By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Employees at Glenayre Western Multiplex spent the first day in their new Sunnyvale offices Nov. 4. The company, which works with the telecommunications industry, nearly doubled its office space, moving to 1196 Borregas Drive, from a Belmont location where it spent the last five years.
Glenayre, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., manufactures point-to-point wireless microwave radios for industries including railroad, oil and gas services and cellular phone companies. Businesses use the microwave radios for voice or data communication in place of leasing cable lines from telephone companies. They also use Glenayre products for accessing remote sites where physical barriers may prevent standard phone line use, said Robert Ma, a Glenayre product manager.
Glenayre's radios were used at the Republican National Convention to provide audio and video access from the convention site to local patrol headquarters for Secret Service surveillance. Radios were also used at the 1996 Olympic Games for temporary connection to cell sites at a media center at the women's and men's soccer quarterfinals.
Glenayre chose Sunnyvale for an office site to be closer to the highly skilled work force in Santa Clara County, Ruano said.
"We anticipate increasing our work force by 30 percent in the next two years. We are looking forward to making a significant contribution to the long-term success of the region," she said. The company has 2,000 employees at its worldwide offices, including locations in Hong Kong, Singapore and New Delhi. Around 90 people work at the Sunnyvale site.
The company, which is traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, had sales of $320 million in 1995.
Suzi Blackman, executive director of Sunnyvale's Chamber of Commerce, said Sunnyvale continues to attract new businesses to the community.
"It's exciting when cutting-edge companies in the telecommunications area choose our city. They've indicated they will expand in the next year, which will provide new jobs here," she said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 13, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.