A marine tech company that’s helping to build self-driving boats has announced a $1.8 million expansion to its headquarters in Slidell.
The company, Beier Integrated Systems, will add 15,000 square feet to its facility. That will allow them to retain 30 existing jobs, and the company expects to add five to 10 jobs next year, each of which pays an annual salary of $80,000.
It’s a sign that business is good for the 79-year-old marine tech company, which builds custom electronic systems for government and private vessels.
They’ve designed electronic systems for NOAA research vessels and Coast Guard cutters. They’re building out the electric switchgear for a state-of-the-art tugboat, designed by Metairie-based Maritime Partners, which will run on hydrogen fuel rather than diesel.
In collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research arm of the military, Beier is helping to design fully self-driving boats for a project called the No Manning Required Ship, or NOMARS.
“Technology on a boat, it’s basically a floating city,” CEO Ben Todd said. “You need to be able to produce your own power, you need to be able to navigate the boat safely.”
They also provide amenities on board to help the crew stay comfortable on long trips. The scientists, in particular, “they’re picky,” Todd said. “They want everything like they have at home,” including cable TV and high-speed internet.
The company has operated in the New Orleans area since it was founded in 1945 as Beier Radio. The company’s founder, Frank Beier, “thought that a radio was the most sophisticated piece of technology that would ever be found on a boat,” Todd said.
Needless to say, naval tech has evolved considerably since then.The company still makes radios — but that’s just a small fraction of what they do.
St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper celebrated the investment. “Ben and his team have invested in St. Tammany for generations, and I look forward to their continued success here and throughout the nation,” he said in a statement.
“We love to see existing legacy St. Tammany businesses continue to invest in their people and their companies and St. Tammany,” said Chris Masingill, the CEO of St. Tammany Corporation, which advocates for economic development on the northshore. “This is the kind of technology and innovation that businesses on the northshore bring to the industry.”