WAYNESBORO – David Souders has come full circle with the purchase of the TE Connectivity (formerly Tyco Electronics) property in Waynesboro.
Souders’ business SESCO, founded in 1983, will move to 627 N. Grant St. in the spring. SESCO is an electrical contract manufacturer with extensive wire processing capabilities.
“The company (Tyco) was largely responsible for my beginning, and I’m very grateful to them in many ways,” said Souders of Waynesboro, who graduated from Waynesboro Area Senior High School in 1971 and Juniata College in 1975. “All these years they were a major supplier of electrical products (terminals, connectors and cable) – components for the products that we manufacture.”
“The sale was a positive thing, and I’m happy to make a contribution to the community,” he added. “SESCO is proud to be a small thread of our industrial fabric. We contribute to our local economy by serving manufacturers in various markets including power generation, elevators, light-rail, construction equipment, heavy trucks, commercial climate control, emergency vehicles and various specialty markets.”
Souders’ career began in 1977 when he was hired by Champion Home Builders Co. to set up and manage a sub-assembly plant in Waynesboro to support its seven sister plants across the U.S. that mass-produced solar furnaces. “We designed and built the air handling and control systems for these units. My boss and I set up shop in what was once a part of the former Geiser Co.” on Walnut Street in Waynesboro, which later became The Factory Outlet Barn and today, is a center anchored by WBO Health and Fitness.
Before being hired by Champion, Souders designed and marketed a temperature monitor under the name of Solartronics. “It needed to be wired internally, and it became my first experience with a wiring harness,” one of the largest commodities produced by SESCO. “Before the Champion saga ended with solar not yet being ready for prime time, we would get further into the wire harness business by supplying harnesses to our sister RV motor home plants. By the time the end came, I had already made provisions to strike out into the wiring harness and electrical systems business.”
A chicken coop on his property was United Enterprise’s “headquarters” in Waynesboro from 1979 to 1981, Souders added. “Before leaving this building, Grove Manufacturing Co. would send engineering and quality personnel to tour the operation and approve UE as a supplier. They must have been impressed with the operation’s ‘low overhead,'” he joked.
Estimating logic and methodology was established early on in the chicken coop, according to Souders. “Equipment and processes have changed, but we still use basic industrial engineering principles to process our quotes and run our operations today.” Souders still has the original draft of the quote form for the business. “The one we use today evolved from this prototype.”
He also referred to a photo in his collection of “one of the first cut schedules (list of wires and and cutting dimensions, etc.) ever used. Amazingly, this was before the days of personal computers and all cut schedules were written out by hand. White Out was a revision change’s best friend.
“UE moved to a more spacious manufacturing facility rented from Dr. (Dennis) McCoullough’s Veterinarian Clinic on Philadelphia Avenue (in Waynesboro). This room was lined in six inches of cork and was the cooling room for ice cream making for Arthur’s Dairy when it was located there.”
On Labor Day 1981, the business moved to the former Hull’s Dairy at 6524 Buchanan Trail E. in Waynesboro and offered an expanded production floor in addition to two offices. UE was closed and its assets merged with a partner to operate as Wiring Harnesses Inc. from 1981 until the partnership ended Oct. 31, 1983, Souders said.
“The next day, SESCO Electrical Systems was born and began operating in the same building,” he added. When a court ruled that SESCO could not remain in the same building until matters were resolved, Souders began working in the basement of the Wayne Building in Waynesboro.
“Finally, we settled the legal matter and SESCO commenced business with an Artos CS-6 wire cutter, a photocopier, a braider and a desk and a chair. But we also started off with a clean slate and a good reputation,” Souders added. From there, Souders rented a room in downtown Waynesboro, formerly Total Vac, between the Eagles Club Inc. and The Record Herald facing the alley – Gay Street.
“In 1990, an old shoe factory in Mont Alto became available for sale. It was perfect, and we bought it the same day,” Souders said.
SESCO has a total of 80 employees who work at the plant in Mont Alto and in leased space at the former Hess Manufacturing Co. in Quincy. “After renovations, we will consolidate into the TE Connectivity building,” he added.
Souders said he believes that “manufacturing blends capability with innovation to make things. It creates something from nothing and has contributed immensely to our country’s wealth since its beginning. Each company in a supply chain is a thread in the fabric of that country’s industrial base, and each thread has a role that collectively allows a country to innovate and build virtually anything conceivable.
“My company is a small thread in that fabric, and the future is ours to determine.”
