Time-line: Facilities, Employment and Management
Sept. 23, 1955 - GE announced its rectifier business was moving to Lynchburg from Lynn, MA.
June 18, 1956 - First local employee hired.
June 25, 1957 - New Mountain View Road plant containing 264,000 square feet of floor space completed on 122 acres of land.
July 25, 1958 - General Electric announced the move of its Communications Products Department from upstate New York (mainly Syracuse and Utica) to Lynchburg.
August 14, 1958 – 200,000 square feet leased in the old cotton-mill buiilding on Carroll Avenue. Rectifier manufacturing and some mobile support operations housed there.
December 31, 1958 – 1100 employees on payroll, including initial NY transfers of communications business.
January. 1, 1959 - Lynchburg was formally designated as worldwide HQ for GE's communications business. Harrison Van Aken is General Manager, Lacy W. Goostree is Manager of Marketing and Richard P. Gifford is Manager of Engineering.
March 3, 1959 - Employment reaches 1400 - Almost all engineerin,g, Marketing and finance now transferred from Syracuse.
June 15, 1959 - Marketing manager Goostree and GM Van Aken Introduce Transistorized Progress Line
December 31, 1959 – 2200 employees on the payroll as communications business was staffed for production.
January. 18, 1960 - New two-story, 33,000-square-foot office building completed at Mountain View Road.
July 13, 1960 – Entire Mountain View Road plant air conditioned.
December 31, 1960 – 2500 employees on the payroll.
December. 31, 1961 - 3,000 employees on payroll (which was maintained or exceeded until the mid 1980s).
March 15, 1962 – Major manufacturing and office building expansions completed, adding 120,000 square feet of floor space for a total of 417,000 in space at MVR plus 200,000 leased space - Carroll Avenue Plant.
During 1964-69 Dr. Louis T. Rader was VP and GM of the Industrial Process Control Division which inckuded the Communication Products Departtment.
April 24, 1964 - Porta-Mobil Introduced - all silicon devices - no tubes
February 5, 1968 – Mobile Radio Business Section established as part of Communication Products Dept.
August 20, 1969 - Huricane Camille - GE helps with volunteers and equipment.
September. 1, 1969 - General Electric's communications business becomes the Communication Systems Division with HQ in Lynchburg. Division VP and GM is Dick Gifford. Departments are: Telecommunication Products Department. (Acting General Manager: Dick Gifford - later Chuch Eaton?), Mobile Radio Department (General Manager Glenn Petersen) and a department in Waynesboro.
November. 10, 1969 - Additional office space leased and later purchased. Named Fort Avenue Building. Housed Division headquarters and other offices.
October 16, 1970 - MRD GM Glenn Petersen announced Florence, SC as the location for additional manufauturing space.
About 1971 - Chris Kastner was appointed Division VP and GM replacing Dick Giffford who was given a consulting position. Also Glenn Petersen out as MRD GM (he goes to Simplex Time Recorder Co.) . He is replaced by Don Bates.
September. 30, 1971 - Ground broken for the Florence, S.C. mobile radio manufacturing plant
October 13,1972 - MASTR II Announced
April 12, 1973 - Power line carrier UHV production/test center at Mountain View Road dedicated. Inside view of the Power Line Carrier UHV test facility
In 1973 -Florence plant in full operation producing metal and plastic parts.
April 22, 1974 - Leased Bradley Park Building opened, manufacturing Hybrid Thick Film microcircuits.
March 1, 1975 - Personal radio manufacturing begins operation at Timberlake Plant on Waterlick Road.
August 1, 1975 – GM Don Bates announces a MRD reorganization to cover the fast growing International Market. By this time J. F. Pontillo is Mobile Manufacturing Manager
January. 1, 1976 - GE's mobile communications business begins acquisition of European manufacturer of mobile radio equipment -- Storno of Denmark, headquartered in Copenhagen.
July 1, 1976 - New customer services center building opens at Mountain View Road - GE out of Carroll Ave. building.
June 1, 1977 - Bradley Park Plant purchased; expansion begun to double its size.
September 2, 1977- Don Bates was promoted and Don Myers becomes the new GM for MRPD.
February 1979 - At this time C. T. Kastner Heads the Mobile Communications Business Division, D. J. Meyers is GM of Mobile Communications Operations, and J. F. Ponzillo is GM of the U. S. Mobile Radio Department.
About 1980 the Mobile Communications Operations above becomes a GE Division with an Engineering Department (GM Karl Whitaker), a Manufacturing Department (GM Joe Ponzillo) and a Marketing Department (I can't remember who the GM was)
Early 1982 - Walter E. Weyler named GM
Mid 1983 - GE Medical Systems business begins a small, but destined to grow, operation in the Florence plant.
September 1984 - John Trani replaces Walt Weyler
Nov. 13, 1984 - GE to cut 750 jobs in Lynchburg; implemented on January 2, 1985.
March 3, 1986 – Wall Street Journal advertisement announcing Multi-Million Dollar Public Auction of GE surplus manufacturing equipment including automatic insertion and injection moulding machines in SC.
September 1986 - John Trani promoted to head GE's Medical Systems business - replaced by W. James McNerney, Jr.
September 7, 1988 - W. James McNerney, Jr. leaves Lynchburg to become President GE Information Services in Rockville, Maryland,. He is replaced by John V Kese.
November 21, 1988 – GE sells Bradley Park to Lynchburg Sheltered Industries.
August 31, 1989 - LM Ericsson of Sweden and General Electric's Mobile Communications Division announce the formation of a new joint-venture company. Manufacturing to be in Lynchburg and R&D at Research Triangle Park, NC.
Late 1989 - Mobile Radio ceases all opertions in the Florence plant, and it becomes 100% Medical Systems.
January 1, 1990 - The new joint venture Ericsson-GE begins operating. Ericsson 60% owner - GE 40% owner. John V Kese. was President
Early 1992 - Ericsson bought an additional 20% of the joint venture from GE. George Fath was President.
April 1, 1998 - Ericsson bought GE’s remaining 20% of the business, and GE leaves the LMR business.
*****Post GE*************************************
Januaryuary 26, 2000 - Ericsson sold the Land Mobile business to Com-Net forming Com-Net Ericsson, Inc.
May 15, 2001 - Com-Net sold the business to M/A-COM, forming M/A-COM Wireless - a Tyco International company. This business was located on Jefferson Ridge Parkway in Lynchburg.
May 29, 2009 - Harris Corporation purchased Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems, and, as L3Harris, still maintains a small presence in Lynchburg as of 2023.
Present-2023 – Catalyst Communication Technologies formed in 1996 (by ex-GE employees?) is in the LMR business in Forest, VA.
