wiredInUSA - April 2013
16
wiredIn S - March 2013
The company’s products include specialist cables
for headset communications: “We went to the
moon," said Ray Chesson, company president.
Another strong area is medical electronics. The
product they make is "small, lightweight and
strong," Mr Chesson said, the thinnest being three
times the diameter of a human hair.
Very much a family firm, grounded in the
community, the company has been part of the
local economy for nine decades. "We're very
proud that our employees stay with us," Harold
Chesson said. "At one time we had a half a dozen
employees who'd been here more than 40 years."
And not just workers. The factory today includes
a vintage cable spinning machine, made by the
American Brass Co, that has been in operation
since 1937.
The company employs 45 people, doing custom
jobs for some 200 clients worldwide. While much
of the company's competition comes fromChina,
theirs remains a "made-to-order" business. "We'll
do down to a thousand feet of custom runs," Mr
Chesson said, though: "We've got one order on
the books right now for 60 million feet.”
Moving with
the times
is a 90-year
tradition
Gavitt Wire & Cable Co of
Brookfield, Massachusetts, is
celebrating its 90
th
birthday.
Founder Lester Gavitt started
the company in 1923 making
buggy whips and shoelaces.
A ham radio enthusiast, Mr
Gavitt "could see a need for
wire and cable," and as he
had the braiding equipment,
got into the business of
making them, said company
president Mr Ray Chesson,
whose family acquired the
company in 1977.
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