WINDHAM – An award-winning designer and manufacturer of medical optical devices, Lighthouse Imaging Corp., has relocated from Portland to North Windham.

Located at 765 Roosevelt Trail, Lighthouse Imaging replaces Maine Standards Co.

Maine Standards, which designed pharmaceutical products and occupied a large space beside the North Windham Post Office for more than a decade, is now located in Cumberland Foreside, according to Ben Smith, Windham’s assistant planner.

Lighthouse’s owner, Peter Anania, who is a longtime Windham resident and a member of the Windham Town Council, said the reason for the move in July was a result of the company’s revenue increasing “four-fold,” and the fact that, in addition to design, Lighthouse plans to manufacture its medical optical devices right in Windham.

“The biggest piece was that it fit the criteria we had for the space, but bringing it [Lighthouse Imaging] to Windham was something I was proud to do and hope that we can do it again in the future,” Anania said.

Anania owns several other local businesses, including Maine Cedar Log Homes; TrakTec, a pressure sensitive label manufacturer; mWAVE Industries, a microwave antenna manufacturer; Mega Industries, a microwave component manufacturer for research and development; Biovation, an advanced medical wound care manufacturer; Grow-Tech, which makes products for nurseries to grow seedlings in greenhouses; and Science Source, which makes educational products for universities, Anania said.

The 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility also fit Anania’s goal to accommodate the company’s growing number of employees, Anania said. It now provides room for research and development, design, engineering and sales, Anania said of the location.

Lighthouse Imaging was previously located in a 3,000-square-foot space in the Time and Temperature Building in downtown Portland, but Anania said the location did not provide enough space for the manufacturing side of business, or for his employees to operate at their best.

“We needed a space that was larger and medically clean, if you will,” Anania said, explaining that Maine Standards, which previously designed its products in the FDA-registered space in Windham, left the building in “good shape.”

“It was a perfect [place] to move into,” Anania said.

Improving

Anania purchased the corporation in 2010 through Portland-based Anania & Associates Investment Co., he said, with a strong interest in Lighthouse’s technological strength, numerous patents and innovative leadership.

As medical science continues to advance, Anania said, so does the demand for optical devices like those produced by Lighthouse Imaging.

According to Anania, he intends to add an HVAC system to maintain the air quality and install a new sign at the front of the building to identify his new location.

Facade improvements, he said, are taking place this week by the building’s owner, Ken Ray. The intent is to transform the building into a business park from the current “shopping mall,” Anania said.

As a member of the Town Council, Anania said the facade improvements align with the town’s zoning and ordinance changes, as well as its newly adopted 21st Century Downtown Plan, aimed at improving North Windham’s infrastructure.

“We are the first ones as part of the plan, coming to the area,” Anania said of Lighthouse Imaging. “The town wants to make it more business- and pedestrian-friendly.”

The 21st Century Plan, according to Smith, lays out ways the area could become more bicycle-friendly and looks at more of a local street network, so shoppers can avoid Route 302 every time they want to travel from place to place.

“Another change that came about was the adoption of the town’s Design Standards and for projects going through site plan review, or the Planning Board process for commercial buildings in our commercial district that would have to meet certain criteria,” including landscaping and parking, Smith said.

Dan Hancock, chairman of the Windham Economic Development Corp., pointed out the building where Lighthouse Imaging just moved to looks like a “rundown” retail space. The town is looking to make improvements to the area to make it look like a business campus.

“Over the last few years, the town [Windham] adopted the downtown plan to create a more vibrant downtown area,” and Lighthouse Imaging is a nice addition, Hancock said.

“It’s to create a downtown, where people live and work and want to spend time in,” he said of the plan, which includes improving sidewalks. “It’s an ambitious plan and is not something that is going to happen overnight. To implement all of it could take decades.”

Since Anania & Associates bought Lighthouse Imaging, the company has tripled its workforce, Anania said. He is in the process of hiring three more employees, he said.

The new location is convenient for employees to get to and has more available parking than its Portland location, he said.

“Customers can come right up the turnpike and right to our [location] much more easily,” Anania added.

“We expect to get another order for development of a large project that could be about another $1 million worth of sales over the next year. We signed another one for $1.1 million a month and a half ago. That’s why we pushed to get in here now,” Anania said. “The move went well, it didn’t interrupt production and we continue to grow.”

Anania said he anticipates Lighthouse Imaging to increase to around $10 million in sales in the next few years, and to continue to pursue the manufacturing of medical optical devices, not just design, which the new space allows.

Peter Anania, owner of Lighthouse Imaging, stands at the doorway to the company’s new location in Windham. The company relocated from Portland to North Windham in July, replacing Maine Standards.