Wednesday, December 17, 2003
|
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 |
|
$4 billion Cooper sells more than just lighting fixtures By J. FRANK LYNCH The decision by Cooper Industries to relocate another of its division headquarters to Peachtree City early next year may surprise people who thought the company’s Cooper Lighting operation here was all there is to Cooper Industries. In fact, the lighting division that relocated its headquarters to Peachtree City in 1997 is just one division in a multi-layered corporation specializing in electrical products, tools and hardware. The company, now based in Houston, Texas, was founded in 1833 as a small iron foundry in Mount Vernon, Ohio, by brothers Charles and Elias Cooper. For more than 125 years, Cooper was primarily a one-market company, manufacturing power and compression equipment for the transmission of natural gas. In the 1960s, Cooper began to diversify, eventually broadening its product lines to include petroleum and industrial equipment, electrical products, electrical power equipment, automotive products, tools and hardware. In the 1990s, Cooper began to focus on becoming a larger player in selected markets, selling and spinning off a number of businesses to focus on its two most profitable business segments: electrical products, and tools and hardware. Today, Cooper manufactures thousands of products through its seven electrical products divisions, which generate over 80 percent of annual revenues, and two tool divisions, which produce power tool and hand tool lines. Cooper has annual revenues of approximately $4 billion, employs over 28,000 people and operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities around the world. Its various divisions: • Cooper B-Line, Highland, Ill.: Manufactures support systems and enclosures used in the installation and retrofitting of electrical, mechanical and telecommunications applications. Highland, Ill. • Cooper Bussmann, St. Louis: Provides circuit protection and power management products designed to protect electrical and electronic systems. • Cooper Crouse-Hinds, Syracuse, N.Y.: Makes electrical products designed to protect electrical systems in demanding commercial and industrial environments. • Cooper Lighting, Peachtree City: Manufactures lighting fixtures and related products for indoor and outdoor use. • Cooper Menvier, United Kingdom: Manufactures emergency and mains lighting, fixtures and lamps, fire detection systems, building security systems, and electrical installation materials. • Cooper Power Systems, Waukesah, WI: Offers equipment, components and systems for the distribution and management of electrical power. • Cooper Wiring Devices, Long Island City, NY (moving to Peachtree City): Makes residential, commercial and industrial wiring devices, switches, plugs and receptacles to deliver and control electrical power. • Cooper Tools, Lexington, S.C.: Manufactures an extensive line of electric and pneumatic industrial power tools, automated assembly systems and premium hand tools.
|
||