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Voices of the Industry: Alpha Circuit
May 6, 2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Business Always Finds a Way
Prashant Patel, founder and president of Alpha Circuit, takes a pragmatic approach to doing business: “Commerce always wins out,” he says. How will potential tariffs and shifts in the economy affect PCB manufacturing? Prashant offers sound advice.
Marcy LaRont: Prashant, what is the “state of the state” of your business?
Prashant Patel: Our business is going quite well. As we get our new Tech Center in Schaumburg going, we are starting to fill it with high-end business. We are hearing from many new customers who are pleased with our Tech Center because it can handle their product today and in the future. Many new customers are bringing their latest technology to us, which is gratifying since we have made a huge investment in that facility. We still have the Elmhurst facility for our more standard technology.
Overall, things are good. I am no expert on the rest of the industry, but from what I hear from my counterparts, everyone seems to be getting busy.
LaRont: With a new administration in Washington, what are you most concerned about? How does it weigh into your strategy for the next few years?
Patel: Business is business, and politicians are politicians. In the end, commerce always wins out. People, companies, and countries want to do business with each other. We need to do business with each other, and we always find a way.
If you are talking about the tariffs, I am not too concerned about that since we all have to pay them in one way or another. If there are tariffs on laminates, for example, all PCB shops are paying them, so it is still an equal playing field. My personal philosophy is to run my own race and stay in my lane. I care about what I can do something about, like my own company.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the April 2025 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
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