U.S. Robotics Corp., the No. 1 manufacturer of modems, says its future growth remains connected to the state's, signaled by the opening of its new world-class manufacturing facility.
U.S. Robotics hosted tours of its new 150,000-square-feet plant at the International Center Thursday. At the plant, some 1,400 workers will build modem cards used in notebook computers and may eventually build personal digital assistant products like the Palm-Pilot organizer.The manufacturing plant has room for expansion to handle growth in demand for U.S. Robotics products, said Gene Ferretti, vice president and general manager of the mobile communications division of U.S. Robotics.
"We are very pleased with the success of our division here in Salt Lake City, and with our expected expansion, there will be additional employment opportunities for people in Utah," he said.
U.S. Robotics moved into Utah in February 1995 when it acquired Megahertz Corp., which developed a credit-card size modem card for laptop computers.
In February U.S. Robotics and 3Com Corp., a data networking company, announced plans to join their two companies. The merger will create a networking giant with $5 billion in annual revenues and 12,000 employees. The new company, which is expected to receive regulatory approval by summer, will use the 3Com name.
Ferretti said the merger should boost rather than hinder operations in Utah.
"This division of U.S. Robotics has been growing over the years," he said. "There is nothing in the future that indicates growth and opportunities in any way are going to be diminished by the merger."
Since there is no overlap in the products produced by the two companies, Ferretti said there would be little if any job losses from the merger.
"There is not a feeling here whatsoever that the future isn't bright," he said.