By Don Eriksson
Staff Writer - Pepperell Free Press

PEPPERELL – Participants in last fall’s town meeting encountered Laurie Masiello outside the entrance handing out job notice flyers for Masy Systems, Inc., located in Lomar Park.

Available jobs at the time included a marketing manager, accounting assistant, calibration supervisor, metrology technician – and a corporate nanny to “feed 30 hungry people lunch five says a week.”

All positions were said to offer competitive compensation, generous benefits and a chance for growth.

The low-tech recruiting technique belies the specialized, high-tech nature of the 23-year old validation service.  But then Laurie and her husband, John, have built their business the old-fashioned way, by work of mouth and one-to-one attention for each client.

The approach has worked well, to the point that Masy – a derivative of the Masiello name – will leave its 6,000 square-foot facility at 18 Lomar Park Drive for 15,000 square feet of Building 10 condominiums in the park, purchased as the year closed.

Masy Systems (www.masy.com) validates and documents temperatures predominantly for environmental chambers for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.  Its sensors can discern variances as little as two-tenths of 1000^th of a degree in a range from minus 200 to plus 420 degrees Celsius.

“Like most companies, we intend to provide the best service, et cetera, but the cost must be low,” Executive Vice President John Masiello said, “so quality, turnaround and prices are our mission.”

One client will be Bristol-Myers Squibb at Devens.

Masy also calibrates other firm’s validation equipment, process controls and laboratory instrumentation.  Its equipment is calibrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Washington, D.C.  Three employees are currently attending high-precision temperature training there.  Only four students are taken in at NIST each year.

The firm also sells and purchases new or used validation equipment – for example, data-loggers, temperature reference standards, temperature baths, relative humidity and carbon dioxide sensors – refurbishes old equipment, and produces premium thermocouple wire or harness assemblies.

John is an electrical engineer whose resume includes K-Instruments (now GE Sensing), BTU Corp. of Billerica, and Advanced Vacuum Systems.  Laurie, the President and CEO, is a former junior high school English teacher and Realtor (Hunneman and Coldwell of Groton).  One son, C.J. lives in Townsend while another, Gregory, is at home.

Laurie’s brother, Robert, is CFO and John’s, brother, Steven, is validation manager.

“Our growth averages 22 percent a year.  We got our ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001 certification in 1993 and put a quality program in place,” John said.  “We have an ISO 17025 certification in testing procedures.”

Just 2 percent of the top20 percent of companies send their standards to NIST.

“We’re very proud of these certifications,” Laurie said.  “You’ve got to prove you’ve done it and that the methods and standards are correct based on testing by eight anonymous laboratories.”

She said Masy Systems often gets calls from companies whose goals weren’t met by other validation firms, because of its reputation for efficiency.  The Masy team will work around the clock if necessary.  Other calls come in from companies nearing a cycle end and, anticipating growth, need equipment in a hurry.

The firm produces and rents out a locally generated product – the Masy “Commander” temperature monitoring system – whose central computer monitors and documents feeds from multiple sensors in a building or chamber.

“The cornerstone to our business is honesty,” Laurie said.  “We employ a lot of local people, advertise locally and hand-deliver.  We’re down to earth.  John started the business working at home, then on the road.  Then we hired a Pepperell guy and we all ate lunch at home.”

That’s where the corporate nanny approach comes in.  Lunch is important to Masy.  Everyone eats together, and up to now have taken turns cooking and cleaning up.

The firm also is involved locally.  It sponsors the Tony Mariano Band (he’s an employee), the summer band concerts and skate board park, as well as Cub Scouts.  It’s a Pepperell Business Association member and the Masiellos bank locally.

The Masiellos have been in town 30 years.  Once, when looking for a business location, they moved to a 34-foot motor home for a year but ended up in Lomar Park around the corner from their home.

“Pepperell works for us and we plant to stay,” Laurie said.  “We’ve survived economic ups and downs and we’re growing.”