SEL Moscow operations will start next week

The new Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories circuit board facility in Moscow will begin operating next week, the company announced Friday.

The 162,000-square-foot facility on U.S. Highway 95 in south Moscow will fabricate printed circuit boards used in SEL products that protect and monitor electric power systems around the world. Construction on the facility began in 2021.

The company will employ 60 people in the facility. They include a variety of engineering roles, such as chemical, mechanical, software and computer-aided manufacturing. It will also have equipment operators and maintenance workers.

According to SEL, the facility features zero-discharge water recycling and air filtration technology.

The SEL property team served as the contractor for the construction project and partnered with multiple companies in the Pacific Northwest.

An SEL news release described the process that goes into making printed circuit boards. First, fiberglass and copper are layered to create a conductive base. The base board is then sent through a series of automated processes that include drilling, layering, copper plating and etching. The finished boards serve as the foundation of SEL’s manufacturing process, where integrated circuits and other electrical components are mounted to the board.

“SEL folks with many different backgrounds, educations, interests and experience teamed up to conceive, design, build and produce these essential components of our products — all on our own dime without any government handouts or subsidies,” said Edmund Schweitzer, founder and president of SEL, in a statement.

SEL plans to host a grand opening for the Moscow facility later this year.

SEL is headquartered in Pullman and has other manufacturing facilities in Lewiston; Lake Zurich, Ill.; and West Lafayette, Ind.