News

Engineering facilities and a finished-goods warehouse at Altec Lansing Technologies' Milford, Pennsylvania, headquarters were damaged by fire late Sunday, May 31. The blaze was said to have been exacerbated by severe weather. No injuries were reported.

Administrative offices weren't damaged. By Monday afternoon, engineering-department employees were back at work in other parts of the company's offices. No jobs will be lost because of the fire, Altec executives said.

The impact of the fire on Altec's business will be minimal, said president and chairman Edward Anchel, because the 500-employee company has facilities throughout the world. "Our ongoing research and development projects have been managed for some time at our facilities in Israel and Hong Kong. . . . Our manufacturing is primarily conducted at our recently expanded factory in the People's Republic of China, and most of our customers receive products from a number of 'revolver' warehouses throughout the world." Altec Lansing has offices in Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seattle, Austin, TX, Walnut Creek, CA, and Royston Herts., England.

Anchel expressed deep appreciation to the many firefighters, police, and rescue personnel and Red Cross volunteers who helped prevent further damage to the company's headquarters.

Altec Lansing made its name decades ago with such then-state-of-the-art professional sound equipment as the Voice of the Theater loudspeakers, still highly prized by collectors. In the 1960s, Altec made a somewhat unsuccessful foray into the consumer electronics market, from which it withdrew to concentrate on professional applications. Today the company's core business is in high-quality audio products for personal computers.