Arrow Electronics Inc., the largest electronics recycling company in the United States, closed its Saint Paul facility (formerly Asset Recovery Corp) on March 27, 2015, laying off the bulk of its 77 employees on the same day. The remaining employees will be laid off in phases by September 30, according to the notice given by the Colorado-based electronics supplier to Minnesota officials in February.The facility recycled, reused and disposed of electronics for customers in retail, manufacturing, healthcare, finance and transportation industries. It was acquired by Arrow Electronics Inc., the largest electronics recycler in the United States, with its purchase of Asset Recovery Corp in 2012. Until the acquisition, the latter had a staff of 95 employees and projected annual sales of about $20 million.The mass layoff has come as a piece of bad news for Minnesota, just as the state was making a speedy economic recovery. But there is a bright silver lining in the cloud. The exit of Arrow Electronics Inc. has left the field wide open for its homegrown competitors, chief among them being OceanTech. Founded in 2005, this Minneapolis based R2 certified company has made its name as a top notch recycler of higher-end IT hardware over the years.According to OceanTech’s website, the company was founded in 2005 with a vision to recover value from retired IT hardware through maximizing reuse while minimizing the practice of scrapping electronics for raw materials. The company services not only Minnesota, but the nation, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami and Los Angeles.OceanTech specializes in all sorts of electronics recycling, including computer recycling, server recycling, laptop recycling, cell phone recycling, and tablet recycling. So far, the company claims to have serviced over 1600 clients that include Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, federal and state government agencies, universities and small businesses all over the United States.The company focuses on secure data destruction and environment-friendly electronic recycling and says that it has a strict “No Landfill” policy, which means all old electronics items are refurbished and sold or their components reused. It also claims that it is able to pay 2 – 3 times more for customers’ retired/surplus electronics items, which is one more reason to use its service.Thus, with OceanTech and other homegrown electronics recyclers stepping in to fill the void, it is believed that the departure of Arrow Electronics will not affect Minnesota’s economy too much. In fact, this may be just the big break that Minnesota’s homegrown companies have been looking for to flex their wings.