern manufacturing excellence. 

“But buildings don’t create impact, people all around us do, and we built this space in mind. It will bring new jobs, new training opportunities, and extended partnerships.”

Evans said the products manufactured in Centre Hall will contribute to medical technologies used around the world.

“This building represents possibility– the possibility to grow, to innovate and to create a future that is brighter than anything we ever imagined,” Evans said. “Inside those walls … new ideas, new technology will be fostered to improve the health and well-being of not only the citizens of this great county, but all over the world. Prostate exams will be less invasive. Endoscopic procedures will be more detailed. Point of care will be more than just evaluations, but thorough examinations with power, with our state-of-the-art products…It’s about the people, it’s about the promise and it’s about the possibility.”

Founded in 1984 in Tours, France, Vermon Group develops ultrasound technologies for medical and industrial markets. The company employs more than 600 people worldwide, including more than 130 research and development specialists, and works with customers ranging from startups to multinational medical technology companies.

The newly launched Vermon Group brings together four complementary businesses: Vermon in Tours, France, which designs and manufactures ultrasound probes and transducers for global original equipment manufacturers; TransducerWorks in Centre Hall, which supports North American customers; Moduleus in France, which develops ultrasound subsystems; and Vermon NDT in Walhalla, South Carolina, which produces phased-array ultrasound probes for industrial sectors including energy, aerospace and oil and gas.

Company officials said the combined organization will allow customers to work with a single partner for products and services spanning ultrasound components, subsystems and integrated OEM platforms while expanding the group’s research, manufacturing and production capabilities.