Leland-based Manufacturing Methods has increasingly made a name for itself by thinking big – and small.

The contract manufacturing company can turn out large metal structures as well as surgical screws. Its clients range from major corporations to small-scale businesses. Its products are found anywhere from nuclear power plants to recreational fishing boats.

The 2017 Coastal Entrepreneurship Award isn’t the first CEA honor for Manufacturing Methods. It won in the Manufacturing category in 2011, but this year’s nominator pointed to the significant growth and evolution of the company since then, and the judges agreed that Manufacturing Methods was worthy of further recognition.

Growth has been steady for Manufacturing Methods since 2011, but a move in December 2015 from about 20,000 square feet total at two locations into a consolidated 40,000-square-foot plant in the Leland Industrial Park provided a burst of new opportunities.

In 2016 Manufacturing Methods doubled its annual revenues and nearly doubled its workforce, hiring about 20 employees to reach its current staffing of 42, said Pete Peterson, the company’s founder and president.

“So far in 2017, we’re on track for at least a 50 percent increase [in revenue],” he said. “We’re purchasing new equipment and entering new markets.”

Manufacturing Methods provides a range of services, from CAD/CAM applications to custom machining, metal fabrication and powder coating. Customers come from the die and mold, plastic mold, communications, auto, aerospace, power, medical and dental industries.

Manufacturing Methods also does large projects for the nuclear energy industry and still turns out hefty metal structures for Rocky Point-based Filmwerks.

“We do design based on concepts and manufacture prototypes, sometimes doing long-term manufacturing of [the resulting products],” he said. “Our new building allows us to bring in services and products we used to farm out, and to go after markets we couldn’t serve before.”

One promising new line of endeavor is the medical/dental industry, which has what Peterson describes as a “drastic need” for specialty parts, devices and instruments for orthopedic, general medical and dental applications.

“There is a major shortage of these items in the United States because the industry is on such a rise,” he said.

Peterson’s vision of where his company could go has helped him identify resources and potential markets since he started Manufacturing Methods in January 2007.

Flexibility has also been key, Peterson said, pointing to his company’s ability and willingness to change its business model and adapt its tooling depending on what industries or businesses – big and small – are particularly busy and how markets are trending.

For more info about the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards, click here.