> 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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