Company History

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1946

Switchcraft, Inc. was established in 1946 to manufacture jacks, plugs, and switches, mainly for the communications industry. The original plant was located on West Diversey Street in Chicago. The company moved to a larger facility at 1328 North Halsted Street in 1948 and in 1958, the operation moved to a 185,000 square foot facility located at 5555 North Elston Avenue, which is still the headquarters and the largest of three manufacturing locations for the corporation today.

1977

In 1977, Switchcraft was bought by the Raytheon Corporation and it operated as an independent subsidiary in its Commercial division for twenty years. During this time, Switchcraft expanded its production capability to include vertical integration, for cost effective manufacturing in the United States. They also expanded into harsh environment connector products, which expanded the market growth of the company.

1997

In 1997 Raytheon made a strategic decision to focus solely on the defense industry. As a result, they divested their interests in all of their commercial holdings. At that time Switchcraft was sold to company management and a private equity company.

1999

In 1999, Switchcraft acquired Conxall, a manufacturer of circular connectors and cable assemblies, in order to expand their offering of harsh environment connectivity products. They are located in a 32,000 square foot facility in Villa Park, IL. This strategic acquisition helped to position Switchcraft for expanded growth in the Industrial Marketplace.

2011

In 2011, Switchcraft was acquired by HEICO Corporation and became part of their Electronic Technologies Group. Switchcraft is a major supplier of harsh environment connectivity products to the Industrial market and the premier connectivity provider to the Pro-Audio & Broadcast Industries.