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14 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2026 Who helped you get the company started? Whiteside: I worked with HCI Equity Partners (now known as Oridian Capital Partners), a private equity investor group based in Washington, D.C., that I had worked with many years before. I knew they were interested in the North Ameri- can PCB market, so together we conducted extensive research, de- veloped a strategic thesis, and began outreach to select companies. We have been doing this for a long time, and from the beginning, we understood the importance of scaling our investments to acquire the people, organization, and capital equipment to be at the leading edge of technology. The cash flow requirements to be the kind of manufacturing partner that your customers require keep getting more expensive every year. For example, when Gerry and I first started in manu- facturing, a film-based platform with UV lights cost about $40,000. Now, an imaging platform costs 12-15x more because it's direct imaging. At one time, mechanical drills were the only choice; now a laser drill costs 5x more. That's an important point. After securing the investment, how did you get started? Whiteside: We identified two outstanding com- panies with excellent reputations that could form the foundation of Summit. We purchased KCA Elec- tronics in April 2016, and Marcel Electronics (MEI) soon after. MEI was known for producing highly com- plex rigid boards, HDI constructions, and for using advanced materials. KCA specialized in advanced rigid-flex manufacturing. Both had very interesting in- dividual customer lists. Importantly for us, both com- panies provided a broad end-to-end product mix. We started consolidating, not only the back-end systems of payroll, accounting, etc., but also our sales forces to give this new company one face to our customers. We put a lot of emphasis on cross- selling between the two customer bases and intro- ducing customers to the expanded capabilities we could now offer. That approach generated organic growth almost imme- diately. At that time, Summit was just a small fraction of the size we are now. Leading up to 2016, investor interest in PCB manufacturing was relegated to a much small- er number than what we are see- ing today in North America. Did you find that to be true? Whiteside: That's correct, Marcy. Before we started Summit, North America's PCB industry had been in a 15-year decline. But we were convinced there were durability and growth prospects in supporting U.S. defense and in commercial prototyping, and this was part of our initial strategy. We felt those two areas would provide long-term growth opportunities in North America, and that remains where our com- pany is focused. You created a sound strategic approach at the out- set and believed you would create a substantial presence in this market. Was there any trepidation given the market at that time, and have you wa- vered from that strategy? Whiteside: We saw some initial challenges. The North American market didn't really start growing until the end of 2017, and it's been consistently growing since. But we believed in the industry's long-term growth prospects and in our strategy, which was to provide a platform with end-to-end product capabilities. With our background, experi- ence, and insight, we took on the challenge to grow in the market, and it has worked out well. Investors want to see that demonstrated ability to grow or- ganically, and we've also made some interesting acquisitions along the way. Something I find interesting about Summit has been the ability to create a cohesive organization through mergers and acquisitions. That is not a small feat, and you've done it seven times. What is your strategy? Shane Whiteside