July 2013
| Business World Magazine | 191
FROM SUNNYVALE TO
SILICON VALLEY
From the very launch of Airtronics in 1961,
which initially operated from an 8,000
square-foot facility in Sunnyvale California,
the company became a pioneer in producing
metal parts that uniquely catered to needs
in the electronic industry. It went through
several changes in ownership early on, but in
1981, John Richardson purchased the com-
pany and provided the leadership crucial to
transitioning Airtronics into all it is today.
Richardson was a former executive with Fair-
child Semiconductor, the company widely
credited with inventing the integrated cir-
cuit as well as other technologies which help
spur the advance of the computer industry.
Richardson astutely recognized that indus-
try would need a source for metal fabrication
services and Airtronics was evolved to seize
