The company supplies parts to several other large manufacturers around the Valley
Times Microwave Systems’ employees put together cable assemblies at the new Mesa manufacturing facility.
PROVIDED BY TIMES MICROWAVE SYSTEMS
By Hayley Ringle – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal
12 hours ago
Times Microwave Systems’ lead applications engineer Dave Murray is considered the company’s “founding father” since he was the first West Coast employee hired in Arizona 25 years ago.
On his 60th birthday and still working for the company, Murray helped company executives celebrate the June 12 opening of the new Mesa manufacturing facility that is five times larger than its former space.
Murray started working for the company out of his Chandler garage, and has moved six times since the company has continued to expand.
“I’ve been paid pretty well for a hobby,” joked Murray, who was born at Luke Air Force Base west of Phoenix and spent 10 years in the military. “Twenty-five years ago we worked one job at a time. Now I’m working on a $126 million contract from Lockheed Martin we received six weeks ago. Our F-35 program forced us to grow.”
Dave Murray (right) is Times Microwave Systems’ first employee in Arizona and has worked for the company for 25 years.
PROVIDED BY TIMES MICROWAVE SYSTEMS
Times Microwave Systems, a Wallingford, Connecticut-based aerospace and defense supplier, now occupies a new 63,000-square-foot building in west Mesa’s Metro East Valley Commerce Park off Mesa and Auto Center drives, just south of U.S. 60.
The office has about 100 employees designing and building high-end coaxial cable and harness assemblies, cables and connectors for military aircraft, wireless telecommunications and other aerospace applications, said Bill Callahan, the company’s general manager.
This facility is now the global company’s second largest office and is considered the Western operations for Times Microwave Systems, Callahan said. It is one of five offices for the company, including Shanghai, China and Wellingborough in the U.K.
Times Microwave Systems General Manager Bill Callahan speaks at the Mesa operations center’s June 12 opening.
PROVIDED BY TIMES MICROWAVE SYSTEMS
“We continue to grow in Mesa because of the access to a great talent pool and the close proximity to key customers both in Arizona and on the West Coast,” Callahan said Wednesday. “We wanted to scale this building to be the headquarters of the West to grow our business and support our customers.”
Large customers include Viasat Inc. (Nasdaq: VSAT), General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT).
The building has a cable assembly manufacturing area where 7,000 to 10,000 cables are built monthly, said Vi Quach, Mesa operations manager. On Wednesday, assemblers could be seen using microscopes and magnifying glasses to build products on an assembly line.
See more photos of the new facility in the gallery below:
Times Microwave Systems new Mesa operations facility
Times Microwave Systems, a Wallingford, Connecticut-based aerospace and defense supplier, moved into a new 63,000-square-foot building in West Mesa’s Metro East Valley Commerce Park in June.
Quach said employees appreciate the larger cafeteria and restrooms in the new facility. A clean room is also planned this year.
Arizona manufacturers employ 162,399 people across 4,682 offices. The industry contributes $27.3 billion to the gross state product annually, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority.
There is plenty of open space in the building. Callahan wouldn’t share hiring plans other than to say there is significant room to grow in the building.
Open positions on the website include a Southwest regional sales manager and cable assemblers.
Times Microwave Systems is a subsidiary of Connecticut-based AmphenolCorp. (NYSE: APH) and part of the Amphenol military and aerospace division. The company was founded in 1948 as the Times Wire and Cable Co.