Reading Works
Encyclopedia
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
was a manufacturer of integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
and optoelectronic equipment for communication and computing. The work force grew to nearly 5,000 by 1985 making the Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, facility one of Berks County's largest industrial employers. As a part of Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
and the Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
, it changed it masthead many times during its life.
1952 - From Allentown to Laureldale
The origins can be traced back to 1876, when Elisha GrayElisha Gray
Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company...
lost his race to invent the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
put in a patent application just hours before Gray filed one. Gray nevertheless left his mark on the telephone industry in 1869 when he and Enos N. Barton formed Gray and Barton, a small manufacturing firm in Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Three years later, the firm, now based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, was renamed the Western Electric Manufacturing Co. By 1880 it was the largest electrical manufacturing company in the US. A year later when growth of the telephone network was outstripping the capacity of smaller suppliers, American Bell purchased a controlling interest in Western Electric Company and made it the exclusive manufacturer of equipment for the Bell telephone companies. Western Electric Company was responsible for developing as well as manufacturing Bell equipment. In 1907, Theodore N. Vail combined the AT&T and Western Electric engineering departments into a single organization that became Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in 1925. Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
became the manufacturing arm of the Bell System.
In 1951, just four years after the invention of the transistor
Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
by Bell Laboratories, the Allentown Plant was opened to manufacture the first transistors.
In 1952, operations in Reading began when Western Electric Company (WECO) converted the old Rosedale knitting mill in Laureldale into a factory that produced electronic components for the U.S. government for use by the military and the space program. On August 22, 1952, Western Electric Company opened the doors of its new electronics manufacturing facility in Laureldale. Growth was slow but steady. By the end of 1952, there were 130 employees, and by the end of 1953, 253 employees. In 1958, a group of Bell Laboratories scientists moved to Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, from other locations and started the Laureldale Laboratory in the Laureldale Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
Plant. Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
was a division of Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
. Initially the Laureldale Laboratory designed electron tubes (vacuum tubes). Eventually, after becoming the Reading Laboratory, it designed semiconductor devices which eventually included integrated circuits, light emitting diodes, and lasers.
1962 - From Laureldale to Reading
By the late 1950s, the increased demand for its products necessitated Western ElectricWestern Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
building a larger facility, so plans were developed for a 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) building at the North 11th Street site. The Greater Berks Development Fund built the Reading plant at the end of 11th street for $2 million to lease to Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
and Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
.
Ground breaking took place in November 1960, and on Jan. 2, 1962, Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
took possession of the new building, Building 30 (the manufacturing building).
In 1964, Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
bought the 290000 square feet (26,941.9 m²) building. By 1966 all facilities had moved from the Laureldale plant to the Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania
Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania
Muhlenberg Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,305 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 12.2 square miles , of which, 12.0 square miles of it is land and...
, site. The new facility was called the Reading Works and the branch of Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
was called the Reading Labs.
In 1967, when the Reading Works celebrated its 15th anniversary in Berks County, it employed about 2,600 employees. Various additions since the-mid 1960s increased the manufacturing space to 1300000 square feet (120,774 m²). Construction on the 210000 square feet (19,509.6 m²) office building (Building 20) began in 1980, and the building was first occupied in 1982.
1984 - WE to AT&T Technologies-
In 1984 the Bell SystemBell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
broke up into the various Baby Bell operating companies and AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. As a result of this divestiture
Bell System divestiture
The Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...
in 1984, the Western Electric plant became an AT&T Technology Systems (AT&T Technology Systems
AT&T Technologies
AT&T Technologies, Inc., was created in 1983 in preparation for the Bell System Divestiture, which became effective as of January 1, 1984. It assumed the corporate charter of Western Electric Co., Inc.-Creation:...
) location as part of AT&T, supplying devices for use in the former Bell System's network. By 1984, employment had reached what would be an all-time high of 4,900. In 1988, microchip
Microchip
Microchip can also refer to:* Integrated circuit, a set of electronic components on a single unit.* Microchip Technology, a company that makes popular 8, 16 and 32-bit microcontroller lines.* Microchip implant , a microchip implanted into animals....
and fiber-optic component manufacturing was combined into an AT&T organization called AT&T Microelectronics. In 1989 the AT&T work force nationwide was 297,000 and while employment at the Reading Works was 3,200. In 1992 the Reading Works of AT&T Microelectronics had 3,300 workers and provided an annual payroll of $100 million. The product mix included lightwave components, linear bipolar integrated circuits, high voltage integrated circuits, high speed silicon integrated circuits, and gallium arsenide integrated circuits. A satellite manufacturing building, Building 10, was constructed on North 13th Street, just north of the General Mail Facility, in 1992. The same year the Falconer building across the street was also used. AT&T Reading Works was the No. 2 employer in Berks County in 1993 , but that was soon to end. In February 1994, AT&T Reading Works announced that it would be cutting 850 jobs over a 3-year period. In 1994 the Reading Works' work force was reduced from 2,929 to 2,700 with most of the cuts in the Lightwave unit. The Lightwave unit makes fiber-optic laser transmitters and receivers. In 1995 the Reading Works' work force stood at 2,400 including AT&T Microelectronics and Bell Labs as it prepared for the spin off from AT&T into Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
.
1996 - AT&T to Lucent
Under the 1996 restructuring of AT&TAT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, AT&T Technologies
AT&T Technologies
AT&T Technologies, Inc., was created in 1983 in preparation for the Bell System Divestiture, which became effective as of January 1, 1984. It assumed the corporate charter of Western Electric Co., Inc.-Creation:...
became Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
. The Lucent Technologies Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, facility became both a Lucent Microelectronics and a Lucent Optoelectronics facility, designing and manufacturing optoelectronic and integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
components for applications in the telecommunications and computing
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
industries.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
industry because it manufactured both optoelectronic and integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
components. The facility received a $6 million renovation to boost its optoelectronics
Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light...
manufacturing capacity.
In addition to serving the traditional communication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s markets, the Lucent Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light...
portion of the facility provided a family of transmitters and receivers for use in network computing
Network computing
Network computing is a generic term in computing which refers to computers or nodes working together over a network.It may also mean:*Cloud computing*Distributed computing*Virtual Network Computing...
applications. Lucent was also a leading player in the cable TV and hybrid fiber coaxial markets. In addition to Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, other Lucent Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light...
facilities were located in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania; Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill, New Jersey
Murray Hill is an unincorporated area within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County in northern New Jersey, United States....
; Alhambra
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; and Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The Lucent Microelectronics
Microelectronics
Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture of very small electronic components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-scale or smaller,. These devices are made from semiconductors...
portion of the facility produced linear bipolar, high voltage and gallium arsenide integrated circuits. These microchips were used in tone ringers, data processing, voltage regulators, video distribution, and in the industrial, computer, communication and instrumental markets. In addition to Reading, other Lucent Microelectronics integrated circuit sites included Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
; Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
; Bangkok, Thailand; Tres Cantos, Spain; and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
In 1996 the Reading Works' work force stood at 2,450 including AT&T Microelectronics and Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
as it made the transition from AT&T into Lucent Technologies. The spin off of AT&T manufacturing units as Lucent Technologies became necessary as these units increasingly found that their prospective customers were AT&T competitors. The divestiture of the manufacturing units made them suppliers rather than competitors, opening up new markets to Lucent and to the Reading Works. At the same time it caused the anxiety that comes with change. On October 1, 1996, Lucent Technologies became independent of AT&T. The Reading Works became Lucent Technologies Reading Facility. It employed 2,177 people, down considerably from 4,900 in 1985. The Reading Eagle, 12/7/97, Reading Hospital again has largest local work force; Reading (PA), US; Reading Eagle Press. By the end of 1997, the Reading Facility workforce had declined and remained stable at 2,000. By the end of 1998, the Reading Facility workforce had rebounded to 2,177. In 1999 a pickup in Lightwave business caused expansion of both the Reading Facility and the Breinigsville plant.
2000 - Lucent to Agere
The Reading Plant's heritage, combined with constant innovation and product quality, positioned the Reading site as one of the largest semiconductorSemiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
facilities in the world. In 2000, Lucent Microelectronics and Optoelectronics were reorganized as Agere Systems with the intention of spinning it off as an independent company. Agere Systems
Agere Systems
Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Spun out of Lucent Technologies in 2002, Agere was merged into LSI Corporation in 2007....
Inc. produced high-tech components such as opto-electronics products, which use light-wave technologies to transmit information, and integrated circuits, which are miniaturized chips used in computers and communications. The opto-electronics parts were used in systems such as submarine communication cables, cable transmitters, cable receivers, laser components, and network computing devices. The integrated circuits were found in a wide array of electronic products from modems and computers to cell phones and telephone offices to video equipment and digital television. After becoming Agere Systems, by the end of 2000, the Reading Facility became the Muhlenberg plant and had grown its workforce by 800 to 3,000 as the anticipated lightwave business materialized. In 2001, Agere's stock went public in late March. The spin-off was completed on June 1, 2002. By mid 2001, Agere cut 508 jobs at the Reading Works. These layoffs continued in waves as conditions in the semiconductor market deteriorated and by the end of the year only had a workforce of 1,546.
2003 - From Agere to Closure
On January 24, 2002, Agere announced that it would be closing the 1300000 square feet (120,774 m²) Reading Works in 12 to 18 months. The planned changes involved closing the Breinigsville, Pennsylvania plant in Lehigh County, PennsylvaniaLehigh County, Pennsylvania
-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....
, which was opened in 1988; selling the Orlando plant in Florida; and consolidating several locations in New Jersey. All operations were consolidated at the Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, headquarters location and the New Jersey locations. About 1,500 workers were transferred from Reading to Allentown where 3,200 workers were employed prior to the relocation. As Agere was leaving, Legerity, Inc., assumed some of the operations formerly done by the Muhlenberg plant in the old Building 10 on North 13th Street. In this facility Legerity assembled 40 former Agere circuit-design, physical-design, application-design and process development engineers to support the analog line card integrated circuit business it purchased from Agere. Legerity is a design facility that uses other companies foundries to manufacture its products. In May 2003, Agere Systems Inc. ended all manufacturing and began decommissioning its Muhlenberg Township plant. The last 346 manufacturing employees were laid off. About 50 employees — mostly maintenance — remained at the plant until a buyer was found.
Agere built a $165 million World Headquarters building in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Hanover Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Hanover Township is a suburb of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The township's population was 1,913 at the 2000 census....
. This building was started in 2001 and completed in 2003. It brought together research and development facilities from Breinigsville and Muhlenberg Township. It absorbed about 2,000 workers from these two facilities. Agere tried unsuccessfully to sell its Union Boulevard plant in Allentown, where the first commercial production line for transistors was set up in 1951. Agere demolished the manufacturing part of the Union Boulevard facility. The company continues to use the offices and wet labs in the remaining part of the building. Its headquarters building is nearby in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania
Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Hanover Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Hanover Township is a suburb of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The township's population was 1,913 at the 2000 census....
. In 2003, Agere sold the chip plant and research center in Breinigsville to TriQuint Semiconductor, which also bought the company's fiber-optic components division. The facility, now under different ownership, is a multi-tenant technology park.
At the end of 1999 shares of Lucent stock hit a high of nearly $80. After spinning off Agere, Lucent shares dropped to around $4.50 and later dropped to $0.55 in October 2002. After being spun off, Agere shares were about $4 and dropped to a low of $0.50 in October 2002. Agere started 2000 with 18,000 employees. By the end of the year it had only 10,000 employees. By the end of 2001 the number of employees had dropped to about 7,000. The last wafer starts at the Reading Works were scheduled for April, 2003 and the last shipments were scheduled for May, 2003. The doors locked on May 16, 2003. Starting May 17, the Reading work force consisted of 100 employees who cleaned up the facility and disposed of equipment. In July the work force was down to 50 maintenance employees who manned the 1300000 square feet (120,774 m²) facility while an attempts were made to sell it or at least rent or lease it. On December 13, 2005, it was announced that Agere had signed a sales agreement with a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
, developer to sell the 133 acre (0.53823238 km²) Agere Systems Inc. property in Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania
Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania
Muhlenberg Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,305 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 12.2 square miles , of which, 12.0 square miles of it is land and...
, and projects the return of 1,000 jobs to the site within 18 months, with more jobs to follow.
2005 - From the USA
The last USA based Agere manufacturing plant in Orlando, FloridaOrlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, which once employed 1,800, was closed on September 30, 2005, after 20 years of semiconductors manufacture and sold in 2007. The company has plants in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and operated 22 sales offices and 16 research and development facilities throughout the world. Its key centers are in Ascot, U.K.; Bangalore, India; San Jose, CA, U.S.; Shanghai, China; and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
as well as the world headquarters in Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
, PA.
Agere still maintained its position as a key chip supplier for cell phones and hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
drives. However, the chips it supplied were purchased from outside chip foundries or made offshore rather than made locally. In 2003, 3,000 of the best jobs in town disappeared when Agere Systems
Agere Systems
Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Spun out of Lucent Technologies in 2002, Agere was merged into LSI Corporation in 2007....
closed the Reading Works. But the jobs won't come back when the economy does; like many other high-tech companies, Agere moved production overseas.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
is a new name for a long-standing phenomenon: the movement of jobs from the USA to countries where wages, benefits and the cost of living are much lower. In the 1970s and 1980s, heavy manufacturing jobs went to other countries by the tens of thousands. The result was cheaper goods for U.S. consumers and less pollution in many of the nation's industrial cities. Economists who backed the trend envisioned a new "knowledge economy" in which well-trained Americans would become the world's designers, innovators and administrators. The dirty work would be sent overseas.
Not to take advantage of those countries' pools of highly educated, relatively low-wage workers would be foolish, Agere officials said. "Our customers are very demanding," says John Harris, an engineer and marketing manager at Agere's Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, headquarters. "They're under intense pressure to deliver extremely high quality at extremely low cost. That pressure comes right back on us."
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
in an all-stock transaction. On March 29, 2007, this merger was approved by shareholders of both companies, making it official. The companies together own a patent portfolio consisting of more than 10,000 issued and pending U.S. patents. Spun off by Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies
Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., originally Lucent Technologies, Inc. is a French-owned technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs...
in 2001, Agere was the creation of a corporate behemoth, while LSI was born 25 years ago as a tiny startup. LSI Logic already has decided to dump the Agere name, which once symbolized the Lehigh Valley's aspirations to become a technology hub. Compared to Agere, LSI Logic has run a tight ship. It generates roughly 20 percent more revenue — $2 billion — with fewer employees worldwide: 3,900, compared to Agere's 5,300. LSI Logic will use the Agere facilities as the center of its research operations, but the combined company's headquarters will be in Milpitas, California
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
.
LSI Logic has come a long way since 1981, when Wilfred Corrigan
Wilfred Corrigan
Wilfred J. Corrigan is a British engineer and entrepreneur, known for founding and running LSI Logic Corp. He was the chairman and chief executive of LSI for over two decades until 2005, during the earlier part of which he made made vital contributions to the company. He was the founder and served...
founded the company with $6 million of venture capital. Corrigan, a native of Liverpool, England, moved to the United States to pursue a career in electronics. He climbed the ladder at Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, before becoming CEO of Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, in the mid-1970s. The launch of LSI Logic marked his transition to entrepreneur. The company went public in 1983. By the mid-1990s, LSI Logic was selling chips to Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
for its PlayStation video game machine. And in 2001, it made its first major acquisition, C-Cube Microsystems, in a stock deal valued at $851 million.
In recent times, LSI Logic has followed a strategy similar to Agere. This year, the company sold an Oregon semiconductor manufacturing facility and acquired two smaller companies, in Israel and India. Now it's swallowing up Agere, which is nearly its equal, in terms of revenue but not productivity. Hence ends the saga of the semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
plant that was built in Reading in 1952.
2006 - Greater Reading Expo Center
Audubon Land Development of Oaks, Montgomery County, PennsylvaniaMontgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
, bought the old Reading Works in December 2005 for an undisclosed amount. Agere spokesman Glen Haley confirmed the deal. Agere had been asking for $8 million for the property, but Haley and Call declined to disclose the purchase price. The assessment of the property was lowered to $9.5 million from $26.3 million after Agere appealed. On Tuesday, March 14, 2006, Urban Expositions, a Georgia-based trade show company, announced it would hold the 10th annual Philadelphia Gift Show at the Reading center July 23-26, 2006. The facility is being called the Greater Reading Expo Center. A company press release calls the event, with an expected 1,400 booths, the largest regional gift show in the country. Gene Call, an Audubon spokesman, said Audubon's subsidiary, Stonepoint Management Corp., which is leasing the 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) Agere building, would run the exposition center. Stonepoint would use 350000 square feet (32,516.1 m²), he said. Stonepoint is exploring other uses but has not made firm plans, he said.
Crystal Seitz, president of the Greater Reading Convention & Visitors Bureau, said a typical convention center with a steady stream of shows generates about $150 million for a local economy, including money spent for lodging and meals. Jon C. Scott, president of the Berks Economic Partnership, said he has met several times with Audubon officials and is excited about the prospects for the center. “It opens up the type of exhibits that would never have been available before,” Scott said. “It leads to other intriguing possibilities.” Some of the shows scheduled for the facility included: Philadelphia Gift Show which includes Birdwatch America-Philadelphia, Great Train Expo, Bead Fest Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Pet Expo, Great American Guitar Show, Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, Home & Garden Show, and The Greater Reading Sport, Travel & Outdoors Show.
Success of the Expo Center is in part due to the closing of the Fort Washington Exposition Center in Montgomery County and the Pennsylvania Expo Center in Lehigh County and in part due to the 250000 square feet (23,225.8 m²) of inside space, several auditoriums, numerous meeting rooms, 13 loading docks, ample parking and a full-service cafeteria among its amenities, the expo center. Muhlenberg Township waived the 10% amusement tax on admission to the expo center from January through September 2007. This was an attempt to allow the Expo Center to become better established. The township estimates future revenues at $50,000 per year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development included the StonePointe Center, the former Agere complex in Muhlenberg Township, which includes the Greater Reading Expo Center, as part of the Greater Reading Keystone Innovation Zone and invested $235,000 to fund its operations. Also included in this zone is TEK Park, the former home of Lucent/Agere Optoelectronics in Breinigsville, Lehigh County, which houses a number of industrial tenants and the Kutztown University Innovation Center.
Building 30 is now called the "Flex Building" and building 20 is the "Office Building". They are keeping their options open. Here is what they say: "Imagine a state of the art business center, with more than one million square feet of available space for office, manufacturing and distribution; a facility with high-tech infrastructure and easy access to transportation. Imagine a convenient location near Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, with professional on-site management to support your business. Imagine your business at StonePointe Center."
The Expo Center is the latest in venues that mark a renaissance in Reading. It started with the opening of the Sovereign Center and its sister the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. Now it includes the Goggle-Works Center for the Arts, and the Greater Reading Expo Center.
