> Ten, ten, ten and ten for four-decades-old Ten-Tec Inc.
> By: STAN VOIT Editor December 17, 2007
>
> By STAN VOIT
> Editor
> SEVIERVILLE - At one time that industrial park across from Sevier County
> High School was alive with manufacturing plants, cranking out product for
> shipping around the world.
>
> It's not that way today. But one staple of the industrial park remains.
> Ten-Tec Inc. heads into 2008 celebrating 40 years of making equipment for
> the amateur and commercial radio operator. It's one of the few
> manufacturing plants remaining in Sevier County.
>
> Behind the tan brick walls of the building that faces the high school,
> more than 70 employees work to make short-wave radios and component parts,
> and while some steps in the process are automated, much remains done by
> hand. That attention to detail has kept Ten-Tec in business despite
> pressure from foreign makers of similar products.
>
> "Our primary customer is the amateur radio operator," Jack Burchfield,
> president of Ten-Tec and an employee for all 40 years, said. "We also
> supply receivers that are used by commercial and government users."
> Some of Ten-Tec's products are used by branches of the U.S. government for
> ... well, let's just say secretive work. Burchfield, operations manager
> Jim Wharton and vice president Gary Barbour understandably don't feel
> comfortable talking about that side of their business too much, but
> imagine radio transmitters, U.S. government and secrecy and you get as
> much of the picture as you need to know.
> Mostly, though, Ten-Tec makes the radios and related equipment used by
> amateur radio operators.
>
> Ten-Tec was founded by the late Al Kahn, an amateur radio enthusiast
> himself. Kahn sold his Michigan company, Electro-Voice, and moved south,
> looking for something new to do. He figured out that by combining his own
> passion for radio with the need to make quality parts for those who have
> the same hobby, he could come up with products both needed and marketable.
> He bought the land on what is now Dolly Parton Parkway and put up the
> building that has since been expanded twice to accommodate the growth of
> the business.
>
> Electro-Voice, by the way, got its name from legendary Notre Dame football
> coach Knute Rockne, who wanted an voice-amplifying system so he could
> stand on a tower and shout instructions to his team during practice. The
> microphone and other Electro-Voice equipment later were used by troops in
> Word War II. The company is still in business.
> Kahn, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, would be impressed with how
> Ten-Tec has evolved. Forty years ago the prevailing method of
> manufacturing the parts was solid state and transistors. Today's it all
> computerized.
>
> "It's software-driven today," Barbour said. "It's a much better product."
> Maybe it is, but there are Ten-Tec owners around the world who are still
> using equipment they bought 30 or more years ago. The company repairs
> every piece of equipment it has ever sold, so it still maintains parts to
> fix those solid-state transmitters from decades ago - and the people
> trained to repair them.
>
> "When we started," Burchfield said, "we were the only ones making
> transceivers. Today we have competition from the Japanese."
> Burchfield came to Sevierville in 1968 after working with Kahn for 10
> years. Burchfield had left Kahn's company and was working in New Jersey
> when his former boss called and told him about the plans for the
> Sevierville plant.
>
> "I came down then as an engineer," Burchfield said. "I've been here ever
> since." While some U.S. manufacturing has gone away due to foreign
> competition, Ten-Tec has remained. "We don't go head to head with the most
> popular items," Barbour said. "We go for niches. We focus on high
> performance."
>
> Between 10 percent and 20 percent of the company's business is with
> government. "We're one of the two companies left making amateur radio
> equipment in the United States," Wharton said. Ten-Tec continues to do it
> all, from product development, research and manufacturing. It does buy
> some of the parts used to make the equipment, but mostly it's all made and
> done in house. "We do everything here," Barbour said.
>
> "From manufacturing to demonstration to distribution. We outsource some
> stuff like circuitboards, but many, many things are done here." Ten-Tec
> also has a retail store where consumers can buy equipment as well as
> how-to manuals for getting into the amateur radio game. It is the only
> radio-related activity that still requires a Federal Communications
> Commission license, and Ten-Tec sells the study guides for helping persons
> learn the material and pass the test.
>
> Wharton and Barbour figure there have been more than 1,000 people employed
> at Ten-Tec over the last 40 years. "Most of our jobs pay well above
> minimum wage," Barbour said. "We do have some skill jobs, such as
> electrical technicians and electronics engineers." Some of the employees
> have been with Ten-tec almost from the beginning - like Elizabeth Castle,
> who adds components to circuitboards. "It's a good-paying job and I really
> enjoy it," she said. "I wouldn't have stayed here for so long if I didn't
> enjoy it," Each piece of equipment leaving Ten-Tec is tested to be sure
> it's working. Many of the transceivers are made to order, containing
> features requested by an individual customer. But it all must pass muster
> with one of four trained technicians who test the equipment all put
> together before it leaves Sevierville. Most companies that mass-produce
> electronics test only selected models. "I think it helps us do business
> and stay in business that we do this," Barbour said.
>
> Ten-Tec maintains a repair division to fix everything it sells. Barbour,
> Burchfield and Wharton are all amateur radio operators, as are roughly 20
> percent of the employees. Each September Ten-Tec hosts a "ham fest,"
> drawing thousands of amateur radio operators from around the country who
> see new products, sell each other equipment and tour the plant to see the
> latest items for sale. Ten-Tec does not charge anyone to be part of it,
> unlike similar ham fests around the country. Ten-Tec equipment is
> expensive. Amplifiers sell for as much as $4,300. You can buy a receiver
> for as little as $359 or as much as $4,295. Transceivers run from as low
> as $2,195 to as much as $4,295. It's an expensive pastime.
>
> "Ham radio is still a relatively stable hobby," Barbour said. "It hasn't
> grown much, but it hasn't declined either." Today there is the Internet,
> cell phones and other more inexpensive ways to communicate with people
> around the world. Ten-Tec has seen more retirees get into the game, seeing
> it as a good way to spend time, make new friends and have some fun.
>
> Barbour and Burchfield feel good about the future of the company and its
> place in Sevierville, although Burchfield does have concerns. "There are
> not enough highly technical people coming out of our schools," he said.
> "Generally we have to import them. And transportation is tough. We have
> trucks come in here from all around, and they find it tough to get here at
> the appointed time. But you run into that everywhere."
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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